Law Commons^™

The Surprising Significance Of De Minimis Tax Rules, Leigh Osofsky, Kathleen Delaney Thomas

Washington and Lee Law Review

De minimis tax rules—rules that eliminate tax burdens for low-income taxpayers or low-dollar transactions—abound in the tax law. Despite the prevalence of such rules, legal scholarship has treated them as—well—de minimis, or as mere rounding errors that do not merit sustained attention. This perspective is understandable. If de minimis rules address insignificant taxpayers or tax liabilities, aren’t the rules themselves likely to be insignificant?

Recent tax law developments have revealed that this conception of de minimis tax rules is deeply misguided. Major allocations of tax law liability, as well as accompanying questions about the fairness, efficiency, and administrability of the …

Something For Nothing: Universal Basic Income And The Value Of Work Beyond Incentives, Jonathan D. Grossberg

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

Proponents and opponents of a universal basic income all acknowledge that the most significant political challenge to its adoption in the United States is that a universal basic income would not have a work requirement attached. Often, this is characterized as a problem involving incentives—the availability of a universal basic income would cause many people to stop working (or significantly curtail the number of hours that they work) and simply live off the universal basic income. This Article makes three contributions to the literature related to a universal basic income: First, it provides a typology for understanding the many reasons …

Eitc For All: A Universal Basic Income Compromise Proposal, Benjamin M. Leff

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

Much has been written about a concept called universal basic income (UBI). With a UBI, the government gives every person a certain amount of money each year, or even each month. The UBI has broad appeal with thinkers on both the right and the left, but the appeal is partially because different thinkers have different visions of what the current state of affairs is with respect to government welfare policies and different theories about why these existing policies are inadequate or damaging. Reforming existing programs, rather than making a radical break with the past, could satisfy at least some of …

Converging Welfare States: Symposium Keynote, Susannah Camic Tahk

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

Susannah Camic Tahk, Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development and Associate Professor of Law at the University of Wisconsin Law School, speaks to the Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice 2018 symposium, Always with Us? Poverty, Taxes, and Social Policy. She addresses the following questions: To what extent do the particular advantages of the tax antipoverty programs persist as the tax antipoverty programs take center stage? Can tax programs, once distinguished from their direct-spending counterparts on the grounds of relative popularity and legal and administrative ease of access maintain those hallmarks as the tax-based welfare state grows …

United States Policy And The Taxation Of International Intangible Income, Stanley I. Langbein

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

No abstract provided.

Bc Ranch Ii V. Commissioner: A Flexible Approach To Perpetual Conservation Easements, Victoria Wolfe

Indiana Law Journal

Depending on the approach used in enforcement, there is the potential to encourage or discourage charitable donations of conservation easements. In Part I, this Note explores the federal charitable income tax deduction for conservation easements and the legislative purpose in enacting the perpetuity requirements. Part II examines the Fifth Circuit’s decision in BC Ranch II and the flexible approach to perpetuity adopted by the court. Finally, Part III considers the implications of the BC Ranch II decision, specifically authority to monitor conservation easements, valuation gaming of easements in the context of perpetuity, and congressional intent in allowing the conservation easement …

Taxing Combat, Samuel Kan

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

When you are being shot at or dodging landmines you are in a combat zone. Diplomatic niceties aside, these brave warriors are in danger because of the policies of their Government and we must take care of them. Quite frankly, we must act to insure that we do not have a repeat of what happened in Somalia. In Somalia, the families of the soldiers who lost their lives could not receive the benefits that should have gone to them under the Tax Code because the President never declared it a combat zone.

We don’t know exactly where we’re at in …

Preventing Tax-Exempt Propaganda: The Case For Defining The Second Prong Of The Methodology Test, Jordanne Miller

Catholic University Law Review

Under current Treasury Regulations, various propaganda groups throughout the United States are exempt from paying federal income tax. This is so because the current test used by the IRS to determine tax-exempt eligibility, the methodology test, is incapable of separating wild propaganda from viewpoints supported by facts.

