Law Commons^™

Déjà Vu All Over Again? Reflections On Auerbach's 'Modern Corporate Tax', Reuven S. Avi-Yonah

Law & Economics Working Papers

This paper comments on Alan Auerbach's "A Modern Corporate Tax" (Hamilton Project/CAP, December 2010) and argues that it is not a significant improvement over previous proposals to replace the corporate tax with a cash flow tax.

Assuming Constant Uniform Income Tax Rates, A Three Bank-Account Analogy Demonstrating The Immediate And Long-Term Advantages Of The Roth Conversion, William Wang

William KS Wang

This three and a half page piece assumes a uniform constant tax rate. The essay uses an analogy to three bank accounts to demonstrate the immediate and long-term advantages of the Roth IRA conversion, including (1) a decrease in income tax, (2) avoiding required minimum distributions, (3) reduction in one's taxable estate, and (4) the opportunity to invest in stocks and enjoy the gains but avoid the losses.

Tax Reform In Rhode Island: Developing A High Quality Revenue Stream, Nicholas A. Denice

Honors Projects in Accounting

The present study explores the current state of taxation in Rhode Island in relation to its sales tax. An analysis of the literature will examine how the current sales tax system compares with other alternatives and if it hurts the state's economic competitiveness as shown in tax burden studies. Using Rhode Island tax data from the Annual State Audit and Consumer Expenditure Survey, this study will analyze the current sales tax system in the state and determine whether an alternative model would lead to a higher-quality revenue stream. Data from the State of Rhode Island General Audit Report and the …

Transfer Pricing And Irc Section 482, Dorothy M. Hong

Dorothy M Hong

Description of recent flux in tax treaties and case laws relating to transfer pricing helpful to those companies doing business with companies based in South Korea complying with IRC Sec. 482.

One Prong, Two Prong, Many Prongs: A Look Into The Economic Substance Doctrine, Amanda L. Yoder

Missouri Law Review

Almost every federal circuit, as well as Congress, has weighed in on the economic substance doctrine and attempted to clarify its boundaries. The economic substance doctrine deals with transactions that, although technically in accord with the Internal Revenue Code (the Code or I.R.C.), were originally structured solely for tax avoidance purposes. The Internal Revenue Service and courts dislike these transactions because they thwart the general intent of Congress in enacting certain tax-saving Code provisions. Until recent amendments to the I.R.C., the federal circuits were split between two different approaches to tax avoidance transactions, yet the application of the two approaches …

911 V. 913: How The Flaws Of The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Could Be Corrected By A Modified Version Of The Repealed Section 913, Ryan M. Borgmann

Ryan M Borgmann

This Article addresses the use of earned income as basis for allowing a tax benefit to individuals who live and work abroad. With the exception of a short period of time in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, earned income has been used to provide a tax benefit for United States citizens and residents living and working abroad. The reasoning for this tax benefit has always been to provide assistance for the higher cost of living and higher tax rate of living in a foreign country, yet the tax benefit has been available to every individual living abroad, independent of …

Private And Public Construction In Modern China, Gregory M. Stein

San Diego International Law Journal

During the past three decades, real estate development in China has proceeded at an astonishing pace, with much development occurring before China's 2007 adoption of its first modern law of property. Investors thus spent hundreds of billions of dollars in the real estate market of a nation that, during most of this period, had not formal property law. How can a huge nation modernize so rapidly and dramatically when its legal system furnishes such uncertainty? And how can this happen in a nation that still purports to subscribe to socialist ideology? I set out to answer these questions by interviewing …

Equity And Efficiency In Intellectual Property Taxation, Xuan-Thao Nguyen, Jeffrey A. Maine

Faculty Publications

This article evaluates the Current US income tax regime governing intellectual property by focusing on the traditional principles of tax policy - tax fairness and efficiency. It highlights the shortcomings of the current tax system in fulfilling both of these tenets.

Brain Drain Taxation As Development Policy, Yariv Brauner

UF Law Faculty Publications

This article examines the potential use of taxation to generate development funds in connection with the immigration of skilled immigrants from developing into developed countries, known as the "brain drain," if designed according to the principles of the new development agenda. It explains that a tax on the brain drain that has been discussed for several decades, yet considered impossible to administer, may be administratively and legally implementable within the framework of the current international tax regime. It argues that designing such a tax according to the principles of the new development agenda, tying together the collection and use of …

The Case For Dividend Deduction, Reuven S. Avi-Yonah, Amir C. Chenchinski

Law & Economics Working Papers

There have been various proposals made in the past two decades to integrate the corporate and shareholder tax, including dividend exemption, imputation, and the Comprehensive Business Income Tax (CBIT). In our view, the problem with all of these proposals is that they omit to ask the crucial question of why we should tax business entities in the first place. Taxes, the economists tell us, are always borne by human beings, not by legal entities. Why should legal entities, be they corporations or other forms of business entity, be subject to tax at all? Would it not be easier to just …

