Law Commons^™

Principles Of Federal Income Taxation, 7th Edition, Daniel Posin, Donald Tobin

Donald B. Tobin

Includes analysis of cases and concepts of the leading casebooks, explanations with amplified diagrams and flow charts, and extensive treatment of the time value of money issues. Explores exotic Wall Street techniques employed to avoid capital gains. In clear language, this book explains equity swaps, shorting against the box, swap funds, and DECS. Presents, among other high-profile situations, a case study of how former Treasury Secretary William Simon and his partners made $700 million in profits on the sale of the Avis car rental agency less than two years after they bought it and paid no taxes.

A Better Direction For California's Climate Change Policy, David Gamage, Mark Gergen

David Gamage

No abstract provided.

Why The Affordable Care Act Authorizes Tax Credits On The Federal Exchanges, David Gamage, Darien Shanske

David Gamage

This Essay refutes Adler’s and Cannon’s argument that the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) does not authorize premium tax credits for insurance policies purchased from the federal healthcare Exchanges. Adler’s and Cannon’s argument is the basis of challenges in a number of ongoing lawsuits, including Oklahoma ex rel. Pruitt v. Sebelius and Halbig v. Sebelius. This Essay conducts a textual analysis of the Affordable Care Act and concludes that the text clearly authorizes premium tax credits for insurance policies purchased from the federal healthcare Exchanges.

On November 7th, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the appeal of the King …

5 Myths About Payout Rules For Donor Advised Funds, Ray Madoff

Ray D. Madoff

No abstract provided.

Representing The Failing Company Where The Irs Is "Knocking On The Door", Craig Bell, T. Fogg, George Gretes, Nina Olson

T. Keith Fogg

No abstract provided.

Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer Quoted In Propublica "The Irs Moves To Limit Dark Money – But Enforcement Still A Question", Lloyd Mayer

Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer

Lloyd Mayer was quoted in the ProPublica article "The IRS Moves to Limit Dark Money – But Enforcement Still a Question" by Kim Barker. The proposed regulations “are only as good as the extent of compliance with them, which history would indicate requires a realistic threat of enforcement and significant sanctions on the groups involved and probably the individuals running those groups,” said Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, a law professor and associate dean at the University of Notre Dame who specializes in nonprofits and campaign finance.

Lloyd Mayer Was Quoted In Bna, Inc. Money & Politics Report Article "Treasury, Irs Propose New Definition Of Political Activity For Social Welfare Groups.", Lloyd Mayer

Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer

Lloyd Mayer was quoted in BNA, Inc. Money & Politics Report article Treasury, IRS Propose New Definition Of Political Activity for Social Welfare Groups. by Diane Freda.

Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer Quoted In Propublica "New Tax Return Shows Karl Rove's Group Spent Even More On Politics Than It Said", Lloyd Mayer

Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer

Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer quoted in ProPublica article "New Tax Return Shows Karl Rove's Group Spent Even More On Politics Than It Said" by Kim Barker. Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, a law professor and associate dean at the University of Notre Dame who specializes in nonprofits and campaign finance, reviewed the Americans for Tax Reform documents at the request of ProPublica and said it was possible that the group was allocating overhead or other costs differently in its tax return than in its FEC filings. "I do not see how any reasonable allocation differences could result in such a large disparity, however," …

Tax In The Cathedral: Property Rules, Liability Rules, And Tax, Andrew Blair-Stanek

Andrew Blair-Stanek

The distinction between property rules and liability rules has revolutionized our understanding of many areas of law. But scholars have long assumed that this distinction has no relevance to tax law. This assumption is flatly wrong. Tax law currently uses both property rules and liability rules, and the choice between them has real consequences. When a taxpayer violates a requirement for a favorable tax status, tax law either imposes additional tax proportionate to the harm (a liability rule) or imposes the draconian penalty of taking away the tax status entirely (a property rule). This recognition has three key implications. First, …

Death, Taxes & Divorce: Why Every Ex-Spouse Needs A New Estate Plan, Lindsey Paige Markus, Assistance From Evan D. Blewett

Evan Blewett

No one can escape the inevitable — death and taxes. And unfortunately, according to the U.S. Census Bureau nearly 50 percent of all marriages will end in divorce. The divorce process is incredibly stressful. Clients are often so overwhelmed with emotional, financial and legal complexities, they fail to consider the estate planning implications of their separation and divorce. However, proactive planning can help ensure assets do not pass to a soon-to-be-ex or a former spouse.

