Law Commons^™

Strings Are Attached: Revealing The Hidden Subsidy For Perpetual Donor Limits On Gifts, Roger Colinvaux

Scholarly Articles

Charitable gifts often come with strings attached. Donors limit their gifts in many ways, by restricting an asset’s use or purpose, controlling the timing of spending (as in an endowment), securing naming rights, or by retaining effective control over the distribution or investment of the asset by giving to a charitable intermediary such as a donor advised fund or private foundation. Most donor limits are perpetual in nature and a form of dead hand control. The Article explains that default rules strongly favor donor limits. Property law allows donors wide latitude to place limits on gifts, and they are easy …

Speeding Up Benefits To Charity By Reforming Gifts To Intermediaries, Roger Colinvaux

Scholarly Articles

Charitable giving tax incentives are intended to encourage giving for public benefit. Gifts to intermediaries frustrate this goal. Presently, $1.26 trillion has accumulated in donor advised funds (DAFs) and private foundations. These are charitable intermediaries that do not benefit the public until they release their funds for public use. Congress has long recognized that intermediaries cause a “delay in benefit” problem because the tax incentive is awarded before the public benefits from the gift. Congress addressed this problem for foundations in 1969 by requiring them to pay out a minimum amount annually. Congress, however, has not addressed the problem for …

#Audited: Social Media And Tax Enforcement, Michelle Lyon Drumbl

Scholarly Articles

With limited resources and a diminished budget, it is not surprising that the Internal Revenue Service would seek new tools to maximize its enforcement efficiency. Automation and technology provide new opportunities for the IRS, and in turn, present new concerns for taxpayers. In December 2018, the IRS signaled its interest in a tool to access publicly available social media profiles of individuals in order to “expedite IRS case resolution for existing compliance cases.” This has important implications for taxpayer privacy.

Moreover, the use of social media in tax enforcement may pose a particular harm to an especially vulnerable population: low-income …

Bankruptcy, Taxes, And The Primacy Of Irs Refund Offsets: Copley V. United States, Michelle Lyon Drumbl

Scholarly Articles

The Bankruptcy Code and the Internal Revenue Code (I.R.C.) are statutory labyrinths of federal law. Copley v. United States called on the Fourth Circuit to resolve a question that arose when respective provisions of each collided. At the heart of Copley was a married couple seeking a fresh start with an expected $3,208 income tax refund. The Copleys wished to resolve their outstanding debts in bankruptcy and maximize the relief afforded to them under the Virginia homestead exemption provision, as permitted by the Bankruptcy Code. On the other side of the proverbial table was the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) armed …

Tax Attorneys As Defenders Of Taxpayer Rights, Michelle Lyon Drumbl

Scholarly Articles

What is the modern role of a tax practitioner, in particular a tax attorney, in the United States? In an era in which the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is underfunded, understaffed, and struggles to address its mission, tax attorneys play an important role as advocates for taxpayer rights.

Tax attorneys act as advocates who represent ordinary individual taxpayers in controversies with the IRS. These controversies include post-filing disputes, such as audits, as well as issues arising with the collection of assessed taxes. Many of these cases are resolved at the administrative level; those that cannot be resolved are litigated, most …

Charitable Tax Reform For The 21st Century, Roger Colinvaux, Ray Madoff

Scholarly Articles

The article identifies two goals of the charitable giving tax incentives: promoting actual charitable work and fostering a strong culture of charitable giving with broad participation. The recent increase to the standard deduction and the rise of donor-advised funds compromise both goals. The article outlines reform proposals to bolster the charitable sector, including expanding the giving incentive to all taxpayers in the form of a credit (subject to a giving floor), allowing some tax benefits to DAF donors upon contribution but delaying the income tax deduction until DAF funds are released from advisory privileges, closing loopholes that enable foundations and …

Social Welfare And Political Organizations: Ending The Plague Of Inconsistency, Roger Colinvaux

Scholarly Articles

This article considers the use of social welfare organizations for political purposes, assesses the damage, and offers solutions. Part I of the article provides an overview of present law and compares social welfare and political organizations in the context of political campaign intervention. Part II considers the many serious ongoing harms that have resulted from the current legal framework. Part III assesses different solutions. The article concludes that in general, the disclosure and financing rules concerning the political activity of social welfare and political organizations should be consistent. Consistent rules would reduce incentives to deceive regulators and the public and …

