Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Tax Law Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

UF Law Faculty Publications

Discipline
Keyword
Publication Year

Articles 61 - 90 of 101

Full-Text Articles in Tax Law

Cobra Strikes Back: Anatomy Of A Tax Shelter, Karen C. Burke, Grayson M.P. Mccouch Oct 2008

Cobra Strikes Back: Anatomy Of A Tax Shelter, Karen C. Burke, Grayson M.P. Mccouch

UF Law Faculty Publications

Paul Daugerdas gained notoriety for himself and his erstwhile firm, Jenkens & Gilchrist, as the designer of a tax shelter that uses contingent liabilities to generate artificial tax losses on a grand scale. The basic shelter transaction is surprisingly simple. In essence, it uses offsetting options to inflate the basis of property that is distributed by a partnership and then contributed to and sold by another partnership, resulting in a large tax loss without any corresponding economic loss. In principle, this type of shelter could be replicated indefinitely and generate unlimited tax losses. Mr. Daugerdas is by no means unique. …


Is The Corporate Tax System "Broken"?, Karen C. Burke Oct 2008

Is The Corporate Tax System "Broken"?, Karen C. Burke

UF Law Faculty Publications

The slated expiration of the Bush Administration's tax cuts in 2010 highlights the instability of the current 15% rate on dividends and capital gains. Meanwhile, pressure has mounted to reduce U.S. corporate tax rates to improve competitiveness in an increasingly global economy. Much of the 1986 Act reform of the corporate tax-base-broadening combined with lower rates - has unraveled, leaving the U.S. with a high statutory corporate tax rate and narrow corporate tax base. Despite renewed interest in base-broadening and loophole-closing, the goal of corporate tax reform remains elusive. Thus far, proponents of corporate tax reform have largely sidestepped the …


The Empty Promise Of Estate Tax Repeal, Grayson M.P. Mccouch Oct 2008

The Empty Promise Of Estate Tax Repeal, Grayson M.P. Mccouch

UF Law Faculty Publications

The terms of the debate over the estate tax have been framed largely by abolitionists who have propounded an antitax message that portrays the estate tax as unambiguously harmful and threatening to ordinary families and small businesses. The attack on the estate tax is linked to a larger agenda of eliminating taxes on capital and capital income and dismantling the progressive elements of the federal tax system. The slogan of estate tax repeal, while effective in mobilizing antitax sentiment, makes no sense as a matter of tax policy because it downplays revenue costs, distributional effects, administrative concerns, and consequences for …


Value In The Eye Of The Beholder: The Valuation Of Intangibles For Transfer Pricing Purposes, Yariv Brauner Jul 2008

Value In The Eye Of The Beholder: The Valuation Of Intangibles For Transfer Pricing Purposes, Yariv Brauner

UF Law Faculty Publications

This article assesses the desirability of our current, arms' length based, transfer pricing regime by analyzing its theoretical and practical effectiveness in application to transfers of intangibles. A detailed analysis of the practice of valuation of intangibles, which is the key component in the application of this regime, exposes its weaknesses that result in undesirable market incentives. These incentives create a strong bias in favor of large multinational enterprises, yet, even if one favored such bias, it is achieved using an uncontrollable, costly and wasteful legal mechanism. The article particularly criticizes the regime's disregard of the unique characteristics of intangibles …


Risk, Return, And Objective Economic Substance, Charlene Luke Apr 2008

Risk, Return, And Objective Economic Substance, Charlene Luke

UF Law Faculty Publications

The economic substance doctrine is a judicial method used to assess transactions suspected of being nothing more than elaborate (and illicit) tax avoidance. Courts vary in their formulation of the doctrine. Generally, the test consists of (1) a subjective inquiry into the taxpayer's motivations for entering the suspect transaction and (2) an objective inquiry into whether the transaction accomplished anything beyond tax effects. Both inquiries frequently revolve around the profit potential of the suspect transaction. In making an objective inquiry into profit, courts focus on the profit potential exclusive of taxes - the pre-tax landscape. This Article suggests that although …


The Non-Sense Tax: A Reply To New Corporate Income Tax Advocacy, Yariv Brauner Apr 2008