Tax Relief In The American Recovery And Reinvestment Act Of 2009, Steven Gassert

Legislation and Policy Brief

On February 17, 2009, less than thirty days after his inauguration, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). This new law was one of many measures from the new administration designed to quickly stimulate the ailing American economy. The $789 billion package was divided between direct government spending, tax reductions and financial relief to states and individuals. The bill contains $285.6 billion in tax reductions, which is about 36.3% of the legislation. In this article, I will analyze some of the tax provisions that were written into ARRA, and attempt to assess their …

Tax Lawyers, Tax Defiance, And The Ethics Of Casual Conversation, Michael Hatfield

Michael Hatfield

Tax Lawyers, Tax Defiance, and the Ethics of Casual Conversation Tax lawyers routinely navigate politically-charged waters when a tax topic is dropped into conversation. Increasingly, however, tax lawyers are confronted with comments that undermine the authority of the federal tax system itself. These comments may take several forms, including arguments that the income tax is unconstitutional. Regardless of form, this rhetoric differs from legitimate criticisms of the tax system because it encourages non-compliance as either a moral right or a political good . In the current environment, the tax bar should take up the call to be public educators with …

Constitutional Law - United States V. Richey: Disclosure Of Tax Information By Former Irs Agent Not Protected By The First Amendment, Christine C. Pagano

Golden Gate University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Tax Lawyers, Tax Defiance, And The Ethics Of Casual Conversation, Michael Hatfield

Michael Hatfield

Tax Lawyers, Tax Defiance, and the Ethics of Casual Conversation ABSTRACT Tax lawyers routinely navigate politically-charged waters when a tax topic is dropped into conversation. Increasingly, however, tax lawyers are confronted with comments that undermine the authority of the federal tax system itself. These comments may take several forms, including arguments that the income tax is unconstitutional. Regardless of form, this rhetoric differs from legitimate criticisms of the tax system because it encourages non-compliance as either a moral right or a political good. In the current environment, the tax bar should take up the call to be public educators with …

The Effect Of Religious Affiliation And Church Attendance On State Fiscal Progressivity, Erika Dayle Siu

Erika Dayle Siu

This study finds that with minor exception, neither religious affiliation nor regular church attendance significantly affects state fiscal progressivity. Based on an examination of prevailing theological traditions within major religious groups, a viable hypothesis is that a state’s fiscal progressivity should correlate to its religious demographics to some extent, depending on the social justice beliefs of each religious group. If so, states with a greater percentage of Catholics and Jewish residents would have more fiscal progressivity; states with a greater percentage of Mainline Protestants and Historically Black Church members would also evidence fiscal progressivity but to a lesser extent; and …

A Lay Word For A Legal Term: How The Popular Definition Of Charity Has Muddled The Perception Of The Charitable Deduction, Paul J. Valentine

Paul J Valentine

In the United States there is a deeply held conviction “that taxpayers who donate to charity should generally not be subject to the same income tax liability as similarly situated taxpayers.” This innate sense about the Internal Revenue Code’s section 170, otherwise known as the charitable deduction, resonates with the Americans’ sense of fairness and creates strong barriers to curtailing its function. This same sense of fairness is tied to the perceived effects of the charitable deduction. Yet, how “charitable” is the charitable deduction and how charitable do we expect it to be? This paper argues that the discrepancy between …

When A Liquidating Corporation Distributes A Partnership Interest: The Problem Of Depreciation/Acrs Recapture, Twila Castellucci

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Note will discuss the tax consequences when a corporation liquidates and distributes its partnership interest to a shareholder. Included in this discussion will be an analysis of whether a corporation can avoid paying taxes on recapture income if it has not received any tax benefit from deductions subject to recapture.

Tax Law, Stacy Snowman

Golden Gate University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Re-Thinking First Principles Of Transfer Pricing Rules, John Ja Burke

John JA Burke

This Article rejects the conventional wisdom that “transfer pricing rules” are designed either to level the playing field between Multi-National Enterprises [MNEs] and medium sized enterprises or to prevent pre-meditated tax evasion by MNEs. Rather, this Article posits that “transfer pricing rules” [TPRs] are substitutes for diminished tariff revenue, or imposed artificial mark-ups, shifting costs to ultimate purchasers, and contradicting the fundamental rule of microeconomic theory of firm maximizing profits by equating marginal cost and marginal revenue. The debate about transfer pricing now centres on tweaking the “arm’s length principle”, safe harbour rules, and advance pricing agreements. Lost in this …

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.

