Law Commons^™

Ending The Irs As We Know It: Thoughts From Outside The Beltway, J. Clifton Fleming Jr.

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Recent Developments Affecting Worker Classification Disputes With The Internal Revenue Service, L. Paige Marvel

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Recent Federal Income Tax Developments, Ira B. Shepard

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Curtailing The Economic Distortions Of The Mortgage Interest Deduction, William T. Mathias

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Many Americans consider the mortgage interest deduction a necessary fixture of the American tax system. In this Article, Mathias examines the economic underpinnings of the deduction and finds that it cannot be justified on purely economic grounds. He then evaluates the major policy arguments for the mortgage interest deduction and concludes that it is inefficient, inequitable, and too costly in its present form to be justified on policy grounds. Finally, the author advocates for the elimination or substantial reduction in the size and scope of the mortgage interest deduction.

'Complete' Accrual Taxation, Fred B. Brown

All Faculty Scholarship

Under the realization rule, accrued gains and losses generally are not taken into account for income tax purposes until a disposition occurs. Thus, the realization rule is responsible for tax deferral, which in turn likely leads to economic inefficiencies and inequities. The realization rule also contributes greatly to the complexity of the federal income tax system by necessitating numerous Internal Revenue Code provisions that address the many consequences arising from the decision to postpone taxation until a disposition occurs.

An alternative to the realization rule is accrual taxation - the inclusion in the tax base of annual increases and decreases …

Speculating On The Future Of Attorney Responsibility To Nonclients, Barbara Glesner Fines

Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Toward A Tax-Based Explanation Of The Liability Insurance Crisis, Kyle D. Logue

Articles

The so-called liability insurance crisis of 1985 and 1986 transformed the way we think about tort law and about liability insurance markets. The crisis phenomena, which first appeared in late 1984 and lasted until mid-1986, consisted of enormous increases in liability insurance premiums and alarming reductions in the availability of certain types of liability coverage. In the two principal liability lines of insurance (Other Liability and Medical Malpractice), premiums increased by hundreds (in some cases thousands) of percentage points in a matter of months. At the same time, the availability of liability insurance contracted sharply. The liability policies that were …

Taxing Contingency Fee Attorneys As Investors: Recognizing The Modern Reality, Robert M. Amkraut

Washington Law Review

In the 1995 case of Boccardo v. Commissioner, the Ninth Circuit changed the tax treatment of advances made by attorneys working on contingency fee arrangements. The court held that, in a specific type of contingency fee arrangement, costs paid by an attorney are deductible as ordinary and necessary business expenses. This decision not only challenges assumptions underlying decades of case law and centuries of legal ethical tradition, but it also undermines the tax accounting principle of matching expenses with related income. This Note summarizes the traditional rationales for prohibiting attorneys from deducting such costs and analyzes the Boccardo decision. …

Gambling With The Irs: The Enforcement Of Retroactive Tax Statutes In United States V. Carlton, Stewart Haskins

Mercer Law Review

In United States v. Carlton, the Supreme Court rejected a Due Process challenge to the retroactive elimination of an estate tax deduction. In 1986, Congress revised the Internal Revenue Code to allow a deduction under 26 U.S.C. § 2057 for half the proceeds of a sale of employer securities by the executor of an estate to an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). Jerry W. Carlton was the executor of Willametta K. Day's estate. In December 1986, Carlton used estate funds to purchase MCI stock valued at $11,206,000. Two days later, Carlton sold the stock to the MCI ESOP for …

Irs Overhauls Spin-Off Ruling Guidelines, Stuart M. Finkelstein, Stuart G. Lazar

Other Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Section L04(A)(2) After Commissioner U. Schleier: Litigating The Excludability Of Statutory Damages "Received On Account Of Personal Injuries", T. James Lee Jr.

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Federal Taxation, Timothy J. Peaden, Ben E. Muraskin, James A. Lawton

Mercer Law Review

During 1995, as in past years, the Eleventh Circuit considered several procedural issues. The procedural issues decided in 1995 involved refund claims, tax liens, and litigation fees. As to substantive tax issues, the court affirmed the taxpayer-favorable Tax Court decision in Estate of Hubert v. Commissioner. The estate tax issue involved, however, is a controversial one, and the Sixth and Federal Circuit Courts of Appeals have previously reached a contrary conclusion.

No Exclusion For Adea Claims Under I.R.C. § 104(A)(2): An Analysis Of Commissioner V. Schleier, T. Mark Sandifer

Mercer Law Review

In order to resolve inconsistent conclusions between the courts of appeals as to the taxability of damages received under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in Commissioner v. Schleier. After receiving damages in an ADEA settlement with United Airlines, Inc., Erich Schleier included as gross income the back pay portion of the settlement, but excluded the portion of the settlement attributed to liquidated damages on his 1986 federal income tax return. The Tax Commissioner issued a deficiency notice, claiming Schleier should have included the liquidated damages as gross income. …

Customary International Law And State Taxation Of Corporate Income: The Case For The Separate Accounting Method, Chantal Thomas

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The American Dream In Legislation: The Role Of Popular Symbols In Wealth Tax Policy, William S. Blatt

Articles

No abstract provided.