The Non-Sense Tax: A Reply To New Corporate Income Tax Advocacy, Yariv Brauner

UF Law Faculty Publications

This Article challenges recent attempts by influential scholars to rationalize the existence of the corporate income tax. The corporate income tax has long been considered unjustifiable on traditional tax policy grounds. The new justifications recognize this, yet argue that the tax is still desirable because it promotes other goals, such as improvement of corporate governance and restraint of undesirable corporate management power accumulation. This Article demonstrates that the existence and magnitude of these alleged benefits of the corporate income tax are doubtful. Yet, the Article argues, even if taken as correct, the recent rationalization of the corporate income tax cannot …


Turning Slogans Into Tax Policy, Karen C. Burke, Grayson M.P. Mccouch Apr 2008

Turning Slogans Into Tax Policy, Karen C. Burke, Grayson M.P. Mccouch

UF Law Faculty Publications

The article examines the Bush Administration's tax cutting agenda, focusing on recent attempts to repeal the estate tax and to eliminate the shareholder-level income tax on corporate dividends. In each of these two seemingly disparate episodes, the Administration used dubious economic claims and populist rhetoric to promote tax cuts without considering revenue costs or distributional effects. The legislative outcomes, however, were driven largely by budget constraints and interest group politics. In conclusion, the article suggests that the Administration's tax cutting agenda is best understood in terms of politics and ideology rather than conventional tax policy.


Recent Developments In Federal Income Taxation: The Year 2007, Martin J. Mcmahon Jr., Ira B. Shepard, Daniel L. Simmons Jan 2008

Recent Developments In Federal Income Taxation: The Year 2007, Martin J. Mcmahon Jr., Ira B. Shepard, Daniel L. Simmons

UF Law Faculty Publications

This recent developments outline discusses, and provides context to understand the significance of, the most importnat judicial decisions and administrative rulings and regulations and promulgated by the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department during 2007- and sometimes a little farther back in time if we find the item particulary humourous or outrageous. Most Treasury Regulations, houever, are so complex that they cannot be dicussed in detail and, anyway, only a devout masochist would read them all the way through; just the basic topic and fundamental principles are highlighted. Admendmentsto the Internal Revenue Code generally are not dicussed except to the …


Recent Developments In Federal Income Taxation: The Year 2006, Ira B. Shepard, Martin J. Mcmahon Jr. Jan 2007

Recent Developments In Federal Income Taxation: The Year 2006, Ira B. Shepard, Martin J. Mcmahon Jr.

UF Law Faculty Publications

This recent developments outline discusses, and provides context to understand the significance of, the most important judicial decisions and administrative rulings and regulations promulgated by the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department during 2006 - and sometimes a little farther back in time if we find the item particularly humorous or outrageous. Most Treasury Regulations, however, are so complex that they cannot be discussed in detail and, anyway, only a devout masochist would read them all the way through; just the basic topic and fundamental principles are highlighted. Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code generally are not discussed except to …


Taxing Hot Asset Shifts, Karen C. Burke Jan 2007

Taxing Hot Asset Shifts, Karen C. Burke

UF Law Faculty Publications

The Article comments on I.R.S. Notice 2006-14 which proposes to simplify and rationalize the collapsible partnership rules of section 751(b). It concludes that the proposed hot asset sale approach represents much needed improvement of section 751(b) but suggests that the Treasury should also consider more fundamental reform that would treat a nonprorata current distribution as a partial liquidation. The Article also explores the relationship between sections 734(b) and 751(b), focusing on the 1954 ALI proposals and Professor Andrews' more recent proposals concerning hot asset distributions and mandatory basis adjustments. The Article is an outgrowth of the author's work as a …


Origins And Evolution Of Section 751(B), Karen C. Burke Jan 2007

Origins And Evolution Of Section 751(B), Karen C. Burke

UF Law Faculty Publications

Section 751(b), reputedly one of the most widely ignored provisions of Subchapter K of the Internal Revenue Code, reserves its most daunting complexity for nonprorata current distributions of property other than cash. While partnership tax has been revolutionized by increasingly sophisticated capital-accounting rules, the 1956 regulations implementing section 751(b) have never been updated to reflect the modern concept of revaluations and section 704(c) special allocations. Recently, the Treasury Department has requested comments concerning alternative approaches that would simplify and rationalize accounting for shifts of ordinary income and capital gain among partners.

This article considers proposals to replace the imputed exchange …


Lipstick, Light Beer, And Backloaded Savings Accounts, Karen C. Burke, Grayson M.P. Mccouch Apr 2006

Lipstick, Light Beer, And Backloaded Savings Accounts, Karen C. Burke, Grayson M.P. Mccouch

UF Law Faculty Publications

The article addresses current proposals for expanding tax-preferred individual savings accounts and their implications for retirement security and tax policy. The authors argue that the yield-exempt approach embraced by the Bush Administration in its proposals is likely to generate enormous long-term revenue losses, exacerbate inequalities in income and wealth, and erode broad-based coverage under employer-sponsored retirement plans. In addition to these fiscal and distributional concerns, they conclude that the proposals pose a serious obstacle to fundamental tax reform.