The IRS created the methodology test in the late 1970s/early 1980s. Since then, groups denied tax-exempt status have repeatedly challenged its validity. The IRS has responded, and the test has evolved. However, the second prong of the test remains undefined—it is still unclear what it means for facts to be “distorted.” This Comment …

How The 1 Percent Pays Taxes; How The 99 Percent Could: The Subchapter T Worker Cooperative Tax Loophole, Michael Haber

Journal of Law and Policy

The ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution granted Congress the right to tax income “from whatever source derived.” Since its inception, the tax code has become long and complicated, filled with broad taxation rules and innumerable exceptions. Over time, the tax code has been amended with the stated purpose of promoting “fairness, efficiency, and enforceability.” However, the complexity of the tax code has led to abuse of “tax loopholes” by wealthy taxpayers who want to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. While abuse is likely to continue, as legislators remain intent on lowering taxes on …

How The 1 Percent Pays Taxes; How The 99 Percent Could: The Subchapter T Worker Cooperative Tax Loophole, Michael Haber

Journal of Law and Policy

The ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution granted Congress the right to tax income “from whatever source derived.” Since its inception, the tax code has become long and complicated, filled with broad taxation rules and innumerable exceptions. Over time, the tax code has been amended with the stated purpose of promoting “fairness, efficiency, and enforceability.” However, the complexity of the tax code has led to abuse of “tax loopholes” by wealthy taxpayers who want to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. While abuse is likely to continue, as legislators remain intent on lowering taxes on …

What We Talk About When We Talk About Tax Complexity, Andrea Monroe

Michigan Business & Entrepreneurial Law Review

I learned most of what I know about being a lawyer, a teacher, and a scholar from Professor Douglas Kahn. For four months in the spring of 1997, Doug mesmerized and terrified me in the class that I feared would be my academic downfall—Partnership Taxation. In the years that followed, Doug has been a mentor and friend, encouraging and supporting me at every stage of my professional career. And my experience is not unique: Doug has inspired generations of law students in just the same way. There is no adequate way to thank Doug for everything he has given to …

Proposed Regulatory Change Of Treatment Of A Guaranteed Payment From A Partnership To A Partner, Douglas A. Kahn

Michigan Business & Entrepreneurial Law Review

A partnership pays no federal income tax. Instead, its income, deductions, and credits are allocated among its partners at the end of its taxable year. A partnership’s distribution of cash or property in kind to a partner will be characterized as one of three distinct transactions, each of which has its own tax consequences.

Bringing Continuity To Cryptocurrency: Commercial Law As A Guide To The Asset Categorization Of Bitcoin, Evan Hewitt

Seattle University Law Review

This Note will undertake to analyze bitcoin under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) and the Internal Revenue Code (IRC)—two important sources of commercial law—to see whether any existing asset categories adequately protect bitcoin’s commercial viability. This Note will demonstrate that although commercial law dictates that bitcoin should—nay must—be regulated as a currency in order to sustain its existence, the very definition of currency seems to preclude that from happening. Therefore, this Note will recommend that we experiment with a new type of asset that receives currency-like treatment, specifically designed for cryptocurrencies, under which bitcoin can be categorized in order to …

Dodging The Taxman: Why The Treasury’S Anti-Abuse Regulation Is Unconstitutional, Linda D. Jellum

University of Miami Law Review

To combat abusive tax shelters, the Department of the Treasury promulgated a general anti-abuse regulation applicable to all of subchapter K of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. The Treasury targeted subchapter K because unique aspects of the partnership tax laws—including its aggregate-entity dichotomy—foster creative tax manipulation. In the anti-abuse regulation, the Treasury attempted to “codify” existing judicially-created anti-abuse doctrines, such as the business-purpose and economic-substance doctrines. Also, and more surprisingly, the Treasury directed those applying subchapter K to use a purposivist approach to interpretation and to reject textualism.

In this article, I demonstrate that the Treasury exceeded both its …

Income Tax - Deductions For Facilitating Payments To Foreign Government Officials, Birney Bull

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

(Elephant) Death And Taxes: Proposed Tax Treatment Of Illegal Ivory, Angela Ostrowski

Animal Law Review

African elephants are poached for their ivory at alarming rates. If the cur­rent level of poaching continues, it is projected they will be extinct from the wild in the year 2025. Preserving the African elephant species is important from an animal rights, conservation, ecological, economical, and crime pre­vention perspective. The current penalties and fines for the illegal trade in ivory are not enough of a deterrent. One method of deterrence that has not yet been explored is the imposition of tax consequences on the illegal ivory trade. This Article proposes a number of ways to use the tax system to …

Consistency Is Key: To Preserve Legislative Intent The Irs Must Afford Legal Recognition To Non-Marital Relationships In A Post-Doma World, Shane R. Martins

Marquette Elder's Advisor

Although the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Windsor v. US allows for federal recognition of same-sex marriages, the Internal Revenue Service will only grant spousal recognition to couples residing in states that term same-sex unions as marriages. Consequently, spousal treatment will not be extended to non-marital relationships, even in states that treat their Civil Unions and Domestic Partnerships as “marital equivalents.” Given that spousal recognition for federal tax purposes was intended to ensure geographic uniformity and horizontal equity, the IRS must grant spousal recognition to couples who are in relationships that their respective state identifies as a “marital equivalent”.