Fixing Philanthropy: A Vision For Charitable Giving And Reform, Roger Colinvaux

Scholarly Articles

The article explains how Congress can advance the goals and values of philanthropy and address the crisis of the charitable sector with a number of legislative initiatives. These include expansion of the charitable giving incentive, reform of in-kind contributions, getting more money to working charities with a payout rule for donor advised funds (DAFs), and changing standards for private foundation transfers to DAFs. Congress can also improve the worthiness of the charitable sector by maintaining the separation of politics and charity, supporting oversight (including by mandatory e-filing of returns), and by revisiting some of the rushed through ideas of recent …

Defending Place-Based Philanthropy By Defining The Community Foundation, Roger Colinvaux

Scholarly Articles

The article proceeds in three parts. Part I of the article provides a historical overview of the tax-exempt status of community foundations, from inception to the present day. Part II shows how the settled wisdom on the tax status of community foundations has been upset by the rise of the nationally sponsored donoradvised fund, the extent to which community foundations are different from national donor-advised fund sponsors, and whether it would be beneficial to define the community foundation for tax siders the possible content of a definition of the community foundation in the Internal Revenue Code in terms of their …

Failed Charity: Taking State Tax Benefits Into Account For Purposes Of The Charitable Deduction, Roger Colinvaux

Scholarly Articles

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) substantially limited the ability of individuals to deduct state and local taxes (SALT) on their federal income tax returns. Some states are advancing schemes to allow taxpayers a state tax credit for contributions to a charity controlled by the state. The issue is whether state tax benefits are deductible as a charitable contribution for purposes of the federal income tax. Under a general rule of prior law—the full deduction rule—state tax benefits were ignored for purposes of the charitable deduction. If the full deduction rule is applied to the state workaround schemes, then …

Donor Advised Funds: Charitable Spending Vehicles For 21st Century Philanthropy, Roger Colinvaux

Scholarly Articles

The donor advised fund (DAF) is changing longstanding giving norms in United States philanthropy. DAF contributions now account for around 8.4% of giving by individuals in the U.S. Over half of those contributions go to national DAF sponsors that have relationships with large commercial investment firms like Fidelity, Vanguard, and Schwab. This Article seeks to advance the understanding of the donor advised fund and to address two of the main policy questions: whether to require a mandatory distribution of funds by DAFs and their sponsoring organizations and how to respond to the increased use of DAFs for noncash charitable contributions. …

Beyond Polemics: Poverty, Taxes, And Noncompliance, Michelle Lyon Drumbl

Scholarly Articles

The earned income tax credit (EITC) is perhaps the most significant refundable credit in the U.S. tax system. Designed as an anti-poverty program, it is a social benefit administered by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Studies show it has a positive impact upon the children whose families receive it. Despite its many positives, however, the EITC is a program that for years has been plagued by taxpayer noncompliance. Though it is believed that the majority of EITC noncompliance may be unintentional, public reports of misconduct and fraud hurt the program’s image and fuel political rhetoric.

This article unpacks the rhetoric. …

The Constitutional Nature Of The United States Tax Court, Brant J. Hellwig

Scholarly Articles

Is the United States Tax Court part of the Executive Branch of government? One would expect that question would be capable of being definitively answered without considerable difficulty. And as recently expressed by the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, that indeed is the case. In the course of addressing a challenge to the President's ability to remove a judge of the Tax Court for cause on separation of powers grounds, the D.C. Circuit rejected the premise that the removal power implicates two branches of government: "the Tax Court exercises Executive authority as part of the Executive …

Joint Winners, Separate Losers: Proposals To Ease The Sting For Married Taxpayers Filing Separately, Michelle Lyon Drumbl

Scholarly Articles

A taxpayer who is “considered as married” according to the Internal Revenue Code’s definition must file either a joint income tax return or an individual return using the “married filing separately” filing status. Those married taxpayers who file a separate, rather than a joint, income tax return are denied valuable benefits and subjected to a host of other unfavorable limitations. Low-income taxpayers, in particular, are hurt by these limitations. Certain married taxpayers, including victims of domestic violence and abandoned spouses, may have no choice but to file using the married filing separately status. Low-income taxpayers are denied tremendous benefits, such …

Professors Do Not Provide Childs Support, Gregg D. Polsky, Brant J. Hellwig

Scholarly Articles

In "Structuring Legal Fees Without Annuities: Offspring of Childs," Tax Notes, July 20, 2015, p. 341 , Robert W. Wood argues that Childs v. Commissioner, 103 T.C. 634 (1994), provides tremendous investment flexibility for plaintiffs' lawyers who choose to invest their contingent fees in tax-favored structured attorney fee products. Likewise, Gerald Nowotny has recently noted that the Childs case allows those lawyers to invest their contingent fees in private placement variable annuities.