Taxation, Robert C. Gabrielski, Robert Michael Fanucci

Golden Gate University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The U.B.S. Case: The U.S. Attack On Swiss Banking Sovereignty, Beckett G. Cantley

Beckett G Cantley

On August 1, 2006, the United States Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (“PSI”), a branch of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, released a report in conjunction with a Senate hearing that revealed alarming statistics regarding wealthy Americans’ love affair with offshore banking. The PSI report was a culmination of the subcommittee’s investigation into tax haven abuses, providing the most detailed look to date of high-level tax schemes. The report revealed such an alarming number of rich Americans are using offshore accounts to evade taxes that law enforcement is unable to control the growing misconduct. Senator Carl Levin …

Non- Profit Charitable Tax Exempt Hospitals- Wolves In Sheep's Clothing:To Increase Fairness And Enhance Compition All Hospitals Should Be For Profit And Taxable, George A. Nation Iii

George A Nation III

Most hospitals in the United States are not-for-profit tax exempt institutions. Legally these hospitals are deemed to be charities and are exempt from federal, state and local taxes, raise money through tax exempt bond offerings and receive charitable contributions that are tax deductible to the donors. Today it is estimated that 47 million Americans lack access to healthcare.5A Moreover, even when the new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act5B is fully operational, which is estimated to be around 2019, there will still be millions of Americans without health insurance and thus without reliable access to healthcare.5C Notwithstanding the millions of …

Taxation, Carol M. Kingsley, Helen Rowland Martin

Golden Gate University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Taxation As Regulation: Carbon Tax, Health Care Tax, Bank Tax And Other Regulatory Taxes, Reuven S. Avi-Yonah

Law & Economics Working Papers

This paper addresses three questions: 1. Is regulation a legitimate goal for taxation? 2. Which tax is best suited for regulation? 3. Would it be better to allocate just one goal per tax among the major taxes (individual and corporate income tax and VAT)? It then analyzes the proposed bank tax and the enacted health care tax as regulatory taxes, and concludes that the first is desirable (as is a carbon tax) but the second is not.

All The News That's Fit To Fund: The Low-Profit Limited Liability Newspaper, Christopher J. Hickman

Christopher J. Hickman

The traditional media, specifically the newspaper industry, is in a period of significant upheaval. Newspapers are overburdened by economic hardship and the ascension of new models of news-gathering and distribution, particularly the Internet. This Note proposes that the newspaper industry's old, ineffective business platform should be cast aside in favor of a hybrid social enterprise model, specifically the low-profit limited liability company (the “L3C”). The L3C, a "for-profit with a non-profit soul," will function as both an engine for moderate profits for investors and a platform for socially conscious values in the news reporting context.

Good Deficits: Protecting The Public Interest From Deficit Hysteria, Neil H. Buchanan

Neil H. Buchanan

President Obama has come under increasingly fierce criticism for the size of the federal budget deficit, as both Democratic and Republican politicians loudly proclaim that federal spending should be cut. This article explains why such anti-deficit fervor is misguided and simplistic, and why, perhaps counter-intuitively, cutting government spending can hurt the country, rather than help it, in both the short run and the long run.

In the short run, cutting deficit spending can be disastrous to the economy, especially if the economy is already in decline. In addition, because the federal budget fails to separate spending that provides long-term benefits …

Utopian Taxation: Covering The Cost Of Living, Maurice A. Echols

Maurice A Echols

This article, “Utopian Taxation: Covering The Cost of Living,” discusses concepts of economics and tax policy with an intent to have its readers consider or reconsider what is truly valuable to them individually and to society as a whole. I discuss the overall workings of Money-Based Economies, Resource-Based Economies, and Mixed Economies with their relation to tax policy and the implications that arise or may arise within them. I believe that the concepts discussed within this article are very interesting and address new and revolving issues of people, government, and the relationships between them.

Reigning In Charities: Using An Intermediate Penalty To Enforce The Campaigning Prohibition, Samuel D. Brunson

Samuel D. Brunson

Congress has prohibited public charities from campaigning for or against any candidate for office continuously since 1854. However, the IRS routinely fails to penalize public charities that accidentally violate or deliberately flout the prohibition. And the IRS’s reluctance is understandable: the penalty for violating the campaigning prohibition is loss of the public charity’s tax-exempt status, a death-knell for many public charities. This Article argues that the IRS’s underenforcement of the prohibition is predictable. The prohibition has provoked firestorms of debate among academics, policymakers, and directors of public charities themselves. Where the penalty for violating controversial laws is a hard shove, …

Grown-Up Income Shifting: Yesterday's Kiddie Tax Is Not Enough, Samuel D. Brunson

Samuel D. Brunson

In 1986, concerned that wealthy parents were sheltering some of their income from taxes by giving some portion of their securities portfolios to their children, Congress enacted the “kiddie tax,” which taxes a child’s passive income at the child’s parents’ tax rate. By doing so, Congress intended to reduce tax-motivated income-shifting. Since its passage, however, there has been little serious consideration of whether the kiddie tax successfully prevents the targeted income-shifting.

This Article reexamines the kiddie tax and concludes that it is both over- and underbroad. The kiddie tax subjects all of a child’s passive income, not just income resulting …