Dispute Resolution: The Mutual Agreement Procedure, Hugh Ault

Hugh J. Ault

No abstract provided.

Some Reflections On The Oecd And The Sources Of International Tax Principles, Hugh Ault

Hugh J. Ault

This article is the revised text of a lecture held on May 2, 2013, at the Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance. It focuses on the OECD's work on the definition of Permanent Establishment, the transfer pricing treatment of Intangibles and the recently announced project on base erosion and profit shifting ("BEPS"). After describing these positive law developments, Ault relates to more basic questions of how principles of international tax law, and particular the normative claims to taxing rights, are established.

The Death Of The Income Tax: A Progressive Consumption Tax And The Path To Fiscal Reform, Daniel Goldberg

Daniel S. Goldberg

The Death of the Income Tax explains how the current income tax is needlessly complex, contains perverse incentives against saving and investment, fails to use modern technology to ease compliance and collection burdens, and is subject to micromanaging and mismanaging by Congress. Daniel Goldberg proposes that the solution to the problems of the current income tax is completely replacing it with a progressive consumption tax collected electronically at the point of sale.

Eliminate The Marriage Penalty, Melissa Murray, Dennis Ventry

Melissa Murray

No abstract provided.

A Potential Game Changer In E-Commerce Taxation, David Gamage, Andrew Haile, Darien Shanske

David Gamage

In this essay, we evaluate recent legislative proposals for Congress to authorize state taxation of e-commerce. We argue that these proposals contain a potential game-changing innovation — the requirement that states provide remote sellers with “adequate software” for calculating use tax due within the state. Properly implemented, we explain how this innovation could force states to internalize the compliance costs of levying tax collection obligations on remote sellers, thereby incentivizing the states to simplify their sales and use tax statutes and resolving concerns about states overburdening interstate commerce.

Occupy The Tax Code: Using The Estate Tax To Reduce Inequality And Spur Economic Growth, James R. Repetti, Paul L. Caron

James R. Repetti

The Theory And Practice Of Modern Taxation, By William R. Green, Robert Brown

Dr Robert Brown

No abstract provided.

Domicile Versus Situs As The Basis Of Tax Jurisdiction, Robert Brown

Dr Robert Brown

Address by Robert C. Brown, Professor of Law at Indiana University School of Law, delivered at the National Tax Conference, Indianapolis, Indiana, October, 1936.

Court Procedure In Federal Tax Cases, Robert Brown

Dr Robert Brown

No abstract provided.

The Saga Of State ‘Amazon’ Laws: Reflections On The Colorado Decision, David Gamage, Darien Shanske

David Gamage

We analyze the Colorado district court’s decision in Direct Marketing Association v. Huber – a decision that permanently enjoined Colorado’s "Amazon" law. Had it not been enjoined, the Colorado law would have mandated information reporting by remote e-commerce vendors so that Colorado could levy its sales and use tax on the e-commerce purchases made by Colorado residents. We evaluate the applicability of the Tax (Anti-)Injunction Act and whether the Colorado statute and regulations should be reviewed as a tax or as a regulation. We also suggest alternative approaches that state legislatures might use in order to levy taxes on remote …

Ancillary Joint Ventures And The Unanswered Questions After Revenue Ruling 2004-51

Gabriel O Aitsebaomo

Ever since the Internal Revenue Service (the "Service") issued Revenue Ruling 98-15… in which it emphasized "control" as a critical factor in determining whether a tax-exempt hospital that enters into a whole-hospital joint venture with a for-profit entity would continue to maintain its tax-exemption, practitioners and scholars alike have sought guidance from the Service regarding whether such "control" would also be required of an exempt organization that enters into an "ancillary joint venture" with a for-profit entity. In response, the Service issued Revenue Ruling 2004-51 on May 6, 2004.

