Tax Law Commons^™

The Supreme Court's Misconstruction Of A Procedural Statute--A Critique Of The Court's Decision In Badaracco, Douglas A. Kahn

Michigan Law Review

Before addressing the lessons to be derived from Badaracco, it is necessary to make good on the author's claim that it can be demonstrated to the satisfaction of a reasonably skeptical reader that the Court's decision was patently wrong and resulted from a poor technique of statutory construction. This is a heavy burden, especially since the decision was reached by an overwhelming majority of the Court and since two courts of appeals and at least one student law review note reached the same result. The reader must judge whether the author succeeds in satisfying it. This Article will first …

Dissenting Opinions By Supreme Court Justices In Federal Income Tax Controversies, Walter J. Blum

Michigan Law Review

What is to be learned from this review of the various analyses offered in dissenting tax opinions over the past five terms of the Supreme Court? When the Court has decisively interpreted narrow or technical language in the statute, dissenters all too often indulge in lengthy analyses that can only serve to create further confusion. Only when the Court focuses on a judicially made rule or an issue with constitutional implications is a broader dissent appropriate. If dissenters generally adhered to the guidelines set forth at the outset of this Article the tax world would, I believe, be at least …

An Essay On The Conceptual Foundations Of The Tax Benefit Rule, Patricia D. White

Michigan Law Review

My aim in this essay is to explore the foundations of the tax benefit notion. My strategy is simple, but it is probably best to state it explicitly at the outset. I begin with a straightforward and uncontroversial example of the application of the "inclusionary aspect" of the tax benefit rule. Using it as a paradigm, I try to discern why the law deems it appropriate to increase a taxpayer's taxable income. Next I examine the account of the tax benefit rule given by the Supreme Court in Hillsboro to see if it is consistent with the paradigm. I conclude …

Death Of A Partner: Pre And Post-Mortem Planning, Jerome Hesch

Akron Tax Journal

There are several alternative techniques which can be employed to alleviate the income tax problems associated with the death of a partner. The sophisticated tax advisor will understand, however, that some of the suggested techniques may not be practical for all situations. The purpose of this article is to describe these planning techniques and to guide the tax advisor as to which technique is appropriate for his client.

Tax Equity And Fiscal Responsibility Act Of 1982, Merlin G. Briner

Akron Tax Journal

O N AUGUST 20, 1982, President Reagan signed into law the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 (TEFRA), the fourth piece of major tax legislation in less than seven years. Though TEFRA has been said to provide the single largest tax increase in American history, President Reagan lobbied for it not as a tax bill, but as a revenue measure which, to his mind, in no way represented a backing-off from his vaunted "supply side-trickle down" economic program. This article will discuss the implications of TERFA on both the individual taxpayer and businesses.

Is The Will The Way? Transmitting Interests In A Family Corporation, Gail Levin Richmond

Akron Tax Journal

This article examines the effects of recent enactments upon the methods of transmitting interests in a closely-held corporation. Because the tax consequences will frequently vary depending upon whether the corporation is a C corporation or an S corporation, a brief description of each form precedes the discussion of the relevant tax consequences. The tax consequences, which will be discussed thereafter, involve interrelated questions: which consequences are involved, and who will bear their brunt? Because nontax considerations also influence the timing of stock transfers, the discussion will address them as well.

Fairness In Rate Cuts In The Individual Income Tax, Alan L. Feld

Faculty Scholarship

The Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 (the 1981 Act) made significant changes in federal income, estate, and gift taxation, touching virtually every taxpayer.¹ The centerpiece of the 1981 Act consisted of rate reductions in the individual income tax.² These reductions, said to average 23%, served a number of different but related objectives. First, those in favor of the tax cuts posited that all taxpayers would benefit from equitable, across-the-board reductions in an excessive and growing tax burden.³ Related to this objective was an anticipated reduction in the size of the federal government, because less tax money …

International Tax Evasion: Spawned In The United States And Nurtured By Secrecy Havens, Allaire U. Karzon