The Plethora Of Consumption Tax Proposals: Putting The Value Added Tax, Flat Tax, Retail Sales Tax, And Usa Tax Into Perspective, Alan Schenk

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

Innocent Spouses, Reasonable Women And Divorce: The Gap Between Reality And The Internal Revenue Code, Stephen A. Zorn

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

This Article asks whether the "reasonable woman" should become the standard for women seeking relief from tax liabilities under the innocent spouse provision of the I.R.C. and whether an even more specific standard should be adopted for women who are also going through divorce or are in similar situations.

How Charitable Organizations Influence Federal Tax Policy: "Rent-Seeking" Charities Or Virtuous Politicians?, Nancy J. Knauer

Nancy J. Knauer

Tax-exempt charitable organizations exert considerable influence over Congress, the Department of the Treasury, and the Internal Revenue Service in matters dealing with exemption from federal income tax and the tax deductibility of charitable contributions. This Article uses both public choice and public interest analysis to help identify various features of the charitable community and explain how exempt organizations weild political influence despite the restrictions placed on their activities under the tax code. Arguing that the influence of charitable organizations over tax policy can be explained from either a public choice or public interest vantage point, the Article concluds that the …

Reflections On Executive Compensation And A Modest Proposal For (Further) Reform, Mark J. Loewenstein

Publications

No abstract provided.

The Return Of The White Buffalo: Taxation Issues Facing American Indian Tribes Conducting Gambling Enterprises On Tribal Lands, Jose J. Monsivais

American Indian Law Review

No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of The Disallowance Of Advertising Expenses For Tobacco Products, Ravi Mannam

LLM Theses and Essays

Generally, reasonable expenses incurred in the ordinary and necessary course of a legitimate trade or business are deductible from gross income under the U.S. Tax Code; however in an effort to curb tobacco use, recent legislation has disallowed this benefit to tobacco companies for advertising expenses. The judiciary has upheld this disallowance under the doctrine of legislative grace. This thesis critiques the doctrine of legislative grace along with a review Congress’s power to tax income and the role of deductions. Also, the possibility of disallowing business expenses under public policy grounds is examined, and the relationship between lobbying expenses and …

Of Fairness And Might: The Limits Of Sovereign Power To Tax After Winstar, Leo P. Martinez

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Taxpayer's Third Personality: Comments On Redlark V. Commissioner, William D. Popkin

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

"Civil"Lzing Tax Procedure: Applying General Federal Learning To Statutory Notices Of Deficiency, Leandra Lederman

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Tax procedure has been rather isolated from the main currents of civil procedure. Using the statutory notice of deficiency as an exemplar, the article explores how viewing tax procedure issues from the perspective of general civil litigation can facilitate procedural regularity and foster fairness to United States Tax Court contestants. The statutory notice is the document by which the IRS forewarns a taxpayer of impending assessment of tax greater than the amount reported on the taxpayer's return. The article identifies three functions of the notice and their general civil litigation analogues. First, like legal process, it provides the taxpayer with …

The Excludability Of Employment Discrimination Awards Under Code Section 104(A)(2) After Burke V. United States And Commissioner V. Schleier, Leandra Lederman

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Tax Transitions, Opportunistic Retroactivity, And The Benefits Of Government Precommitment, Kyle D. Logue

Articles

What if the current federal income tax laws were repealed and replaced with a simple flat tax? What if the entire Internal Revenue Code (with its graduated rates and countless deductions, exclusions, and credits) were scuttled in favor of a broad-based consumption tax? Only a few years ago, such proposals would have seemed radical and extremely unlikely to be adopted. But times are changing. Calls for a drastic overhaul of the Internal Revenue Code have become commonplace, even at the highest levels in the tax-policy community. In addition, proposals that would replace the income tax with a flat-rate broad-based consumption …

Tax Deduction Of Hazardous Waste Cleanup Costs: Harmonizing Federal Tax And Environmental Policies, Jeffrey M. Gaba

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

The issue of the deductibility of environmental cleanup costs involves the complex and painful intersection of tax and environmental law. The basic issue is whether environmental remediation costs may be immediately deducted as ordinary and necessary expenses or whether they must they be capitalized as improvements to land. A recent revenue ruling by the IRS, Rev. Rul. 94-38, addresses a relatively simple situation but basically leaves the most difficult issues unresolved.

This article discusses whether cleanup expenses may be immediately deducted when the payments were made by the current landowner and 1) the contamination was caused and cleaned up by …

Theories Of The Corporation And The Tax Treatment Of Corporate Philanthropy Symposium: Corporate Philanthropy Law, Culture, Education, And Politics, Linda Sugin

Faculty Scholarship

This essay is organized as follows: Part I describes the entity model of the corporation as developed in corporate and ethical theory, showing how that model is embodied in the Code and how variations in that model produce different conclusions about the legitimacy of the charitable contribution deduction for corporations. It discusses some issues that arise when corporate philanthropy is considered in the context of the entity theory and how the tax law might respond to those issues. Part II explains how the nexus-of-contracts conception of the corporation, applied as an analytical tool, challenges the tax law's treatment of corporate …

Equality, Liberty, And A Fair Income Tax, Marjorie E. Kornhauser

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article summarizes various formal theories of justice and of income taxation. It explores the nature of the American perception of justice. First, it provides an overview of the two political concepts that have shaped our country—liberty and equality. It then summarizes the American tradition, labeled "moral economic individualism," that articulates the meanings of liberty and equality that resonate most strongly within the national psyche. It surveys empirical evidence of American beliefs about distributive justice and taxation. The Article concludes that American beliefs in liberty and equality support a mildly progressive hybrid income-consumption tax, rather than a pure income tax …