Tax Law Commons^™

Note: Get The Balance Right: Finding An Equilibrium Between Charitable Solicitation, Fraud, And The First Amendment In Illinois Ex Rel. Madigan V. Telemarketing Associates, Inc., 538 U.S. 600 (2003), Christopher R. Sullivan

William Mitchell Law Review

This Note first examines the history of the relevant law in the areas of fraud, charitable solicitation, and prior restraints. Specifically, it examines the three leading cases on regulation of charitable fundraising speech: Schaumburg, Munson, and Riley. Next, the Note discusses the history and holding of Illinois ex rel. Madigan v. Telemarketing Associates, Inc. Next, this Note will explore the holding in Telemarketing Associates in light of Schaumburg and its progeny. This analysis includes a survey of recent and pending fraud litigation against charities and their fundraisers, and a review of the Federal Trade Commission's “Operation Phoney Philanthropy.” Finally, the …

Sin, Salvation, And The Law Of Charities, Corwin R. Kruse

William Mitchell Law Review

Review of Governing Nonprofit Corporations: Federal and State Law and Regulation. By Marion R. Fremont-Smith. Belknap Press, 2004. 570 pages, $95.

Book-Tax Conformity And The Corporate Tax Shelter Debate: Assessing The Proposed Section 475 Mark-To-Market Safe Harbor, Linda M. Beale

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

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

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

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 …

Reparations As Redistribution, Kyle D. Logue

Articles

The most controversial, and most intriguing, remedy sought by proponents of slavery reparations involves massive redistribution of wealth from whites to blacks within the United States. This is not to say that reparations proponents have focused only on racial redistribution. Some have called for an official apology from the U.S. government. Others seek the creation of a foundation or institute, funded by U.S. tax dollars, to be devoted to furthering the interests of African Americans, including the funding of K- 12 educational programs for black children and the funding of general civil rights advocacy to counteract the lingering effects of …

Putting Sec Heat On Audit Firms And Corporate Tax Shelters: Responding To Tax Risk With Sunshine, Shame And Strict Liability, Linda M. Beale

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

The Allocation Of Profits Between Related Entities And The Oppression Remedy: An Analysis Of Ford Motor Co. V. Omers, Kim Brooks, Anita Anand

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

In Ford Motor Co. v. Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement Board, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice reviewed the transfer pricing arrangements between parent and subsidiaries Ford US and Ford Canada in the context of a going-private transaction. Its review was the key to resolving the two main issues in the case: first, did the transfer-pricing arrangements understate Ford Canada's profits so as to undermine the fair value of Ford Canada's shares? And second, did the transfer-pricing arrangement oppress or unduly disregard the interests of Ford Canada's minority shareholders so as to give rise to the oppression remedy?

In this comment, …

Delimiting The Concept Of Income: The Taxation Of In-Kind Benefits, Kim Brooks

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The issue of which in-kind benefits should be taxed and how these benefits should be valued have concerned tax legislators, administrators, and academics since the introduction of the personal income tax system. Building her theoretical analysis on the income concept advanced by Henry Simons and relying on traditional tax policy notions of equity, neutrality, and administrative practicality, the author asserts that employees must be fully taxed on employer-provided in-kind benefits. To this effect, the article offers guidelines for distinguishing between taxable in-kind benefits and non-taxable conditions of employment. The author argues that the correct method of valuation of in-kind benefits …

The Allocation Of Profits Between Related Entities And The Oppression Remedy: An Analysis Of Ford Motor Co. V. Omers, Kim Brooks, Anita Anand

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

In Ford Motor Co. v. Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement Board, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice reviewed the transfer pricing arrangements between parent and subsidiaries Ford US and Ford Canada in the context of a going-private transaction. Its review was the key to resolving the two main issues in the case: first, did the transfer-pricing arrangements understate Ford Canada's profits so as to undermine the fair value of Ford Canada's shares? And second, did the transfer-pricing arrangement oppress or unduly disregard the interests of Ford Canada's minority shareholders so as to give rise to the oppression remedy? In this comment, …

Sensible Tax Policies In Open Economics, James R. Hines Jr.