We agree with Wood and Nowotny. In fact, the reasoning of Childs would allow any taxpayer in any industry to use similar vehicles to invest items of …

"Was The Deal Worth It?": The Dilemma Of States With Ineffective Economic Incentives Programs, Randle B. Pollard

Scholarly Articles

Federal subsidies to state and local governments have been substantially reduced due to public opinion prioritizing the reduction of the federal deficit, the recent "fiscal cliff" legislation, and the federal budget "sequester cuts." In addition, in many states, revenue collection from individual and corporate income tax is below prerecession levels. To address the reduction in federal funding and reduced revenue collections, state and local governments will increasingly rely on economic incentive programs to grow their economies through increased job creation and private capital investment within their jurisdictions. These economic incentive programs are no longer comprised of simple tax reductions for …

The Charitable Contributions Deduction: Federal Tax Rules, Roger Colinvaux, Harvey P. Dale

Scholarly Articles

This article provides a succinct overview of the main federal income tax law rules affecting charitable contributions. his Article covers all principal topics, including: eligibility to receive deductible contributions, eligible gifts, the amount allowed as a deduction, the specific rules for gifts of non-cash property, contributions to certain split-interest trusts, substantiation rules, and valuation. his Article also touches on the estate and gift tax charitable deduction and provides a survey of select policy issues, including the rationale and form of the tax benefit, concerns about efficiency, the ability to deduct the appreciation in value of property, a non-itemizer deduction, and …

When Helpers Hurt: Protecting Taxpayers From Preparers, Michelle Lyon Drumbl

Scholarly Articles

In this article, Drumbl explores return preparer regulation as a policy matter and questions what would be gained by applying Circular 230 to return preparers.

Political Activity Limits And Tax Exemption: A Gordian’S Knot, Roger Colinvaux

Scholarly Articles

The article considers the correct tax treatment of organized political activity by the tax system and discusses the problems that have arisen from political activity depending on whether the organization is a charity, a noncharitable exempt, or a political organization. The article then examines administrative and legislative options to the problems raised by political activity. Quantum-based solutions to the problem of political activity by noncharitable exempts do not provide a clear advantage over present law. Formally quantifying the “primarily” test would result in more certainty, but would also require that the Service be more, not less, involved in the regulation …

Those Who Know, Those Who Don't, And Those Who Know Better: Balancing Complexity, Sophistication, And Accuracy On Tax Returns, Michelle Lyon Drumbl

Scholarly Articles

Refundable credits, particularly the earned income tax credit (EITC) and the child tax credit, serve an important anti-poverty measure for low-income taxpayers. Annually, millions of taxpayers who do not owe any federal income tax must file a tax return in order to claim these credits that are in the nature of social benefits. The eligibility requirements for refundable credits are complex, and these returns are particularly prone to audit: EITC audits comprise one-third of all individual income tax audits. Because of the large dollar amounts at stake, a taxpayer’s mistaken understanding of the eligibility requirements for these refundable credits can …

Decoupling Taxes And Marriage: Beyond Innocence And Income Splitting, Michelle Lyon Drumbl

Scholarly Articles

Fourteen years ago, members of Congress sympathetically listened as divorcees testified to their struggles to raise children while being pursued by the Internal Revenue Service for tax debts, often unknown to them, that were attributable to their ex-husbands' income. Rather than adopting one of many proposals to end joint and several liability, Congress instead elected to expand the grounds on which these individuals could seek relief from such liability. Since that time, taxpayers have seen a steady expansion of the grounds for so-called “innocent spouse relief” that has evolved through a combination of legislative, administrative, and judicial action. Yet the …

The Anti-Injunction Act, Congressional Inactivity, And Pre-Enforcement Challenges To § 5000a Of The Tax Code, Kevin C. Walsh

Scholarly Articles

Section 5000A of the Tax Code is one of the most controversial provisions of federal law currently on the books. It is the minimum essential coverage provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("ACA" or "Act")-a provision more popularly known as the individual mandate. Opponents challenged this provision immediately upon its enactment on March 23, 2010. The Supreme Court is poised to hear arguments about its constitutionality in one of these challenges, just over two years later.

