Law Commons^™

Replacing The Federal Income Tax With A Postpaid Consumption Tax: Preliminary Thoughts Regarding A Government Matching Program For Wealthy Investors And A New Tax Policy Lens, J. Clifton Fleming Jr.

Faculty Scholarship

In recent years, proposals have been made to replace the federal income tax with a postpaid consumption tax - that is, a federal value added tax ("VAT"), a federal retail sales tax ("RST"), or a federal cash-flow (consumed income) tax. Because these taxes can be constructed so that they are indistinguishable at the level of the ultimate consumer in terms of their principal effects, and because a prominent recent proposal is the RST approach, I have written this article in terms of an RST/income tax comparison. The analysis, however, would be mostly the same if the income tax was compared …

Optimal Tax Compliance And Penalties When The Law Is Uncertain, Kyle D. Logue

Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009

This Article examines the optimal level of tax compliance and the optimal penalty for noncompliance in circumstances in which the tax law is substantively uncertain – that is, when the precise application of the Internal Revenue Code to a particular situation is not clear. In such situations, two interesting questions arise: First, as a normative matter, how certain should a taxpayer be before she relies on a particular interpretation of a substantively uncertain tax rule? That is, if a particular position is not clearly prohibited, but neither is it clearly allowed, under the tax law, what is the appropriate threshold …

Taxes And Competitiveness, Michael S. Knoll

All Faculty Scholarship

Around the world, the tax laws are shaped by concerns with competitiveness. This paper provides a general theory of how taxes impact competitiveness. As part of that theory, this paper also introduces the concept of tax-based competitiveness neutrality. A tax system is competitively neutral when taxes do not cause competitors to change their relative valuations of any investments. This paper then uses that theory to evaluate tax policy in two high profile and important areas. The paper begins by describing two models of competitiveness, called the conduit or new money model and the investor or old money model. The central …

Implementing A Progressive Consumption Tax: Advantages Of Adopting The Vat Credit-Method System, Itai Grinberg

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

A credit–method value–added tax, a payroll tax, and a business–level wage subsidy can approximate the economic and distributional consequences of a subtraction–method X–tax. Such a credit–method progressive consumption tax has administrative advantages as compared to a subtraction–method progressive consumption tax, once certain political factors are taken into account. Further, unlike a subtraction–method system, a credit– method progressive consumption tax could easily interact with other tax systems around the world and comply with World Trade Organization rules without sacrifi cing best practice VAT design features that allow for effective enforcement.

Civic Responsibility And Patterns Of Voluntary Participation Around The World, Mary Alice Haddad

Mary Alice Haddad

This article seeks to explain why different types of volunteer organizations are prevalent in different countries. It hypothesizes that patterns of volunteer participation are a function of citizen attitudes toward governmental and individual responsibility for caring for society. Those countries (e.g., Japan)—where citizens think that governments should be responsible for dealing with social problems—will tend to have higher participation in embedded volunteer organizations, such as parent-teacher associations. Those countries (e.g., the United States)—where citizens think that individuals should take responsibility for dealing with social problems—will tend to have more participation in nonembedded, organizations, such as Greenpeace. These hypotheses are tested …

Biometrics, Certified Software Solutions, And The Japanese Consumption Tax: A Proposal For The Tax Commission, Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

Significant change is anticipated in the Japanese Consumption Tax. The Japanese Tax Commission is recommending that the rate should double, multiple rates should be employed, and the "bookkeeping method" of accounting should be abandoned in favor of the European "invoice method."

The Tax Commission faces a tax policy dilemma. The aging population drives the need for a tax increase (making the Consumption Tax an obvious target for revenue enhancement) at exactly the same time the population is shrinking in overall size, thereby reducing the number of working-consumers who can pay the higher tax.

These are dramatic changes for the Japanese …

The De-Gentrification Of New Markets Tax Credits, Roger M. Groves

ExpressO

This article provides the most comprehensive analysis to date of the New Markets Tax Credits program established by Congress. The purpose of the NMTCs is to use tax credits as incentives for investors to provide equity funds into low income areas. The article reveals that over $2 billion of federal tax subsidies that have been allocated to gentrified projects for the wealthy, rather than the intended beneficiaries – low income residents in the urban core – as Congress intended. The article proposes amendments to the statute and regulations to close unintended loopholes.