… In Revenue Ruling 2004-51, the Service enunciated that a tax-exempt …

The Supreme Court's Health Care Decision And The Problem With Relyng On The Taxing Power, David Gamage

David Gamage

No abstract provided.

Conversations: David Gamage, David Gamage

David Gamage

Tax Analysts' Matthew Dalton recently spoke with David Gamage of the University of California Berkeley School of Law about his recent stint working at Treasury and the unexpected tax consequences of healthcare reform.

On Tax Increase Limitations: Part Ii — Evasion And Transcendence, David Gamage, Darien Shanske

David Gamage

In this essay, the second of a series, we continue our evaluation of state Tax Increase Limitations (TILs) – special rules that limit state legislatures’ ability to raise taxes, such as by requiring supermajority votes. We analyze two strategies whereby majority parties can evade TILs to the extent they so desire. We further argue that these strategies have some positive normative features. The strategies designed to evade TILs may ultimately lead toward a more effective means for controlling the size of state government than TILs themselves are able to provide.

A Basic Guide To Taxing Economic Rent In Australia, John Passant

John Passant

Taxing economic rent is one key element in tax reform in Australia and sets possible directions for the future. This paper introduces readers to the ideas of Adam Smith and David Ricardo and others on rent to aid understanding of the debates about economic rent today. The discussion also includes the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax, the Australia’s Future Tax System Report and the Minerals Resource Rent Tax. The thinking of Smith and Ricardo was that rent was unearned gain. It is unearned because it arises as a consequence of the nature of the holding, an exclusive property right against the …

On Tax Increase Limitations: Part I - A Costly Incoherence, David Gamage, Darien Shanske

David Gamage

In this essay, the first of a series, we explore the theoretical implications of one particular type of fiscal limitation on state legislatures - namely, special rules limiting tax increases. In this first essay we will explore the analytic soundness of these tax increase limitations (TILs). In future essays in this series we will analyze some of the consequences of TILs and in particular how they can be 'evaded.' We will argue over the course of this series of essays that because there is no meaningful content to the term 'tax increase' as it is used in TILs, legislative majorities …

The Case For Reducing The Market Salience Of Taxation, David Gamage, Darien Shanske

David Gamage

This paper considers a narrow but important question that has arisen in the literature on tax salience. Contrary to the predictions of neoclassical economic theory, a number of studies have demonstrated that, in response to certain presentations of tax prices, consumers do not always fully factor tax costs into their market decisions. This result indicates that policy makers could opt for tax price presentation techniques that would reduce the market salience of taxation, thereby likely also reducing the deadweight loss otherwise caused by taxpayers distorting their behavior to avoid taxation. Assuming that these experimental results are sound, and bracketing the …

Testamentary Substitutes—A Time For Statutory Clarification, Sidney Kwestel, Rena Seplowitz

Rena C. Seplowitz

No abstract provided.

Testamentary Substitutes—A Time For Statutory Clarification, Sidney Kwestel, Rena Seplowitz

Sidney Kwestel

No abstract provided.

The U.S. Consumption Tax: Evolution, Not Revolution, Daniel Goldberg

Daniel S. Goldberg

The article expresses the view that the current Internal Revenue Code has evolved into a hybrid income tax and consumption tax. It begins by explaining the difference between an income tax and a consumption tax and provides the backgrounds of the alternative forms of consumption tax: (1) consumed income, (2) yield exemption, and (3) point-of-sale taxation. Under the consumed income tax model of consumption tax, the individual taxpayer includes all items of income, both from labor and from capital, in its tax base, and then subtracts or deducts the portion of that income that he saves or invests. The resulting …