Law Commons^™

Joint Federal Income Tax Returns: If Doma Dies And Even If It Lives The Weak Case For Distinguishing Between Same-Sex And Different-Sex Married Couples, Julie A.D. Manasfi

Julie A.D. Manasfi

Joint Federal Income Tax Returns: If DOMA Dies And Even If It Lives The Weak Case For Distinguishing between Same-Sex and Different-Sex Married Couples State recognition of same-sex marriages and marriage-like statuses raised the question of whether these relationships would be respected for federal purposes. In 1996, the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”) answered the question with a definitive “no.” Section 3 of DOMA defines “marriage” for federal purposes as “a legal union between one man and one woman.” DOMA’s definition of marriage has been found unconstitutional in eight federal courts. In fact in 2011, at the instruction of President …

High-Profile, Low-Profile And Hidden Need Organizations: Understanding The Effects Of An Economic Downturn On Charitable Contributions, Grace S. Lee

Grace S Lee

Charitable giving has been a foundation of American society almost since the nation began, but the issue of how such giving should be treated for tax purposes has been the subject of frequent debate. Scholars have proposed various theories explaining why the positive effects of this deduction on both donors and donees outweigh the negative impact on government coffers of this tax expenditure, although many still criticize certain features of the deduction in its current form. However, one area of this research that has previously been neglected is how the charitable sector is affected by changes to the economy at …

Taxing Your Tears: Section 104(A)(2) And The Real Reason To Cry, Richard Cameron Gower

Richard Cameron Gower

For nearly a century the federal government has been taxing the income of its citizens. For almost as long, it has been exempting damages paid in tort suits from that tax. Nonetheless, scholars cannot agree as to why the exemption should exist. Many justifications have been proposed but they all fail to rationalize the personal injury exemption. After considering and dismissing a variety of justifications for the personal injury tort exemption, this Article considers the sympathy-based rationale for the exemption, which claims that personal physical injury plaintiffs deserve favorable tax treatment because of their sympathetic situations. Though personal physical injury …

Unequal Burdens In Eitc Compliance, Karie D. Davis-Nozemack

Karie D. Davis-Nozemack

Lower income means harsher treatment from the government for taxpayers who claim the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). EITC claimants are audited more often than any taxpayers other than the very wealthy. More concerning, however, is that the IRS audits EITC claimants by correspondence examination in a manner that unduly burdens access to this refundable tax credit, a credit that often keeps lower income workers out of poverty.

Improper payment law brings increased scrutiny to federal programs that issue erroneous payments. Because the EITC is alleged to have substantial improper payments, it is subject to federal improper payment law, which …

11 U.S.C. § 1222(A)(2)(A): Do You Think The Rain Will Ruin The Rhubarb?: Solutions To The Issues Raining Down On Farmers Attempting To Discharge Post-Petition Taxes Resulting From Bankrupcty, Merrill A. Hanson

Merrill A. Hanson

The Supreme Court should interpret section 1222 of the bankruptcy code broadly enough to discharge farmers’ post-petition income tax debts by considering the effects of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (“BAPCPA”) as a statement of Congress’s intent with chapter 12. Congress has shown leniency towards farmers’ bankruptcy reorganizations which is inferred by the structure of the code. The utility of reorganization will be undermined if Congress’s intent is ignored because farmers will be forced to convert their chapter 12 reorganizations to chapter 13 reorganizations or chapter 7 liquidations. In other words, farmers’ chapter 12 options will be …

Please Don't Squeeze The Charities: Taxing Charitable Contributions During An Economic Downturn, Grace S. Lee

Grace S Lee

Non-profit charitable organizations often experience enhanced financial strain during an economic crisis like the current one, since they frequently suffer not only a drop in donations but also an increase in demand for their services. This Article addresses this “squeeze” on the non-profit sector by proposing ways to increase levels of charitable giving by individuals and corporations during a recession, primarily through changes to the charitable deduction. In particular, this Article proposes converting the current deduction to a credit that is available to all taxpayers and providing a tax credit to employers who second their employees to work for charitable …

Formulaically Describing 21st Century Supreme Court Tax Jurisprudence Ii, 2001-2010., Andre L. Smith

Andre L. Smith

Abstract This article attempts to discover a deliberative formula in matters of taxation by culling the Supreme Court’s 14 federal tax opinions from 2001 to 2010 (Gitlitz v. Commissioner, Cleveland Indians Baseball v. United States, United Dominion Industries v. United States, United States v. Craft, United States v. Fior D’Italia, Boeing v. United States, United States v. Galletti, Banks v. Commissioner, Ballard v. Commissioner, EC Term of Years v. United States, Hinck v. United States, Clintwood Elkhorn v. United States, Knight v. United States, and Boulware v. United States). It continues the project Formulaically Expressing 21st Century Supreme Court Tax …

Real World Toys And Currency Turn The Legal World Upside Down: A Cross-Sectional Update On Virtual World Legalities, Ian W. Gillies

Ian W. Gillies

With 40 million members on the leading virtual world and overall user growth at 22%, some experts are saying virtual worlds are to the new millennium what websites were to the 90s. Just as the technological and economic growth of the internet drove numerous moral and legal issues to the forefront of society, so also will virtual world growth expand the overlapping moral and legal boundaries between virtual and real world experience. This paper provides a technology and market overview of virtual worlds and explores the intersection of some social and legal issues arising from the financial opportunity and virtual …