Tax Law Commons^™

Determining Status As An Employee Rev. Ruling 87-41, Sharon L. Simmons

Akron Tax Journal

The Internal Revenue Service recently provided guidance for determining whether a technical service specialist is a common law employee, as opposed to an independent contractor, through Revenue Ruling 87-41. The ruling provides guidance for purposes of the Social Security taxes (FICA contributions), federal unemployment taxes assessed under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA), and income tax withholding by employers. Further, the ruling is important as it also provides guidance for employers in determining an individual's status in relation to qualified retirement or health plans.

Cadillacs, Gold Watches, And The Tax Reform Act Of 1986: The Continuing Evolution Of The Tax Treatment Of Gifts To Employees, Mark W. Cochran

Akron Tax Journal

The purpose of this article is to explore the historical background underlying the changes in the Tax Reform Act of 1986, to explain the changes, and to assess their meaning and significance?

Testimony United States Senate Committee On Finance Subcommittee Penalties March 14, 1988, Nicholas J. Creme, James W. Childs

Akron Tax Journal

This is a transcript of testimony delivered on March 14, 1988 by James Childs to the United States Senate Committee on Finance, Subcommittee on Penalties.

The Repeal Of General Utilities For Corporate Liquidations - The Consequences Of Incomplete And Unexpected Tax Reform, Louis F. Lobenhofer

Akron Tax Journal

This article will first discuss the history of the General Utilities doctrine and its gradual demise. Second, it will summarize the provision, noting both relief provisions and provisions designed to prevent tax avoidance under the new rules. Finally, this article will compare the effects of legislation to the justifications that prompted its enactment and discuss its side-effects.

Tax Sheltering Of Income: Passive Losses Under The Tax Reform Act Of 1986, Nina J. Crimm, Ryan R. Brenneman

Akron Tax Journal

It is abundantly clear to those in the press and on Capitol Hill that the provisions of the new Tax Reform Act of 19862 will constitute the death knell for tax shelters. The text of the Congressional Record and pages of business, financial journals and newspapers for months prior to the Act's enactment were filled with commentary as to this doomsday effect. However, a prudent reviewer of the actual tax-sheltering provisions of the Act would be far less certain in his estimation of their overall and lasting effect. Even though the so called elimination of tax shelters has been hailed …

A Perspective On Participant Loan Provisions In Qualified Retirement Plans After The 1986 Tax Act, Richard J. Kovach

Akron Tax Journal

The Tax Reform Act of 1986' is the fourth major tax enactment in four years to have a significant impact on qualified deferred compensation plans. Like the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982,2 this most recent tax legislation substantially affects the use of participant loan provisions in qualified plans. The purpose of this article is to analyze the cumulative technical difficulties that retirement plan designers and administrators should now consider in reviewing the feasibility and operation of participant loan provisions.

Federal Income Tax Developments: 1986, Merlin G. Briner, James W. Childs

Akron Tax Journal

This article surveys the 1986 federal income tax developments including relevant Supreme Court cases, income, deductions, corporate, partnership and trust taxation, as well as miscellaneous items.

The Tax Reform Act Of 1986: Simplicity, Equity, And Efficiency, Douglas Holtz-Eakin

Akron Tax Journal

The Tax Reform Act of 1986 (TRA86) has added another chapter to the already crowded tax history of the 1980's. Since the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, the nation has seen several major tax changes: The Economic Recovery Tax Act in 1981, The Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act in 1982, and TRA86. With tax reform now well down on the list of legislative priorities (at least until next year!) it seems a propitious time for a general assessment of the structure of the federal tax system.

This paper reviews TRA86 with an eye toward these issues. The order …

Federal Income Tax Developments: 1985, Merlin G. Briner, James W. Childs

Akron Tax Journal

This article discusses the federal income tax developments of 1985, including relevant Supreme Court cases, deductions, legislative and treasury regulations, and income recognition and related topics.

Fiduciary Income Taxation And The Holloway Adjustment, Dennis E. Bires

Akron Tax Journal

A great deal of the complexity of the rules dealing with income taxation of trusts and estates' can be attributed to the imperfect compatibility of two different regimes of law: the federal taxation of income and local rules of trust accounting. Just as the confluence of two rivers may generate turbulence exceeding that of either branch, the meeting of federal tax law and state trust law in Subchapter J of the Internal Revenue Code generates problems that neither discipline would present by itself.