Recent Developments In Federal Income Taxation: The Year 2005, Martin J. Mcmahon Jr., Ira B. Shepard Jan 2006

Recent Developments In Federal Income Taxation: The Year 2005, Martin J. Mcmahon Jr., Ira B. Shepard

UF Law Faculty Publications

This recent developments outline discusses, and provides context to understand, the significance of, the most important judicial decisions and administrative rulings and regulations promulgated by the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department during 2005 - and sometimes a little farther back in time if we find the item particularly humorous or outrageous. Most Treasury Regulations, however, are so complex that they cannot be discussed in detail and, anyway, only a devout masochist would read them all the way through; just the basic topic and fundamental principles are highlighted. Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code generally are not discussed except to …


Beating The 'Wrap': The Agency Effort To Control Wraparound Insurance Tax Shelters, Charlene Luke Jul 2005

Beating The 'Wrap': The Agency Effort To Control Wraparound Insurance Tax Shelters, Charlene Luke

UF Law Faculty Publications

The first wraparound insurance tax shelter was marketed in the mid-1960s as a means for contract owners to exploit the inconsistency arising from the difference in the tax treatment of investment returns earned inside variable insurance contracts and the economically similar returns available outside such contracts. Federal income tax is deferred (and in some cases eliminated) on the income accruing inside variable insurance products - called inside buildup. In the most recent iteration of the wraparound insurance gambit, insurance companies wrapped private-placement, hedge-fund interests inside variable insurance products in order to allow contract owners to defer tax on the ordinary …


Repairing Inside Basis Adjustments, Karen C. Burke Apr 2005

Repairing Inside Basis Adjustments, Karen C. Burke

UF Law Faculty Publications

Optional basis adjustments under Subchapter K have come under increased scrutiny as a result of tax shelter abuses involving partnerships. Recent legislation requires mandatory adjustments under sections 734(b) and 743(b) upon certain distributions of partnership property and transfers of partnership interests. These amendments were targeted at situations in which the failure to make such adjustments potentially gave rise to duplication of losses. While preventing loss duplication may be particularly urgent, these anti-tax-shelter measures represent a retreat from broader proposals calling for mandatory section 734(b) adjustments for both current and liquidating distributions.

In a recent article, Professor Abrams criticizes the common …


Integration In An Integrating World, Yariv Brauner Jan 2005

Integration In An Integrating World, Yariv Brauner

UF Law Faculty Publications

During the second half of the last century, many countries gradually replaced their so-called classical corporate tax regimes, under which corporate earnings were taxed twice -- once in the hands of the corporation, and again when distributed to corporate shareholders as dividends -- with an integrated regime (imputation), which taxed such earnings only once. The driving force behind this trend was the expectation of significant efficiency gains. This clear and gradual trend has been abruptly reversed with the turn of the century. The phenomenon we call globalization, and in particular the proliferation of cross-border business and investment, has materially contributed …


International Trade And Tax Agreements May Be Coordinated, But Not Reconciled, Yariv Brauner Jan 2005

International Trade And Tax Agreements May Be Coordinated, But Not Reconciled, Yariv Brauner

UF Law Faculty Publications

A recent WTO case held the U.S.' export tax subsidies illegal. Despite strong political resistance, which fed a long and costly legislative process, the U.S. recently repealed these subsidies. This case and the U.S. reaction revealed that although the U.S. is the single super economic power, it is not as dominant a player as some portray it. The case also shed light on the tension between the present international trade and tax regimes and the difficulty of applying WTO law to income tax measures. This tension did not escalate earlier mainly because countries tended not to use their income tax …


Recent Developments In Federal Income Taxation: The Year 2004, Ira B. Shepard, Martin J. Mcmahon Jr. Jan 2005

Recent Developments In Federal Income Taxation: The Year 2004, Ira B. Shepard, Martin J. Mcmahon Jr.