Financial Disability For All, T. Keith Fogg, Rachel E. Zuraw

Catholic University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The New Starker: A Nonsimultaneous Exchange Expands Section 1031/ Collateral Estoppel Clarification, Robert B. Paysinger

Pepperdine Law Review

The new Starker decision addresses the issue whether a nonsimultaneous exchange qualifies for section 1031 nonrecognition treatment. The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in addressing this issue, also had to determine the appropriateness of the collateral estoppel "separable facts" doctrine under the facts in the case. The author provides an in-depth examination of the court's clarification of collateral estoppel and expansion of section 1031. The author, in agreeing with-the decision, welcomes the added flexibility the case lends to the real estate finance field.

Crane And Tufts: Resolved And Unresolved Issues, John Zimmerman

Pepperdine Law Review

Crane v. Commissioner and its famous footnote 37 have inspired much controversy and commentary. This article discusses the issues and unresolved questions surrounding the calculation of gain from relief of nonrecourse indebtedness. It does so through a thorough analysis of the actions of the courts, the Congress, and administrative agencies. The author concludes by suggesting several possible courses of action in resolving remaining ambiguities.

Tax Incentives For Innovation In A Modern Ip Ecosystem, Joshua Chao

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Technological innovation is a long-recognized catalyst for economic growth in the United States, and its promotion is an important feature of national economic policy, as evidenced by the presence of various tax incentives for innovation in the US Internal Revenue Code. Tax incentives are an important means by which governments can deliver subsidies to promote such innovation. To be effective, however, any system of tax incentives must be tailored for current economic conditions and competitive landscapes. In the current ecosystem of innovation in the United States, this means that, at the very least, the incentives for innovation in the US …

The Case For The Retention Of The State Death Tax Credit In The Federal Transfer Tax Scheme: "Just Say No" To A Deduction, John M. Janiga, Louis S. Harrison

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

How Long Can This Go On? The Controversy Over The Application Of The Statute Of Limitations To S Corporations And Their Shareholders, J. Marcus Sommers

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Fitness Tax Credits: Costs, Benefits, And Viability, Daniel M. Reach

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

As the number of overweight and obese Americans rises, it becomes increasingly clear that Americans need further incentives to stimulate lasting lifestyle changes. Tax incentives focused on exercise, which have been largely unexplored to this point, are an effective response to the growing obesity problem in the United States that would largely avoid the political opposition that tax policies focused on diet have encountered. In addition, they would also provide a more palatable solution for the taxpayer beneficiaries with a relatively low impact on government revenues. Viable tax incentives to encourage greater fitness include tax credits and sales tax breaks, …

Increased Tax Liability Awards After Eshelman: A Call For Expanded Acceptance Beyond The Realm Of Anti-Discrimination Statutes, Eirik Cheverud

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

When Canons Go To War In Indian Country, Guess Who Wins? Barrett V. United States: Tax Canons And Canons Of Construction In The Federal Taxation Of American Indians, John Lentz

American Indian Law Review

No abstract provided.

Federal Fairness To State Taxpayers: Irrationality, Unfunded Mandates, And The "Salt" Deduction, Brian Galle

Michigan Law Review

By sheer dollars alone, the largest impact of the Alternative Minimum Tax is to deny many taxpayers the deduction for the taxes they paid to their state and local governments under § 164 of the Internal Revenue Code. This Article provides a fine-grained analysis of the overall fairness of the state-andlocal- tax deduction--and, by implication, the fairness of its partial repeal through the Alternative Minimum Tax. I offer for the first time a close examination of how newly understood limits on taxpayer mobility and rationality might affect individuals' choices of bundles of local taxes and localgovernment services, which in turn …

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.

The Morality Of Money: American Attitudes Toward Wealth And The Income Tax, Marjorie E. Kornhauser

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Ird And S Corporations, Gregory V. Gadarian, Jonathan G. Blattmachr

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.