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Full-Text Articles in Law

I Dig It, But Congress Shouldn't Let Me: Closing The Idgt Loophole, Daniel L. Ricks Dec 2010

I Dig It, But Congress Shouldn't Let Me: Closing The Idgt Loophole, Daniel L. Ricks

ACTEC Law Journal

By combining three tools that independently are beneficial to taxpayers, clever estate planners have devised a transaction - the installment sale of discounted assets to an intentionally defective grantor trust - that saves their ultra-wealthy clients millions of dollars in estate and gift taxes. This transaction, which is a foundational part of many estate plans, takes advantage of rules that Congress never intended to be used in this way. Becasue the Internal Revenue Service has conceded its inability to challenge the transaction based on current law, any solution lies with Congress. This Article proposes an amendment to § 2036 that …


The Estate Planning Perils Of 2010 And Beyond, Brett T. Bradford Nov 2010

The Estate Planning Perils Of 2010 And Beyond, Brett T. Bradford

Brett T. Bradford

This paper explores the confusion surrounding the repeal of the federal estate tax for the year 2010. The Economic Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act gradually scaled down the federal estate tax and eventually repealed the tax in 2010. The Act has a sunset provision that would return the tax to a much higher rate than has been seen in recent times. This paper explores the history, intent and purpose of federal estate taxes; the intent and purpose behind the repeal in EGTRAA; and what attempts congress has made to fix the mess.


Inequity & Economics: Federal Income, Gift And Estate Tax Treatment Of De Facto Families, Michael Zaidel Sep 2010

Inequity & Economics: Federal Income, Gift And Estate Tax Treatment Of De Facto Families, Michael Zaidel

Golden Gate University Law Review

Disparate tax treatment of married couples in common law vis-a-vis community property states led to remedial congressional action a generation ago. The current inequity lies between married and unmarried couples. Correcting that imbalance will again require congressional action. Nevertheless, this Comment argues that precedent exists for judicial remedy of some of the inequitable tax burdens of the unmarried couple. Tax planning is beyond the scope of this Comment, but suggestions will be offered. Property rights and contract formation are treated only to the extent of their tax ramifications.


Morgens: More Qtip Mischief, Wendy G. Gerzog Jul 2010

Morgens: More Qtip Mischief, Wendy G. Gerzog

All Faculty Scholarship

In Morgens, the court ruled in favor of the government that section 2035(b) applied to the gift taxes paid by the qualified terminable interest property (QTIP) trust beneficiaries to gross up the widow’s estate by that amount. Because the surviving (or donee) spouse must be taxed on the underlying property over which she has no ownership rights, Congress enacted section 2207A to allow the second spouse to recover from the beneficiaries of the property the transfer taxes relating to her gift or estate inclusion. However, the court held that section 2207A did not shift the gift tax liability to those …


The Times They Are Not A-Changin': Reforming The Charitable Split-Interest Rules (Again), Wendy C. Gerzog Jun 2010

The Times They Are Not A-Changin': Reforming The Charitable Split-Interest Rules (Again), Wendy C. Gerzog

Chicago-Kent Law Review

This article will review the history of the tax treatment of charitable split interest gifts, explain the inequities that Congress both cured and generated in its 1969 reforms, and propose solutions that are consistent with the goals of the 1969 legislation. The article discusses variations in the 1969 definition of a charitable split interest, which, because of the enacted statutory language, applies in instances where there is no abuse potential. The inequity produced by that definition penalizes the donor and flouts the rationale behind the 1969 legislation. By contrast, the creation of some required statutory forms of charitable split interests …


Are Gift Demand Loans Of Tangible Property Subject To Gift Tax ?, Joseph M. Dodge Mar 2010

Are Gift Demand Loans Of Tangible Property Subject To Gift Tax ?, Joseph M. Dodge

Joseph M Dodge

The publicity surrounding a prominent political figure’s rent-free use of a portion of a friend’s house in Washington, D.C., has raised the issue of whether the rent-free use of tangible property is a gift for federal gift tax purposes. The 1984 case of Dickman v. Commissioner, 465 U.S. 330 (1984), involving an interest-free demand loan of money, intimated that such might be the case, but there has apparently been no effort by the IRS to enforce such a position. The federal gift tax will be the only federal transfer tax left standing if the estate tax and generation-skipping tax are …


Check-The-Box Regs And Gift Tax Discounts, Wendy G. Gerzog Feb 2010

Check-The-Box Regs And Gift Tax Discounts, Wendy G. Gerzog

All Faculty Scholarship

This article discusses the recent Tax Court decision in Pierre and the effect for gift tax purposes of an entity’s classification made under the check-the-box regulations. The court was split on what those regulations mean when they state that an entity is to be disregarded ‘‘for federal tax purposes.’’


Gifts And The Income Tax—An Enduring Puzzle, Richard Schmalbeck Jan 2010

Gifts And The Income Tax—An Enduring Puzzle, Richard Schmalbeck

Law and Contemporary Problems

Schmalbeck explains that there are four policy options for the combined income tax treatment of a donor-donee pair, and that the best choice among the options is not self-evident. He notes that the current income tax treatment of noncharitable gifts originated with the 1913 income tax. The historical record provides no clues as to why Congress opted for that approach in 1913. As frustrating as this may be, it is an example of an important phenomenon in the development of the income tax. A number of crucial structural decisions made in the early days of the income tax, which continue …


The Times They Are Not A-Changin': Reforming The Charitable Split-Interest Rules (Again), Wendy G. Gerzog Jan 2010

The Times They Are Not A-Changin': Reforming The Charitable Split-Interest Rules (Again), Wendy G. Gerzog

All Faculty Scholarship

The article reviews the history of the tax treatment of charitable split interest gifts, explains the inequities that Congress both cured and generated in its 1969 reforms, and proposes solutions that are consistent with the goals of the 1969 legislation. The article discusses variations in the 1969 definition of a charitable split interest, which, because of the enacted statutory language, applies in instances where there is no abuse potential. The inequity produced by that definition penalizes the donor and flouts the rationale behind the 1969 legislation. By contrast, the creation of some required statutory forms of charitable split interests in …


Human Capital And Transfer Taxation, Kerry A. Ryan Jan 2010

Human Capital And Transfer Taxation, Kerry A. Ryan

All Faculty Scholarship

This article addresses the question of whether education and healthcare transfers should be included in the federal gift tax base. It initially frames the issue in two ways: (1) through the lens of a proposal by the American Law Institute to exempt all “transfers for consumption” from gift taxation, and (2) within the context of a debate among economists about whether such expenditures should be included in the definition of “intergenerational transfers” for purposes of determining the total share of such transfers in U.S. accumulated wealth. Finding the first lens unsatisfactory on its own doctrinal terms and the second lens …