Law Commons^™

New Regulations, New Understandings: Taking Advantage Of The Section 199a Deduction With Restricted Imposed By Section 643(F), Victor Gabuardi

St. Thomas Law Review

This Article explores the intricacies and benefits of the Section 199A deduction and a general description of the final regulations. Part II of this Article discusses the Section 199A deduction, the technicalities, and operational component of the same. Part III of this Article discusses how individuals and relevant passthrough entities (“RPE”) have the ability to aggregate similar businesses they own to either qualify or even maximize on their Section 199A deduction. Part IV of this Article discusses the Section 199A calculation for RPEs and trusts, including the difference for trusts in calculating the Section 199A deduction before and after the …

Tax Treatment Of Legal Fees Under 2017 Tax Cuts And Jobs Act, Fred B. Brown

All Faculty Scholarship

This article describes the deductibility of legal fees for federal income tax purposes after the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and provides a recommendation for reforming the current rules.

America's (D)Evolving Childcare Tax Laws, Shannon Weeks Mccormack

Articles

Proponents have touted the ability of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the TCJA) — enacted in the twilight of 2017 — to help American working families. But while the TCJA expanded some benefits available to parents with dependent children, these parental tax benefits may be claimed regardless of whether or to what extent childcare costs are incurred to work outside the home. To help working parents with these costs (which are often their largest expense), Congress might have turned to two other mechanisms in the tax law — the “child and dependent care credit” and the “dependent care exclusion.” …

Tax Reform On Homeownership, Margaret Ryznar

University of Miami Law Review

The 2017 tax reform, by curtailing the deductions for mortgage interest and state and local taxes, frustrates the American public policy of encouraging homeownership. Yet, there are many reasons that public policy has encouraged homeownership for decades. Most importantly, homeownership is an important savings tool for Americans—and tax reform should be mindful of it.

Accessible Reliable Tax Advice, Emily Cauble

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Unsophisticated taxpayers who lack financial resources are disadvantaged by a shortage of adequate tax advice. The IRS does not have the resources to answer all questions asked, and the IRS’s informal advice comes with no guarantee as to its accuracy and offers the taxpayer no protection when it is mistaken. Furthermore, non-IRS sources of advice have not sufficiently filled the void left by a lack of satisfactory IRS guidance. These biases against unsophisticated taxpayers have been noted by existing literature. This Article contributes to existing literature by proposing several novel reform measures to assist unsophisticated taxpayers.

First, with respect to …

Winning The Crowd: Harnessing Taxpayer Choices To Improve Educational Quality, W. Edward Afield

W. Edward "Ted" Afield

No abstract provided.

Provisions Denying A Deduction For Illegal Expenses And Expenses Of An Illegal Business Should Be Repealed, Douglas A. Kahn, Howard Bromberg

Articles

Currently, the tax law denies a deduction for business expenses that violate a federal or state law (but only if the state law is generally enforced). In addition, losses, including business losses, cannot be deducted if they arise out of an illegal activity. For example, medical expenses are denied a deduction if they are illegal. Kickbacks, bribes, and rebates given in connection with the Medicaid or Medicare program are nondeductible. Any expenses, legal or not, incurred in connection with the conduct of a business of selling a controlled substance that is prohibited by federal law (or by the law of …

The Tax Treatment Of Mixed Personal And Rental Use Of Real Estate, Natsua Asai

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

In 2010, individual taxes provided almost half (43.35 %) of the U.S. Federal Revenue. Every U.S. citizen has an obligation to pay tax in order to support their government; however, they also have the right to keep tax as low as possible by effective tax planning (Smith, Harmelink, & Hasselback, 2012). Tax planning is a proper arrangement of transactions or affairs in order to reduce tax liability. Tax planning can become complex if the transaction involves multiple areas of tax law. I am going to discuss an aspect of real estate that involves multiple concepts and rules governing tax compliance: …

Winning The Crowd: Harnessing Taxpayer Choices To Improve Educational Quality, W. Edward Afield

Catholic University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Waters Are Rising! Why Isn't My Tax Basis Sinking? Why Coastal Land Should Be A Depreciable Asset In Light Of Global Warming And The Rise In Sea Level, Jason P. Oppenheim