Articles

This paper evaluates the design and the desirability of business taxes in small open economies, in light of evidence of the impact of taxation on the activities of multinational firms. The high degree of international capital mobility implies that small countries benefit by reducing their tax rates below the rates of other countries with whom they compete, possibly to the point of eliminating any taxes on inbound investment. Countries likewise have incentives not to tax the foreign incomes of resident companies. Host countries that are tempted to use their tax systems to subsidize and thereby encourage local employment, net exports, …

Corporate Income Tax Act Of 1909, Reuven S. Avi-Yonah

Book Chapters

The Corporate Tax Act of 1909 (36 Stat. 11, 112) imposed an excise tax on corporations for the privilege of doing business in corporate form. However, the excise tax was measured by corporate income. Thus the act was the origin of the current corporate income tax, which has been part of our federal tax system ever since and is currently the source of about 10 percent of federal revenues.

In 1895 the Supreme Court decided that Congress could not impose an income tax directly on individuals, because that would violate the constitutional requirement that all “direct” taxes be apportioned (that …

Race And Equality Across The Law School Curriculum: The Law Of Tax Exemption, David A. Brennen

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

What is the relevance of race to tax law? The race issues are apparent when one studies a subject like constitutional law. The Constitution concerns itself explicitly with such matters as defining rights of citizenship, allocating powers of government, and determining rights with respect to property. Given the history of our country -- with slavery followed by periods of de jure and de facto racial discrimination -- these constitutional law matters obviously must have racial dimensions.

Tax law, however, does not generally concern itself explicitly with matters of race. Tax law is often thought of as completely race neutral in …

One Flesh, Two Taxpayers: A New Approach To Marriage And Wealth Transfer Taxation, Bridget J. Crawford

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article critically examines the estate and gift tax rules currently applicable to martial wealth transfers and proposes a new system in which all transfers between spouses will be subject to taxation. The article begins by tracing the historic development of what the author calls the "one flesh, one taxpayer" approach to wealth transfer taxation. Over a period of more than thirty years, the marital deduction evolved from a tool for achieving geographic uniformity into an institution based on an unreal and idealized story of proper gender roles and the economic significance of marriage. After describing the wealth transfer tax …

Retirement Security Through Asset Protection: The Evolution Of Wealth, Privilege, And Policy, John K. Eason

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Innocent Spouses: A Critique Of The New Laws Governing Joint And Several Tax Liability, Lily Kahng

Faculty Articles

This article provides a framework for such interpretation and implementation of the new innocent spouse laws. The author presents an overview of the current tax law treatment of married joint filers under which joint and several liability is imposed unless relief is available under the new innocent spouse laws. The article then examines the tax rationales that have traditionally been offered for imposing joint and several liability. The author concludes that because the fiction of marital unity is deeply embedded in our tax system, joint and several liability for married joint filers is likely to remain the law. While it …

Executive Compensation Reform And The Limits Of Tax Policy, Michael Doran

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 includes a major attempt to reform the tax rules for deferred compensation arrangements covering corporate managers. This paper examines the tax policy and corporate-governance policy objectives of the reform effort, explores the shortcomings of the legislation, and outlines a different approach for future executive compensation reform.

Seeking Consistency In Relating Capital To Current Expenditures, Henry Ordower

All Faculty Scholarship

Identifies relational duration as the key factor that distinguishes capital from current expenditures for tax purposes and argues that inventory cost is fundamentally identical to capitalization. Barriers to deductibility such as illegal payment prohibitions should also be barriers to capitalization or inventory absorption.

Tax Treatment Of Charitable Contributions In Canada: Theory, Practice, And Reform, David G. Duff

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

Tax recognition for charitable contributions in Canada takes the form of a deduction where the contribution is made by a corporation or for the purpose of gaining or producing income from a business, a nonrefundable credit where individuals make qualifying gifts to eligible recipients, and a reduction or exemption from capital gains tax on gifts to eligible recipients of qualifying cultural property, publicly traded securities, or ecologically sensitive land. This article reviews different rationales for the tax recognition of charitable contributions, concluding that the most persuasive rationale is to indirectly subsidize the quasi-public goods and services that charities provide and …

The Neglected Role Of International Altruistic Investment In The Chinese Transition Economy, Darryll K. Jones

Journal Publications

This Article discusses the positive role of altruistic investment in any transition economy by making specific reference to altruistic investment in the Chinese economic transition. The Article discusses the social welfare hardships arising from the transition process and then discusses the U.S. and Chinese tax incentives and barriers to altruistic investment that would lessen that hardship. After that, the Article discusses the reasons why both countries might prefer to retain those barriers. Finally, the Article concludes that altruistic investment has more positive then negative consequences and makes a simple proposal to stimulate altruistic investment in China in a manner that …

Abandoning Principles: Qualified Tuition Programs And Wealth Transfer Taxation Doctrine, Wayne M. Gazur

Publications

In 1996 Congress gave its imprimatur to a modest qualified tuition program provision. Over the course of the next five years the provision was expanded, providing additional wealth transfer taxation and income taxation benefits. This essay proposes that unless limited, such benefits are inconsistent with established taxation principles and also have the potential to undermine the integrity of the wealth transfer tax structure and the progressive nature of the income tax.