Business Combinations: Mergers And Sales And Purchases Of Ownership Interests And Entity Assets, Thomas P. Rohman, Stephen L. Owen

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Business Combinations: Mergers And Sales And Purchases Of Ownership Interests And Entity Assets (Related Articles), Stephen L. Owen

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

S Corporations Redemptions And Divisions, Farhad Aghdami

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Comparison Of S Corporations And Llcs, Stefan F. Tucker

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Partnership Tax Allocation Provisions, Brian J. O'Connor

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Liquidating According To Capital Accounts: Gone With The Wind?, Brian J. O'Connor, Steven R. Schneider

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Tax Considerations Of Transfers To And Distributions From The C Or S Corporation, C. Wells Hall Iii

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Executive Compensation Techniques For Closely-Held Businesses, Jeffrey R. Capwell

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Property And Liability Transfers To Partnerships: Built-In Gain Or Loss, Boot, And Disguised Sales, Andrea M. Whiteway

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Murphy And The Evolution Of "Basis", Deborah A. Geier

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Marrita Murphy received compensatory damages of $45,000 for emotional distress or mental anguish and $25,000 for injury to professional reputation after bringing a complaint with the Department of Labor under various whistle-blower statutes. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit unanimously held, in an opinion written by Chief Judge Douglas Ginsburg, that Murphy's damages were not due to physical injury and thus could not be excluded under the authority of section 104(a)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code but that the government nevertheless could not, under the Constitution, tax those damages as income. The government …

Taxing Emotional Injury Recoveries: A Critical Analysis Of Murphy V. Internal Revenue Service, Gregory L. Germain

ExpressO

Does Congress have the power under the United States Constitution to tax compensatory personal injury awards? Several months ago, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals said "no" in Murphy v. Internal Revenue Service. The court theorized that Ms. Murphy’s compensatory damages award did not constitute “income,” as understood by the enactors of the 16th Amendment, because the award merely made Ms. Murphy whole rather than increasing her wealth.

This paper disputes virtually every aspect of the Murphy decision. The court made errors from the beginning in analyzing the statutory issues. While the court ultimately reached the correct preliminary conclusion – …

Vat? A Look Inside Canada's Experience With The Goods And Services Tax, Brandon A. Ketterman

San Diego International Law Journal

Consumption taxes have been and continue to be utilized as a staple revenue producer within systems of taxation. The value-added tax (VAT) is one form of consumption tax that has grown in popularity among nations over the last several decades. In fact, after the passage of a goods and services tax (one type of VAT) in Australia in 2000, the United States now stands alone as the only remaining OECD nation, among its 30 members, without some form of a value-added tax on consumption. As the massive topic of tax reform continually appears at the forefront of the political landscape, …

Surviving Irs Examinations And Appeals, Emily A. Parker, Robert D. Probasco

Faculty Scholarship

This article summarizes the statutory, regulatory and administrative rules and procedures that apply to IRS civil tax examinations and Appeals proceedings, including alternative dispute resolution procedures. The focus of this paper is on field examinations, rather than service center examinations, correspondence examinations, or office examinations. In addition, it attempts to answer some of the basic questions that taxpayers often ask their advisors and representatives when they are the subject of an IRS civil tax examination:

• Why was I selected by the IRS for audit?
• How long will this audit take?
• Why do the agents want all this information, documents, data, …

Taxation, Craig D. Bell

University of Richmond Law Review

This article reviews significant developments in the law affect- ing Virginia taxation. Each section covers recent legislative changes, judicial decisions, and selected opinions or pronouncements from the Virginia Department of Taxation and the Attorney General of Virginia over the past year. The overall purpose ofthis article is to provide Virginia tax and general practitioners with a concise overview of the recent developments in Virginia taxation most likely to have an impact on their practices. This article will not, however, discuss many of the numerous technical legislative changes to the State Taxation Code of Title 58.1.