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The United States system of income taxation is predicated upon the voluntary self-assessment and payment of tax. Voluntary compliance, in turn, depends upon the confidence of United States citizens that the taxation system is basically fair, that the tax burden essential to maintain the government is shared by all in proportion to their net income, and that those who cheat are discovered and prosecuted. Circumstances that allow certain taxpayers to escape their proper tax liability successfully tempt others to seek tax evasion devices for themselves, and, more importantly, demoralize the conscientious majority who pay their just share of taxes but …

The Deep Structure Of Capital Gains, William D. Popkin

Articles by Maurer Faculty

The capital gains preference has been viewed as a means by which taxpayers are spared being taxed fully in a single year for income earned over a number of previous years. This Article argues that the tax preference for capital gains was intended to provide economic incentives by encouraging transferability, risk, and investment, not to achieve equity by a crude form of income averaging. This Article critically evaluates judicial doctrine in light of these economic policies and concludes that courts have not effectively bridged the gap between policy and the statutory language and structure. The author explains how the tax …

Book Review, Richard L. Schmalbeck

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

International Tax Evasion And Tax Fraud: Typical Schemes And The Legal Issues Raised By Their Detection And Prosecution, Hugh Spall

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

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 …

Federal Tax Concepts As A Guide For State Apportionment Of Dividends, Richard Pomp, Rebecca S. Rudnick

Faculty Articles and Papers

In ASARCO, Inc. v. Idaho State Tax Commission, the Supreme Court rejected Idaho’s definition of income, and limited the apportionability of dividends, interest, and capital gains. The Court held that a unitary business relationship did not exist between ASARCO and the dividend payors, but did not address whether such a relationship was a sufficient precondition or a necessary one.

This article addresses two federal tax doctrines that may provide insight into state taxation of dividends: (1) the “effectively connected” doctrine, and (2) the Corn Products doctrine. The article first provides a detailed examination of the facts in ASARCO, and discusses …

Rawls, Justice, And The Income Tax, Charles R.T. O'Kelley

Scholarly Works

To the extent the primacy of justice is acknowledged in tax policy debate, such acknowledgment is coupled with the assertion that, of course, questions of justice cannot be meaningfully debated. The discussants then attempt to resolve the issue in question by use of ad hoc arguments of fairness and efficiency. The major purpose of this article is to show that not only is justice the primary issue, but that questions of justice can be meaningfully addressed. First, I will examine some of the ad hoc arguments of fairness and efficiency which have been made by proponents of a consumption base …

The Decline And Fall Of Taxable Income, Glenn E. Coven

Michigan Law Review

After first exploring the intellectual climate that has facilitated the congressional disregard of taxable income, this Article will examine three areas in which taxable income is no longer the exclusive mechanism for allocating the burden of taxation. That examination will outline the undesirable consequences of the decline of taxable income, and demonstrate that Congress need not have disregarded taxable income to secure the desired pattern of taxation. Because the use of multiple rate schedules constitutes the most significant deviation from the concept of taxable income in terms of the number of taxpayers that it affects and the popular resentment against …

Home Office Deductions: May A Taxpayer Have More Than One Principal Place Of Business?, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note argues that the Tax Court's more liberal interpretation is correct because it more nearly reflects Congress's intent. Part I seeks a basis for preferring one of the competing interpretations in the text of section 280A and in the section's legislative history, but finds none. Looking, of necessity, to the purposes that Congress sought to advance with section 280A, Part II argues that those purposes do not demand a restrictive reading of "principal place of business." Such a reading, moreover, would undermine fundamental and longstanding congressional tax policies. In the absence of a more explicit statement of congressional intent, …

Of No Interest: Truth, Substance, And Bargain Borrowing, Joseph W. Jacobs

Florida State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Taxation Of Employee Fringe Benefits, William D. Popkin

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Stock Redemptions: The Standards For Qualifying As A Purchase Under Section 302(B)., Douglas A. Kahn

Articles

This Article discusses the requirements of section 302(b) for characterizing a stock redemption as a purchase rather than as a dividend equivalent. The focus is primarily on two issues: (1) whether the election authorized by section 302(c)(2) to waive family attribution rules should be available to an entity such as a trust or estate; and (2) the determination of the standards to be applied in resolving whether a redemption is "not essentially equivalent to a dividend" so that section 302(b)(1) is applicable.