University of Massachusetts Law Review

Depreciation deductions are the Internal Revenue Code's method of allowing taxpayers to take deductions on long-term investments. Unlike normal deductions, depreciation requires the taxpayer to apportion the expense over the life of the asset. While most assets used for the production of income may be depreciated, the Internal Revenue Service and courts have never allowed land to be depreciated. The treatment of land as a non-depreciable asset is deeply rooted in the idea that it does not have a useful life -- it lasts forever. However, global temperature has risen rapidly over the past fifty years and is expected to …

Inequitable Administration: Documenting Family For Tax Purposes, Anthony C. Infanti

Anthony C. Infanti

Family can bring us joy, and it can bring us grief. It can also bring us tax benefits and tax detriments. Often, as a means of ensuring compliance with Internal Revenue Code provisions that turn on a family relationship, taxpayers are required to document their relationship with a family member. Most visibly, taxpayers are denied an additional personal exemption for a child or other dependent unless they furnish the individual’s name, Social Security number, and relationship to the taxpayer.

In this article, I undertake the first systematic examination of these documentation requirements. Given the privileging of the “traditional” family throughout …

Inequitable Administration: Documenting Family For Tax Purposes, Anthony C. Infanti

Articles

Family can bring us joy, and it can bring us grief. It can also bring us tax benefits and tax detriments. Often, as a means of ensuring compliance with Internal Revenue Code provisions that turn on a family relationship, taxpayers are required to document their relationship with a family member. Most visibly, taxpayers are denied an additional personal exemption for a child or other dependent unless they furnish the individual’s name, Social Security number, and relationship to the taxpayer.

In this article, I undertake the first systematic examination of these documentation requirements. Given the privileging of the “traditional” family throughout …

Federal Fairness To State Taxpayers: Irrationality, Unfunded Mandates, And The "Salt" Deduction, Brian Galle

Michigan Law Review

By sheer dollars alone, the largest impact of the Alternative Minimum Tax is to deny many taxpayers the deduction for the taxes they paid to their state and local governments under § 164 of the Internal Revenue Code. This Article provides a fine-grained analysis of the overall fairness of the state-andlocal- tax deduction--and, by implication, the fairness of its partial repeal through the Alternative Minimum Tax. I offer for the first time a close examination of how newly understood limits on taxpayer mobility and rationality might affect individuals' choices of bundles of local taxes and localgovernment services, which in turn …

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.

Labor And Employment Law, W. David Paxton, Gregory R. Hunt

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

From One Pocket To The Other: The Abuse Of Real Estate Investment Trusts Deductions, Jennifer Stonecipher

Missouri Law Review

Many large, multi-state retailers and banks have been acting as their own landlord by paying rent to themselves. Sophisticated corporate tax strategists have employed a method of avoiding state taxes by using a real estate investment trust (REIT) to "own" its real estate. The retailer or bank then pays rent to the REIT, which then turns the money over to a holding company. The rent money ends up back in the hands of the corporate parent, without being subject to state income tax along the way. Although this tax loophole has been closed by the federal government, the strategy is …

The Supreme Court And The Timing Of Deductions For Accrual-Basis Taxpayers, Erik M. Jensen

Faculty Publications

This article examines the Supreme Court's two decisions in the late 1980s dealing with the timing of deductions, United States v. Hughes Properties (1986) and United States v. General Dynamics Corp. (1987), and finds those decisions wanting. Indeed, it is hard to understand why the Court exercised its discretionary jurisdiction twice in such a short period when the cases involved technicalities that seemed to overwhelm the generalist justices and when subsequent disputes with similar factual situations would be affected by statutory changes.

The Implications Of I.R.C. § 280e In Denying Ordinary And Necessary Business Expense Deductions To Drug Traffickers, Carrie F. Keller

Saint Louis University Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Deconstructing The General Plan Of Rehabilitation, John W. Lee

Faculty Publications

The general plan of rehabilitation doctrine provides that expenses incurred as part of a plan of general rehabilitation must be capitalized even though the same expenses incurred separately would be deductible as ordinary and necessary repairs. The emerging general standard after INDOPCO for current deduction of an expenditure with future benefits, the case with most repair/ improvement expenditures, is a balancing test: Whether the taxpayer ’s administrative and record keeping costs associated with capitalization outweigh the potential distortion of income from a current deduction of the future benefit expenditures. “Rough justice” rules for current deduction of future benefits expenditures, reflecting …

The I.R.C. § 2053(A)(3) Controversy: Should Events After Death Affect The Value Of Estate Tax Deductions For Claims Against The Estate?, Anna Meresidis

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Only Congress Can Create Deductions, Deborah A. Geier

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

A series of recent and controversial cases has raised the issue of how plaintiffs must treat attorneys' fees and costs that are paid out of otherwise includable settlement or litigation awards. Everyone seems to agree that under tax policy and theory plaintiffs should not be saddled with this burden. Many have expressed the desire that Congress amend the Code to correct the problem. The more difficult question, which the author addresses, is whether courts can act to protect these plaintiffs in the absence of Congressional action.

