Law Commons^™

Constructive Dividend Doctrine From An Integrationist Perspective, Anthony P. Polito

Akron Tax Journal

A long standing feature of U.S. corporate taxation is a group of doctrinal devices serving to prevent taxpayer attempts to avoid double taxation of corporate earnings. This Article refers to these devices collectively as the constructive dividend doctrine (hereinafter “CDD”) and analyzes the extent to which the CDD ought to be set aside as counterproductive.

This analysis is grounded in contrasting views of the normative tax treatment of corporate enterprise. On the one hand is the perspective in which the double income taxation of corporate income is normative (the “Double Tax Perspective”). The Double Tax Perspective calls for taxation of …

I.R.C. Section 1014(E) And Gifted Property Reconveyed In Trust, Mark R. Siegel

Akron Tax Journal

The taxpayer’s method of property acquisition is significant in determining the proper income tax or adjusted basis in the property. Distinct adjusted basis rules apply to the transferee of property acquired by purchase, gift, and inheritance. A buyer who purchases property for cash receives an adjusted basis in the property acquired equal to its cost. For property acquired by gift, the general rule is that the donee’s adjusted basis equals the donor’s adjusted basis immediately prior to the transfer. A third income tax basis regime applies to the taxpayer who happens to acquire property by inheritance upon the death of …

Penalty Protection Opinions And Advisor Conflicts Of Interest, David T. Moldenhauer

Akron Tax Journal

This article has five parts. The second part describes the statutory and regulatory standards for taxpayers seeking to rely on tax advice to avoid penalties. The third part describes the cases where a taxpayer has sought to rely on the opinion of a tax advisor with a conflict of interest. Those cases involve three types of situations: (1) tax advisors acting as promoters or brokers of a tax shelter; (2) tax advisors with referral arrangements with tax shelter promoters; and (3) tax advisors that are developers or implementers of a tax strategy. Typically, in the first two types of situations, …

Failing Corporate Tax Transparency And The Immediate Need To Reduce Overburdening Duplicative Tax Reporting Requirements, Ilya A. Lipin

Akron Tax Journal

The benefits to corporate taxpayers from the continuing additions to disclosure requirements have not been obvious. Despite expenditures by corporate taxpayers on compliance, there is evidence that the Service has not been using all of the information it receives from additional disclosure forms.28 Duplicative disclosures of the same or similar tax information that lead to additional costs are of immediate concern to the corporate taxpayer.29 The estimated corporate taxpayers’ compliance tax burden is summarized in Appendix 1. Part II of this article describes in detail key existing reporting requirements such as reportable transaction disclosure statement and Form 8886, disclosure statements …

Achieving Meaningful Civil Tax Penalty Reform And Making It Stick, Jeremiah Coder

Akron Tax Journal

This essay examines the historical use of penalties within the tax code, reviews a number of reports that led to the last round of significant penalty reform legislation, and considers existing problems of penalty administration. Several proposals are outlined to ensure that if and when Congress acts to simplify and revise the penalty regime, the reforms will have lasting impact. Part II covers the growth of penalties in the tax system from its original simple form through its significant expansion to the time that the IRS and Congress worked to cut back the complexity of the civil tax penalty regime …