In 1972, a New York Surrogate's Court introduced the Holloway adjustment to fiduciary accounting. This equitable adjustment …

The Emasculated Role Of Judicial Precedent In The Tax Court And Internal Revenue Service, Deborah A. Geier

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This article examines the Tax Court and the Internal Revenue Service. Part I discusses the structural and decision-making evolution of the Tax Court as well as the most common recommendation for change--the creation of a National Court of Tax Appeals. Part II examines the nonacquiescence practice of the Internal Revenue Service and the current state of the law with respect to intracircuit nonacquiescence. The article concludes that an expanded concept of stare decisis can alleviate many of the problems without the massive structural change entailed in the creation of a National Court of Tax Appeals.

Federal Income Tax Developments: 1983, Merlin G. Briner, Richard J. Kovach

Akron Tax Journal

This article surveys substantive federal income tax developments in 1983, including relevant Supreme Court cases, deductions, legislative and treasury regulations, and income recognition and related topics.

Report On Tax Aspects Of Farmers In Bankruptcy, Ralph T. Turner

Akron Tax Journal

This article will deal only with the individual taxpayer who utilizes the bankruptcy court and not with the tax treatment of corporations and partnerships in bankruptcy. There are special rules for the tax treatment of these entities. This article will review the general principles of tax treatment of an individual whose indebtedness was discharged in bankruptcy under the prior law and under the Bankruptcy Tax Act of 1980. After this general review and comments on their application to farmers, a hypothetical fact situation will be reviewed and the handling of the tax returns for the individual and the bankruptcy estate …

Proceedings From The 1984 Tax Institute Symposium: Cash Or Deferred Arrangements Under I.R.C. Section 401(K), John H. Appel

Akron Tax Journal

This article examines the reasons why an employer might consider a cash or deferred profit sharing or stock bonus plan. It looks at the rules for a cash or deferred arrangement (CODA) under Section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code. It covers the four primary requirements under the I.R.C., and then fifth, and biggest requirement, nondiscrimination.

Proceedings From The 1984 Tax Institute Symposium: Partnerships: Special Allocations Under The New Regulations, The Proposed Regulations Or Whatever, John C. Siegesmund

Akron Tax Journal

This article discusses Section 704 of the Internal Revenue Code and the 1984 proposed regulations related to the section. It looks at the major test of the regulations, that an allocation will be approved if it has substantial economic effect. It examines the two parts of this - that the allocation has to have an economic effect, and that the economic effect has to be substantial.

Over The Back Fence: Tax Shelters And Other Sales Of Federal Income Tax Reductions, Thomas A. Robinson

Akron Tax Journal

Structural features of the federal income tax system frequently make the same tax reduction' more valuable to one taxpayer than to another. There are many types of such tax reductions (including deductions and credits), creating a fertile environment for the tax shelter markets. Black letter law says tax reductions are nontransferable. In other words, taxpayers are not allowed to sell their mortgage interest deductions over the back fence to their neighbors. Yet, observation reveals some transactions where tax reductions are in effect bought and sold. This article will examine four of these transactions: business sales, divorce agreements, sale-leasebacks, and partnership …

Selling A Business And Starting Anew: Liquidation-Reincorporation In The Simple Situation, John R. Dorocak

Akron Tax Journal

A client approaches his attorney with a fairly common problem. The client, as sole or predominant shareholder, operates a business in the corporate form. He wishes to sell all the assets of that business to a third party. The client will then take the proceeds of the sale, after distribution to himself as shareholder, and use a part of them to capitalize a new corporation, which will purchase a new business. The question for the attorney is whether this simple transaction will ever call forth the tax doctrine of liquidation-reincorporation. This article will examine the likelihood of the liquidation reincorporation …

A Tax Policy Analysis Of Bob Jones University V. United States, Charles O. Galvin, Neal Devins

Vanderbilt Law Review

This Article questions the tax policy model that the Court articulated in Bob Jones University. The authors believe that the Court's recognition of the primacy of IRS rule making is undesirable because the IRS, as an executive agency, is susceptible to the influence of the incumbent administration's policy objectives. Further, even though the life-tenured status of judges insulates the courts from external political pressures, significant problems a real so present in a model in which the courts occupy a primary role in formulating tax policy. In sum, Congress is better suited than either the courts or the IRS to determine …

Use Of Multiple Qualified Pension Plans By Small Employers After The Tax Equity And Fiscal Responsibility Act Of 1982, Daniel R. Sharpe

Akron Tax Journal

Since the adoption of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, many employers have adopted more than one pension or profit sharing plan for a variety of reasons. The rules governing the design and structure of multiple pension plans have remained relatively static since 1974 until the adoption of the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982. This article will explore some of the radical changes made by TEFRA to the design and operation of multiple pension plans, particularly by small employers.