Unjust Enrichment And Wrongly Paid Tax, Hang Wu Tang

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Boake Allen Limited v. Revenue and Customs Commissioners [2006] EWCA Civ 25 concerned early payment of Advance Corporation Tax ("ACT"). ACT was normally payable when a company paid dividends to its shareholders, but there was a statutory exception where the company was a subsidiary of a United Kingdom company and both the parent and subsidiary made a group income election. If the tax authorities accepted the election, the obligation to pay ACT would only accrue when the parent company paid dividends. Section 247 of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 ("ICTA") stipulated that group income elections were only available …

Ley Federal Del Procedimiento Contencioso Administrativo., Bruno L. Costantini García

Bruno L. Costantini García

Ponencia sobre la Ley Federal del Procedimiento Contencioso Administrativo, impartida por Bruno L. Costantini García.

A Complete Property Right Amendment, John H. Ryskamp

ExpressO

The trend of the eminent domain reform and "Kelo plus" initiatives is toward a comprehensive Constitutional property right incorporating the elements of level of review, nature of government action, and extent of compensation. This article contains a draft amendment which reflects these concerns.

Tax Practice In A Circular Revolution: A Review Of Pli's Circular 230 Deskbook, Bridget J. Crawford

All Faculty Scholarship

This short review essay evaluates the Practicing Law Institute's Circular 230 Deskbook by Jonathan G. Blattmachr, Mitchell M. Gans and Damien Rios. For attorneys, accountants and others who "practice" before the IRS, the Circular 230 Deskbook is a masterful analysis and an important guide to the Internal Revenue Service's labyrinthine rules and regulations governing tax penalties, reportable transactions and the conduct of tax practitioners. Most tax attorneys and accountants have reacted to the recent changes to Circular 230 by appending banner notices to all written communications. Without fully understanding the underlying rules, however, a practitioner cannot be sure that a …

Daimlerchrysler V. Cuno - Plaintiffs Lack Standing To Challenge State Franchise Tax Credit In Federal Court, According To The Supreme Court, Sue Ann Mota

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.

Teed Off About Private Club Discrimination On The Taxpayer's Dime: Tax Exemptions And Other Government Privileges To Discriminatory Private Clubs, Jennifer Jolly-Ryan

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

A Diversity Theory Of Charitable Tax Exemption -- Beyond Efficiency, Through Critical Race Theory, Toward Diversity, David A. Brennen

Scholarly Works

Part I of the article presents Robin Paul Malloy's Law and Market Economy Theory (“LMT”) as an example of the basis for a normative explanation of the charitable tax exemption. LMT addresses the relationship among law, markets, and culture. Thus, using LMT, this part demonstrates how traditional law and economic analysis, premised on self-interest and wealth maximization, simply does not capture the essence of the many values that impact the marketplace and the market exchange process. Instead, LMT approaches legal analysis in a broader market context and is premised on the need to promote a process of sustainable wealth formation …

Bankruptcy Reform: What's Tax Got To Do With It?, Michelle A. Cecil

Faculty Publications

The article takes a two-pronged approach to the issue. First, it argues that all post-petition appreciation should be taxed to the debtor rather than to the debtor's bankruptcy estate because the debtor enjoys the benefits of the asset's appreciation in value and because, from a tax perspective, the results will be identical irrespective of whether the debtor or the bankruptcy estate is taxed on the asset's post-petition appreciation. Second, the article proposes that the gain accruing before the termination of the bankruptcy proceeding be treated as discharge of indebtedness income so that the debtor can defer recognition of the gain …

A Diversity Theory Of Charitable Tax Exemption—Beyond Efficiency, Through Critical Race Theory, Toward Diversity, David A. Brennen

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

What is the normative rationale for the federal income tax exemption for nonprofit charitable corporations? Even though the exemption dates back to 1894, Congress has failed to fully rationalize it. Though scholars and courts have attempted over the years to come up with a coherent rationale for the charitable tax exemption, their attempts are focused almost exclusively on economic efficiency. Thus, the charitable tax exemption is typically framed by noted tax scholars like Boris Bittker, Henry Hansmann, and others as an economically efficient means of providing certain goods and services to the public. Rationalizing the charitable tax exemption in economic …