UF Law Faculty Publications

This recent developments outline discusses, and provides context to understand the significance of, the most important judicial decisions and administrative rulings and regulations promulgated by the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department during 2004 - and sometimes a little farther back in time if we find the item particularly humorous or outrageous. Most Treasury Regulations, however, are so complex that they cannot be discussed in detail and, anyway, only a devout masochist would read them all the way through; just the basic topic and fundamental principles are highlighted. Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code generally are not discussed except to …


The Unfinished Business Of Mutual Fund Reform, Thomas R. Hurst Jan 2005

The Unfinished Business Of Mutual Fund Reform, Thomas R. Hurst

UF Law Faculty Publications

The need for further mutual fund reform remains in two major areas. First, there is a need for greater and more effective disclosure of fund charges and greater transparency in the manner in which funds operate. While it is probably overly optimistic to expect that this will make a dramatic difference in investors' preferences for one fund over another, at least it will make it possible for the investor who does care about costs and conflicts of interest to determine how efficiently a particular fund is managed vis-a-vis its competitors. A generation ago, funds with a front end sales load …


The Matthew Effect And Federal Taxation, Martin J. Mcmahon Jr. Sep 2004

The Matthew Effect And Federal Taxation, Martin J. Mcmahon Jr.

UF Law Faculty Publications

The “Matthew Effect” is a synonym for the well-known colloquialism, “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.” This Article is about the Matthew Effect in the distribution of incomes in the United States and the failure of the federal tax system to address the problem. There has been a strong Matthew Effect in incomes in the United States over the past few decades, with an increasing concentration of income and wealth in the top one percent. Nevertheless, there has been a continuing trend of enacting disproportionately large tax cuts for those at the top of the income pyramid. …


Recent Developments In Federal Income Taxation: The Year 2003, Ira B. Shepard, Martin J. Mcmahon Jr. Jan 2004

Recent Developments In Federal Income Taxation: The Year 2003, Ira B. Shepard, Martin J. Mcmahon Jr.

UF Law Faculty Publications

This recent developments outline discusses, and provides context to understand the significance of, the most important judicial decisions and administrative rulings and regulations promulgated by the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department during 2003 - and sometimes a little farther back in time if we find the item particularly humorous or outrageous. Most Treasury Regulations, however, are so complex that they cannot be discussed in detail and, anyway, only a devout masochist would read them all the way through; just the basic topic and fundamental principles are highlighted. Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code generally are not discussed except to …


Family Limited Partnerships: Discounts, Options, And Disappearing Value, Karen C. Burke, Grayson M.P. Mccouch Jan 2004

Family Limited Partnerships: Discounts, Options, And Disappearing Value, Karen C. Burke, Grayson M.P. Mccouch

UF Law Faculty Publications

Family partnerships have been become increasingly popular as a means of avoiding estate and gift taxes. As other estate freezing techniques have been closed off by statutory anti-abuse rules, estate planners have increasingly resorted to partnerships as a vehicle for transferring assets within a family at deeply discounted values. Discounts ranging from one-third to over one-half of the value of the underlying assets are routinely claimed, and often allowed, based on lack of marketability and lack of control, even where these disabilities have no lasting or ascertainable economic effect. Nevertheless, the use of family partnerships to suppress value for transfer …


A Good Old Habit, Or Just An Old One? Preferential Tax Treatment For Reorganizations, Yariv Brauner Jan 2004

A Good Old Habit, Or Just An Old One? Preferential Tax Treatment For Reorganizations, Yariv Brauner

UF Law Faculty Publications

This article proposes to repeal the preferential tax treatment of certain merger and acquisition transactions known as "reorganizations," and tax them like all other sales or exchanges. In the last 80 years this preference has been a cornerstone of our tax system. It is also one of the most stable rules in the tax code. Nevertheless, its normative justification is weak, and has never been rigorously debated in the legal literature. This article rejects the stated rationale for this rules - that such transactions trigger insufficient realization and therefore it is both unfair and impractical to currently tax them. It …


Exculpatory Liabilities And Partnership Nonrecourse Allocations, Karen C. Burke Oct 2003

Exculpatory Liabilities And Partnership Nonrecourse Allocations, Karen C. Burke

UF Law Faculty Publications

The rise of limited liability companies (LLCs) classified as partnerships for federal income tax purposes challenges traditional assumptions concerning the treatment of recourse and nonrecourse liabilities under Subchapter K. The complex rules of sections 704(b) and 752 give little attention to liabilities that are recourse to the entity under section 1001 but for which no member bears the economic risk of loss under section 752. In comparison to traditional general or limited partnerships, however, LLCs are much more likely to incur such "exculpatory" liabilities because of the limited liability shield under state law. Although exculpatory liabilities are functionally quite similar …