Who’S Going To Pick Up The Trash? Using The Build America Bond Program To Help State And Local Governments’ Cash Deficits, Randle B. Pollard

Scholarly Articles

All over the United States, state and local governments are facing increasing revenue deficits due to the current economic recession. Even during good economic times, state and local governments experience temporary cash-flow deficits. State and local governments use short-term municipal bond debt to finance temporary cash-flow deficits caused by the normal erratic collection of tax revenue. The issuance of short-term debt secured by future tax revenue has always been a financing tool that helped local governments with cash-flow problems.

The effects of the subprime mortgage crisis and the current recession threaten state and local governments’ ability to use this financial …

Charity In The 21st Century: Trending Toward Decay, Roger Colinvaux

Scholarly Articles

The Article argues that the federal tax law framework relating to charitable organizations is decaying. Through an overview of the historical development of the law relating to charity in the 20th century, the Article shows that the statutory law has passively accommodated significant growth of the charitable sector without demanding any rigor of the sector in the form of positive requirements or quantitative measures. This has led to growth without meaningful oversight – a recipe for problems. The Article then provides an overview of many of the scandals that engulfed the sector during the early 21st century and shows that …

Taxing Structured Settlements, Brant J. Hellwig, Gregg D. Polsky

Scholarly Articles

Congress has granted a tax subsidy to physically injured tort plaintiffs who enter into structured settlements. The subsidy allows these plaintiffs to exempt from the tax the investment yield imbedded within the structured settlement. The apparent purpose of the subsidy is to encourage physically injured plaintiffs to invest, rather than presently consume, their litigation recoveries. While the statutory subsidy by its terms is available only to physically injured tort plaintiffs, a growing structured settlement industry now contends that the same tax benefit of yield exemption is available to plaintiffs’ lawyers and non-physically injured tort plaintiffs under general, common-law tax principles. …

Questioning The Wisdom Of Patent Protection For Tax Planning, Brant J. Hellwig

Scholarly Articles

The topic of federal patent protection for tax planning strategies has received considerable recent attention, much of it from a tax bar whose overall incredulity concerning the patentability of tax advice has been transformed into anxiety and disgust by the prospect of infringement actions. In their article Patents, Tax Shelters, and the Firm, Dan Burk and Brett McDonnell approach the subject from a broader perspective by employing theory of the firm principles to evaluate the effects of stronger intellectual property protection in the tax planning arena. While conceding that the possible effects are complex and ambiguous, the authors predict that …

Regulation Of Political Organizations And The Red Herring Of Tax-Exempt Status, Roger Colinvaux

Scholarly Articles

Congressional codification of section 527 in 1975 largely reflected the IRS’s treatment of political organizations at the time, including that contribution income was not taxable income, and did not provide a significant tax subsidy. In 2000, Congress amended section 527 to impose reporting obligations and, simultaneously, made section 527 voluntary, thus reviving pre–1975 law. The lack of a significant subsidy undermines the effectiveness of imposing burdens on section 527 organizations where there is a choice of tax treatment. The lack of a significant subsidy also raises the constitutional bar to imposing any burdens on section 527 organizations.

Taxing The Promise To Pay, Brant J. Hellwig, Gregg D. Polsky

Scholarly Articles

The IRS recently disclosed that it has identified more than 100 executives at 42 leading public corporations that participated in a tax shelter designed to defer the recognition of income from the exercise of stock options. While the agency thus far has identified approximately $700 million in unreported gains from these shelters, it predicts that the revenue loss to the government will ultimately exceed $1 billion. Compared to most tax shelters, this particular transaction (commonly known as the "Executive Compensation Strategy" or "ECS") is remarkably simple. Rather than exercise the options individually, a participating executive instead transfers the options to …

Litigation Expenses And The Alternate Minimum Tax, Brant J. Hellwig, Gregg D. Polsky

Scholarly Articles

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Striking A Balance In The Cash Balance Plan Debate, Regina T. Jefferson

Scholarly Articles

Cash balance plans are hybrid plans designed to offer the best characteristics of both defined benefit and defined contribution plans. However, conversions of existing defined benefit plans into cash balance plans are highly controversial because they can significantly reduce the expected retirement benefits of older workers. Because future plan costs are reduced and plan surpluses are often created, the use of surplus plan assets by employers has raised serious concerns. This article describes and analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of using cash balance plans as primary retirement savings vehicles. It argues that the controversy over conversions is really about the …