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Full-Text Articles in Law
Unseating Privilege: Rawls, Equality Of Opportunity, And Wealth Transfer Taxation, Jennifer Bird-Pollan
Unseating Privilege: Rawls, Equality Of Opportunity, And Wealth Transfer Taxation, Jennifer Bird-Pollan
Law Faculty Scholarly Articles
This Article is the second in a series that examines the estate tax from a particular philosophical position in order to demonstrate the relevance and importance of the wealth transfer taxes to that position. In this Article, I explore Rawlsian equality of opportunity, a philosophical position that is at the heart of much American thought. Equality of opportunity requires not only ensuring that sufficient opportunities are available to the least well-off members of society but also that opportunities are not available to other members merely because of their wealth or other arbitrary advantages. Therefore, an income tax alone, even one …
Death, Taxes, And Property (Rights): Nozick, Libertarianism, And The Estate Tax, Jennifer Bird-Pollan
Death, Taxes, And Property (Rights): Nozick, Libertarianism, And The Estate Tax, Jennifer Bird-Pollan
Law Faculty Scholarly Articles
The primary purpose of this Article is to dispute the moral claims to post-death property rights made by libertarians when they argue against the estate tax. As I will show later in this Article, my argument does not necessarily entail enacting an estate tax, nor does it require a particular level of tax. I am merely trying to demonstrate that those who argue that the estate tax is an immoral violation of the private property rights of the deceased are mistaken. This is not to say that the estate of the deceased should necessarily pass to the government. It is …
The Rise Of The Perpetual Trust, Jesse Dukeminier, James E. Krier
The Rise Of The Perpetual Trust, Jesse Dukeminier, James E. Krier
Articles
For more than two centuries, the Rule against Perpetuities has served as the chief means of limiting a transferor's power to tie up property by way of successive contingent interests. But recently, at least seventeen jurisdictions in the United States have enacted statutes abolishing the Rule in the case of perpetual (or near-perpetual) trusts. The prime mover behind this important development has been the federal Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax. This Article traces the gradual decline of the common law Rule against Perpetuities, considers the dynamics behind the recent wave of state legislation, examines the problems that might result from the rise …
Introduction, Douglas A. Kahn
Introduction, Douglas A. Kahn
Articles
While the estate and gift tax area has by no means been ignored in the legal literature, it has not been one of the more popular subjects. For that reason, a symposium on transfer taxation would be welcome at any time, but this is an especially propitious moment for one to appear.
The Estate Tax Marital Deduction, Harold Dubroff, Douglas A. Kahn
The Estate Tax Marital Deduction, Harold Dubroff, Douglas A. Kahn
Articles
The estate tax marital deduction, section 2056 of the Internal Revenue Code, was enacted in 1948, along with the split-income provisions of the income tax law and the marital deduction and split-gift provisions of the gift tax law. The purpose was to give married residents of common law states approximately the same federal tax advantages that were available to married residents of community property states. Ordinarily, upon the death of a married resident of a community property state, only one-half of the community property is taxed in the decedent's estate. Section 2056 achieves approximately the same result for married residents …
Recent Developments In Gift And Estate Taxation, Douglas A. Kahn
Recent Developments In Gift And Estate Taxation, Douglas A. Kahn
Other Publications
A summarization of recent tax cases.
Transactions Subject To Gift Tax, Douglas A. Kahn, Earl M. Colson
Transactions Subject To Gift Tax, Douglas A. Kahn, Earl M. Colson
Articles
The gift tax is imposed on the "transfer of property by gift." The term gift is not expressly defined either in the Code or in the Treasury Regulations. However, section 2512(b), dealing with the valuation of gifts, states that "where property is transferred for less than an adequate and full consideration in money or money's worth," the difference between the value of the property transferred and the consideration received constitutes a gift. Thus, for gift tax purposes, the determination of whether a gift was made does not turn so much on the intent of the transferor as it does on …
Joint Tenancies And Tenancies By The Entirety In Michigan—Federal Gift Tax Considerations, Douglas A. Kahn
Joint Tenancies And Tenancies By The Entirety In Michigan—Federal Gift Tax Considerations, Douglas A. Kahn
Articles
The establishment of joint tenancy' ownership of property, or the termination of such a tenancy, may have federal gift tax consequences to the co-owners of the property. Consequently, the gift tax is a factor to be weighed before embarking on either of these ventures. The gift tax consequences are determined by the nature of the property rights enjoyed by the joint tenants under the controlling state property law, and accordingly it is desirable, where Michigan property law is applicable, to consider the Michigan law and the significance of that law to the operation of the gift tax. However, before discussing …