The Contingent Attorney's Fee Tax Trap: Ethical, Fiduciary Duty, And Malpractice Implications, Gregg D. Polsky

Scholarly Works

In employment and civil rights lawsuits, the alternative minimum tax may cause a plaintiff's net recovery to be taxed at rates significantly higher than the current maximum rate of 35 percent. This Essay discusses the ethical, fiduciary duty and malpractice implications for lawyers representing plaintiffs who may be affected by this tax trap.

Litigation Expenses And The Alternative Minimum Tax, Gregg D. Polsky, Brant J. Hellwig

Scholarly Works

One of the chief features of the alternative minimum tax (the "AMT") is a broadened tax base, accomplished in part through the disallowance of deductions that are not central to measuring an individual's net income. Yet in achieving its objective of limiting deductions, the AMT casts a wide net. Thus, in certain instances, an individual can be robbed of the tax benefit of expenses that were critical to the production of the income being taxed. An extreme example of this problem is the treatment of certain litigation expenses under the AMT. If an individual incurs attorney fees and other associated …

Shape Up Or Ship Out: Accountability To Third Parties For Patent Ambiguities In Testamentary Documents, Angela M. Vallario

All Faculty Scholarship

The attorney's preparation of a testamentary document (hereinafter sometimes referred to as a will or revocable trust) should clearly and accurately reflect the client's last wishes. Although these testamentary documents should reflect the client's intent, they often fall short of accomplishing that goal. There are numerous examples of will and trust construction cases that exhaust tremendous resources in an effort to ascertain the client's wishes or intent. Many of these cases involve the construction of patent and/or latent ambiguities which should have been resolved by appropriate drafting. This article's scope is limited to patent ambiguities caused by the attorney's negligence …

Tax Treatment Of Charitable Contributions In Canada: Theory, Practice, And Reform, David G. Duff

All Faculty Publications

Tax recognition for charitable contributions in Canada takes the form of a deduction where the contribution is made by a corporation or for the purpose of gaining or producing income from a business, a nonrefundable credit where individuals make qualifying gifts to eligible recipients, and a reduction or exemption from capital gains tax on gifts to eligible recipients of qualifying cultural property, publicly traded securities, or ecologically sensitive land. This article reviews different rationales for the tax recognition of charitable contributions, concluding that the most persuasive rationale is to indirectly subsidize the quasi-public goods and services that charities provide and …

Aba Section Of Taxation Report Of The Task Force On Judicial Deference, Linda Galler, Irving Salem, Ellen P. Aprill, Aba Section Of Taxation, Task Force On Judicial Deference

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

Recognizing the need for clearer standards regarding the degree of deference that the federal courts should confer on guidance issued by the Department of Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service, the Tax Section, under the direction of former ABA Section of Taxation Chair Pamela F. Olson, created a Task Force on Judicial Deference in 2000. It was charged with the mission of not only examining the state of the law pertaining to judicial deference across the broad range of administrative pronouncements issued by the Treasury and the IRS, but also sharing its conclusions and possible solutions with the Section of …

Perpetuation Of The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, Hale E. Sheppard

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article discusses Section 911 of the Internal Revenue Code, also known as the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE), as an example of a provision that has been sustained, not on the basis of sound economic analysis and compliance with established U.S. international tax policy, but rather because of effective lobbying and political circumstance. First providing an overview of the U.S. system of worldwide taxation, and the place of the FEIE within that framework, Mr. Sheppard explores the forces underlying the perpetuation of the FEIE. He demonstrates that FEIE is inconsistent with each of the primary components of U.S. international …

Private Lands Conservation In The British Virgin Islands, Joan Marsan, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Books, Reports, and Studies

46 p. ; 28 cm

Private Lands Conservation In Grenada, Kevin Doran, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Books, Reports, and Studies

47 p. ; 28 cm