The Supreme Court’S Misleading Footnote In General Dynamics, Erik M. Jensen

Faculty Publications

This article examines footnote 3 in the Supreme Court's 1987 opinion in United States v. General Dynamics. In that case, governed by the law in place before the Tax Reform Act of 1984, the Court held that General Dynamics had to defer deductions attributable to claims for employee medical expenses until the claims were approved. In the footnote, the Court suggested that the 1984 amendment to section 461(h) of the Internal Revenue Code postponing the time for deducting accrued expenses until economic performance would, in a similar case governed by the statutory change, have further deferred General Dynamics' deduction until …

U.S. Taxation Of U.S. Persons Doing Business Or Investing In Mexico: An Overview., William H. Hornberger

St. Mary's Law Journal

U.S. persons who plan to do business in Mexico or invest in new or existing Mexican business ventures are faced with a myriad of U.S. federal income tax issues. U.S. counsel advising U.S. persons regarding the ownership structure for a contemplated business or investment in Mexico should have a basic understanding of the U.S. system of international taxation. While a working knowledge of Mexico’s tax system is also helpful, Mexican counsel can provide information regarding the Mexican tax implications of doing business or investing in Mexico. A review of the U.S. system of international taxation should begin with a consideration …

Looking For The Perfect Woman: The Innocent Spouse In The Tax Court, Richard C.E. Beck

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

The Tax Benefit Of Bliss, Alan L. Feld

Faculty Scholarship

In recent years the Supreme Court has limited its substantive decisions in federal income tax matters.^I For the most part, the handful of tax cases it has considered each year deal with collection, liens, or other issues peripheral to doctrinal development in the tax area.² The Court's recent decision in Diedrich v. Commissioner,³ however, dealt with a realization question involving net gifts; and its grant of certiorari consolidating the cases of Bliss Dairy, Inc. v. United States and Hillsboro National Bank v. Commissioner⁴ promises a continuing interest in substantive tax law. Bliss Dairy will enable the …

Planning With The Changed Cost Recovery Rules, Jere D. Mcgaffey

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Appreciation Under The Casualty Loss, Alan L. Feld

Faculty Scholarship

According to the author, who asserts that the regulations allow an overly generous casualty loss deduction for partial losses on appreciated property, untaxed gain in the form of unrealized appreciation should be taken into account when determining a partial loss.

The Estate Tax Marital Deduction, Harold Dubroff, Douglas A. Kahn

Articles

The estate tax marital deduction, section 2056 of the Internal Revenue Code, was enacted in 1948, along with the split-income provisions of the income tax law and the marital deduction and split-gift provisions of the gift tax law. The purpose was to give married residents of common law states approximately the same federal tax advantages that were available to married residents of community property states. Ordinarily, upon the death of a married resident of a community property state, only one-half of the community property is taxed in the decedent's estate. Section 2056 achieves approximately the same result for married residents …

Estate Of Hagmann, 60 T.C. No. 51 (1973), Aff'd, 492 F.2d 796 (5th Cir. 1974), Florida State University Law Review

Florida State University Law Review

Estate Tax- DEDUCTIONS- POST-DEATH EVENTS RELEVANT TO DEDUCTIBILITY OF CLAIMS AGAINST THE ESTATE PURSUANT TO SECTION 2053 (a) OF THE INTERNAL REVENUE CODE.

Deductibility Of Expenses For Child Care And Household Services: New Section 214, Alan L. Feld

Faculty Scholarship

It is increasingly common to find families composed of husband, wife and young children, where both husband and wife are gainfully employed. For some, this pattern is regarded as preferable to the older "ideal" family, where the husband was the sole breadwinner and the wife cared for the children, performed household chores and perhaps engaged in social or charitable activities. Where both spouses are gainfully employed, it is often necessary for the family to employ household help to care for the children and do the housework. These expenditures are "necessary" to the gainful employment of both spouses in the sense …