Do Chinese Income Taxes Qualify For The U.S. Foreign Tax Credit, Richard Pomp, Timothy A. Gelatt

Faculty Articles and Papers

The desirability of doing business in any foreign country may turn on the ability to avoid double taxation. This issue is a serious concern for foreign countries. For example, in China authorities have expressed a willingness to pursue a treaty specifically removing the problem of double taxation regarding a proposed petroleum or mineral exploitation tax. However, without such a treaty, U.S. taxpayers will be left with an important question: Will the Chinese income taxes be creditable against their U.S. income taxes?

A U.S. foreign tax credit is generally allowed for foreign income taxes paid or accrued, or for foreign income …

The Unfinished Business Of Section 1244: Removing The Remaining Traps, J. Clifton Fleming Jr.

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Federal Income Taxation Of Exchanges In Partition Of Commonly Owned Property: Realization Vs. Realism, Jonathan D. Kaney, Jr.

Florida State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Accelerated Depreciation Revisited—A Reply To Professor Blum, Douglas A. Kahn

Articles

Professor Blum's comment addresses the proper or neutral tax treatment to be accorded three of the items discussed in my recent article on accelerated depreciation - namely, annuities, prepaid expenses, and exhaustible assets. Blum disputes my analysis in all three cases. While Blum's article is eminently readable, I do not believe that it refutes my earlier work to any extent. In this reply to Professor Blum, I will deal separately with each of the three items he examines. First, however, it is useful to consider the meaning of the term "tax neutrality" and to set forth my views as to …

The Windfall Profit Tax - An Overview., Barry R. Miller, Dan G. Easley

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract Forthcoming.

Artists, Art Collectors And Income Tax, Alan L. Feld

Faculty Scholarship

The federal income tax law treats artists and art collectors differently. Similar transactions concerning artworks produce disparate income tax results, depending on whether they involve the artist or the collector. On balance, these results seem to favor the collector over the artist. But notwithstanding the dismay of some artists and their advocates, the differences in result flow, in the main, from the differences in the source of the taxpayer's investment in the work.

The collector buys the work with after-tax income. Any gain is properly treated as an investment return and is eligible for capital gain benefits.' The collector, however, …

The Continuing Saga Of Prepaid Feed Expense: The Fat Lady Has Not Sung, James D. Wright, Nancy E. Wright

Florida State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Section 302(C)(2): Opportunities And Pitfalls, Michael A. Jones

Florida State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Interest-Free Loans: The Odyssey Of A Misnomer, Kenneth F. Joyce, Louis A. Del Cotto

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Double Jeopardy Of Corporate Profits, The , Constantine N. Katsoris

Faculty Scholarship

The more one reads about our economy, the more one is baffled and alarmed. Permanent solutions to economic problems are elusive. Treating one financial malaise often aggravates another sector of the economy, necessitating a delicate balancing of conflicting interests. Furthermore, the problems are complicated by the constant influence of foreign forces. Nevertheless, most economists agree that any solution will require enormous funding. Unfortunately, the public has little, if any, confidence in our tax system. Indeed, some tax laws and proposals have been referred to as "obscene" and a "disgrace to the human race." Few quarrel with the aptness of such …

The Haitian Vacation: The Applicability Of Sham Doctrine To Year-End Divorces, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note examines the propriety of applying the sham doctrine to tax-motivated divorces. Section I outlines the evolution of the sham doctrine from its exposition in Gregory v. Helvering through its expression in two different tests for commercial transactions. Section II then studies the relationship between state divorce law and the marital status provisions of the Internal Revenue Code to demonstrate the clear congressional preference for incorporating state law by reference rather than creating an independent federal law of marriage. It also examines the history of the 1969 Tax Reform Act in a vain effort to discern a congressional desire …