Extracting Documents And Information From The Internal Revenue Service, Stuart E. Siegel, Stanley I. Langbein

Articles

No abstract provided.

From De Facto To Statutory Exemption: An Analysis Of The Evolution Of Legislative Policy Regarding The Federal Taxation Of Campaign Finance, Jeffrey Schoenblum

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This article first explores the development of the de facto system of tax exemption and identifies the tensions that led to its demise. The analysis then details the substitution of a statutory structure in place of the traditional informal arrangement and examines the potential present in that structure for substantial IRS interference in the political process.

The Hidden Tax Trap Of I.R.C. Section 6672, Stephen J. Vasek

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Taxation Of Distributions From Qualified Employee Benefit Plans, Louis A. Mezzullo

University of Richmond Law Review

One of the most confusing aspects of employee benefit plans is the federal tax treatment of distributions to the participants of these plans and to the beneficiaries of deceased participants. The issues frequently involve not only income taxation, but estate and gift taxation as well. While the average practitioner may never be called upon to draft a pension or profit-sharing plan, he may be asked by his client about the consequences of the various alternative methods

of receiving a benefit from such a plan. Many employee benefit plans, particularly profit-sharing plans, offer a participant upon his retirement from the plan …

Divorce, Tax-Style, Alan L. Feld

Faculty Scholarship

In response to the "sham divorce" tactic, the IRS recently issued Revenue Ruling 76-255. The author, professor of law at Boston University School of Law, although sympathetic with the IRS's position in the Ruling, poin4s out situations where the divorce-remarriage may possibly be considered valid because of the existence of nontax effects.

The "Elaborate Interweaving Of Jurisdiction:" Labor And Tax Administration And Enforcement Of Erisa And Beyond, John W. Lee

University of Richmond Law Review

On Labor Day 1974, President Ford signed into law~the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, commonly known by its acronym ERISA. The genesis of ERISA is found in a study released in 1965 by the President's Committee on Corporate Pension Fund and Other Private Retirement and Welfare Programs, titled "Public Policy and Private Pension Programs-A Report to the President on Private Employee Retirement Plans." The Committee had been established in 1962 by President Kennedy in recognition of the growth of the pension industry and the need for reform. The report made recommendations as to vesting; funding; termination insurance and …

Charitable Remainder Trusts: Some Considerations To Draftsmanship, Harold G. Wren

University of Richmond Law Review

The Tax Reform Act of 1969 limited the charitable deduction for remainder interests for the purposes of income, estate and gift taxes to three specific forms: the annuity trust, the unitrust, or a gift to a pooled-income fund. This article will not deal with the details of a pooled-income fund, commonly established by a public charity to make it possible for a donor of a relatively small gift to do what we shall discover the wealthy donor can do by way of a charitable remainder trust. Since estate planners are primarily concerned with the drafting of trusts for donors of …

The Applicability Of Miranda Warnings To Civil Tax Fraud Investigations, William L. Skees Jr.

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Psychological Autopsy In Judicial Opinions Under Section 2035, Thomas L. Shaffer

Journal Articles

It is surprising how many cases have been litigated under Section 2035 of the Internal Revenue Code, which imposes an estate tax on inter vivos gifts in contemplation of death. It is also surprising that those hundreds of judicial opinions embody rigid perceptions of human life, and of attitudes toward death-perceptions which range from incisive to naive. They disclose a judicial system of death psychology which is detailed, systematic and (sometimes) accurate. This is an inquiry into those opinions as psychological autopsies.

The traditional judicial view of a gift in a contemplation of death case implies that the dead man …

The Chief Counsel's Policy Regarding Acquiescence And Nonacquiescence In Tax Court Cases, Lester R. Uretz

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Right To Counsel In Criminal Tax Investigations, Norvie L. Lay

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.