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 …

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. …

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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

Rethinking The Risk Of Defined Contribution Plans, Regina T. Jefferson

Scholarly Articles

This article analyzes the risk of shortfall in the expected retirement benefits in defined contribution plans, as regulated by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). The article compares and contrasts the allocation of investment risks between defined benefit and defined contribution plans. This article demonstrates that current pension law offers inadequate protection of the expected retirement benefit in defined contribution plans and proposes additional fiduciary, insurance, and funding protection for defined contribution plans.

A Farewell To Pension Policy: The Impact Of Flexible Iras On Current Tax Policy, Regina T. Jefferson

Scholarly Articles

This Article describes and critiques the objectives of the American Dream Savings Account. This Article then analyzes the potential social and economic effects of accomplishing the identified goals of the ADSA. Finally, this Article will conclude that the shift in pension policy made manifest by the ADSA, and other similar savings proposals, has potentially dramatic implications for future retirement savings among middle- and low-income Americans.

Bankruptcy Relief From Secured Tax Liens, Veryl Victoria Miles

Scholarly Articles

This article will discuss the rules of bankruptcy law that are most relevant to the treatment of prepetition secured tax claims. It also will discuss the consequences of these rules and how they affect the various parties to the bankruptcy proceeding: the debtor, the secured tax claimant, and the unsecured creditors.

The Earned Income Tax Credit: Thou Goest Wither? A Critique Of Existing Proposals To Reform The Earned Income Tax Credit, Regina T. Jefferson

Scholarly Articles

This article places issues concerning reformation of the EITC in perspective and critiques existing proposals to change the program. This article focuses on proposals advanced by Professors Yin and Forman which range from improving the administration of the existing EITC to completely restructuring the entire program.

Specifically, this article analyzes and responds to their proposals to (1) redesign the Earned Income Tax Credit by creating a system that uses a rebate of employee Social Security payroll taxes in conjunction with a family allowance benefit, and (2) institute an employer credit program as a substitute for the Earned Income Tax Credit. …

Discharging Tax Liability In Bankruptcy, Veryl Victoria Miles

Scholarly Articles

This article will examine what the answer depends on: The kinds of tax liabilities individual debtors are typically burdened with upon entering the bankruptcy process and the extent to which these prepetition debts are dischargeable or nondischargeable in bankruptcy. The kinds of tax claims discussed in this article are unsecured tax claims. Accordingly, if a tax claim is secured by a lien against the debtor's property the following discussion would not be relevant.

Significant Private Foundations And The Need For Public Selection Of Their Trustees, David A. Lipton

Scholarly Articles

After an exploration of the implications of the present tax treatment of foundations, this article turns to deficiencies in organizational structure and models of governance allowing for input by the public. These models are proposed because their operations conform more to the underlying values of society than do foundations guided by self-selected officers. These values basically dictate that the public as a whole, not a self-appointed body of governors, should play the major role in determining what constitutes and best serves the common welfare. In addition, in the process of satisfying these external values, some demonstrable internal efficiencies accrue to …