Restricting The Flow Of Funds From U.S. Charities To International Terrorist Organizations - A Proposal, Mindy Herzfeld Jul 2003

Restricting The Flow Of Funds From U.S. Charities To International Terrorist Organizations - A Proposal, Mindy Herzfeld

UF Law Faculty Publications

This paper argues that the Internal Revenue Service should take a more active stance in denying tax exemption to organizations that finance terrorist activities abroad. The paper explores the well-established principle that organizations granted U.S. tax-exemption must act consistently with national public policy, and the application of that principle to charitable organizations that send monies overseas. To foster that policy, the Service should apply special guidelines to charitable organizations that channel contributions abroad, similar to the special guidelines in effect for tax-exempt private schools. In addition, legislative changes should be made to advance such a goal in order to provide …


An International Tax Regime In Crystallization, Yariv Brauner Jan 2003

An International Tax Regime In Crystallization, Yariv Brauner

UF Law Faculty Publications

The grand illusion of a single, worldwide, tax system that will eliminate all international inefficiencies, and assist all the nations of the world to maximize their relative advantages, is, as commonly accepted, utopian. The tax, academic and professional, writing in the field of international taxation, and cross-border interaction, between tax systems and jurisdictions has grown, exponentially, in the last decade, but no significant work has been done to prove, or disprove, the naivety of this hypothesis. Some scholars and tax executives, in certain international organizations, have discussed ideas along this line, but no single organization has, seriously, attempted to promote …


Contributions, Distributions, And Assumption Of Liabilities: Confronting Economic Reality, Karen C. Burke Jan 2003

Contributions, Distributions, And Assumption Of Liabilities: Confronting Economic Reality, Karen C. Burke

UF Law Faculty Publications

To combat a relatively arcane international tax-shelter abuse, Congress recently amended Code sections 357 and 362 governing contributions of encumbered property to a corporation. This Article offers a critical assessment of the recent amendments to the liability assumption rules of section 357 and corresponding basis provisions of section 362. Part I explores the divergence between the former liability assumption rules and the "economic benefit" doctrine of the section 1001 regulations. Part II focuses on the technical definition of assumption of recourse and nonrecourse liabilities under amended section 357(d). Part III examines the corollary basis provisions of section 362, as modified …


Recent Developments In Federal Income Taxation: The Year 2002, Ira B. Shepard, Martin J. Mcmahon Jr. Jan 2003

Recent Developments In Federal Income Taxation: The Year 2002, Ira B. Shepard, Martin J. Mcmahon Jr.

UF Law Faculty Publications

This recent developments outline discusses, and provides context to understand the significance of, the most important judicial decisions and administrative rulings and regulations promulgated by the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department during 2002 - and sometimes a little farther back in time if we find the item particularly humorous or outrageous. Most Treasury Regulations, however, are so complex that they cannot be discussed in detail and, anyway, only a devout masochist would read them all the way through; just the basic topic and fundamental principles are highlighted. Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code generally are not discussed except to …


A Whirlwind Tour Of The Internal Revenue Code's At-Risk And Passive Activity Loss Rules, Boris I. Bittker, Martin J. Mcmahon Jr., Lawrence A. Zelenak Jan 2002

A Whirlwind Tour Of The Internal Revenue Code's At-Risk And Passive Activity Loss Rules, Boris I. Bittker, Martin J. Mcmahon Jr., Lawrence A. Zelenak

UF Law Faculty Publications

After providing a glimpse at the historical computation of business operating profit or loss, the authors describe the use of tax shelters as well as legislative responses to them. The authors examine the at-risk and passive activity loss rules, detailing the scope of these rules and offering guidance in the computation of deductions and losses.


Recent Developments In Federal Income Taxation: The Year 2001, Ira B. Shepard, Martin J. Mcmahon Jr. Jan 2002

Recent Developments In Federal Income Taxation: The Year 2001, Ira B. Shepard, Martin J. Mcmahon Jr.

UF Law Faculty Publications

This recent developments outline discusses, and provides context to understand the significance of, the most important judicial decisions and administrative rulings and regulations promulgated by the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department during 2001 - and sometimes a little farther back in time if we find the item particularly humorous or outrageous. Most Treasury Regulations, however, are so complex that they cannot be discussed in detail and, anyway, only a devout masochist would read them all the way through; just the basic topic and fundamental principles are highlighted. Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code generally are not discussed except to …