Tax Law Commons^™

Unlimited Liability And Law Firm Organization: Tax Factors And The Direction Of Causation, Ronald J. Gilson

Faculty Scholarship

In a recent issue of this Journal, Carr and Mathewson (1988) test a model of the impact of limited and unlimited liability regimes on the nature of firms by comparing the performance of law firms operated as partnerships and sole proprietorships (and therefore subject to unlimited liability) with that of law firms operated as corporations (and therefore subject to limited liability).

The Taxpayer's Duty Of Consistency, Steve R. Johnson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Two Faces Of Tax Neutrality: Do They Interact Or Are They Mutually Exclusive?, Douglas A. Kahn

Articles

The term "tax neutrality" refers to at least two quite different concepts. In its most common usage, tax neutrality refers to tax provisions that conform to an ideal tax system. A tax provision that is consistent with such an ideal system is described as "neutral." A tax provision that cannot be reconciled with the ideal system is sometimes referred to as a "tax expenditure" item. I will discuss tax expenditures later in this paper.

The Innocent Spouse Problem: Joint And Several Liability For Income Taxes Should Be Repealed., Richard C.E. Beck

Articles & Chapters

Husbands and wives who elect to file joint federal income tax returns

are jointly and severally liable for the entire tax due. Ninety-nine

percent of married couples who file income tax returns make the election

to file jointly, and each spouse thereby incurs personal liability for

the other spouse's income taxes. This Article argues that the rule is

unfair and unjustified and should be repealed

Tax Incentives For Investment: A Free Market Future Versus Our Pork Barrel Past, Jb Mccombs

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Family Attribution, Alan Sunukjian

Akron Tax Journal

The concept of attribution (constructive ownership) is one of the most difficult concepts to understand and correctly apply in tax law today. Attribution is the imposition of stock ownership upon an individual or entity from another individual or entity for taxation purposes. This concept is further complicated when the already attributed stock is reattributed to a third individual or entity.

Attribution is premised upon control. It is similar to the incidents of ownership doctrine found throughout the estate and gift tax code. Under this doctrine an insured party is presumed to have control over an insurance policy when he or …

Attacking The Tax Gap, Tom Weiksnar, Todd Van Valkenburg

Akron Tax Journal

Today a radio station played something extraordinary, an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) advertisement promoting taxes. "Help someone with their taxes, there is no telling what the returns may be." At last, after five years of American Bar Association (ABA) research, the Tax Reform Act of 1986 (TRA'86), and countless private studies, the IRS seems to be taking an affirmative step in dealing with tax noncompliance. Moreover, the IRS realizes the answer lies in the attitudes of the taxpayers, as well as in the collection system itself. This news is truly exciting.

Specific arenas of taxation like gift and estate tax, …

Some Legislative Implications Of The History Of The Judicial Interpretation Of Section 1221, Hans-Dieter Sprohge

Akron Tax Journal

This article consists of six sections. The first section briefly indicates the economic significance of the correct classification of property as either a capital or an excluded asset. In the second section, the definition of a capital asset and the list of properties specifically excluded from the definition are presented and analyzed. The analysis demonstrates how the present formulations of the definition of an excluded asset can be given a broad and a narrow interpretation. The third section discusses how the Corn Products decision was conventionally construed to be based on a broad interpretation of the definition of an excluded …

Bankruptcy As An Alternative To The Statute Of Limitations For Relief From Overdue Income Taxes, Harold E. Wolfe Jr.

Akron Tax Journal

This article analyzes the situations in which a bankruptcy filing could be used as an alternative to the expiration of the statute of limitations on collections and sets forth various considerations that should be reviewed by the practitioner prior to a bankruptcy filing. Practitioners are cautioned that there are many collateral consequences resulting from a taxpayer's bankruptcy petition filing and each case must be analyzed carefully in light of the interplay of the Bankruptcy Code, the Internal Revenue Code and the sparse case law available in this area.

Car Depreciation, Georgia Maistros

Akron Tax Journal

Every businessperson is concerned about his or her taxable deductions. Depreciation is one of those deductions. Depreciation is the reasonable allowance deducted every year for the exhaustion and wear and tear as property becomes obsolete.' In 1988, there are many depreciation methods in use. A businessperson must be familiar with all of these methods in order to be able to be in full compliance with the tax law. The average businessperson is in awe of the tax code and will more than likely call up on a qualified tax professional to do his or her taxes. The accountant, CPA, or …

Complexity And Compliance Issues In The U.S. Tax System, Marie Rady

Akron Tax Journal

This article is a compilation of views about the current tax system. In addition, this article seeks to identify what we are or should be doing about the complexity and compliance problems inherent in our tax system, and offers approaches from various groups posed to alleviate some of the complexity and compliance problems.

How Section 469 Redefines The Tax Shelter - And How The Regulations Redefine Section 469, Thomas J. Donnelly

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

The Marriage Tax Revisited: An Analysis Of The Tax Consequences Of Marriage, Dan Subotnik

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

What Has Happened To The Tax Legislative Process?, Pamela Brooks Gann

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Showdown at Gucci Gulch: Lawmakers, Lobbyists and the Unlikely Triumph of Tax Reform by Jeffrey H. Birnbaum and Alan S. Murray

Report On Transfer Tax Restructuring, K. Jay Holdsworth, Ronald D. Aucutt, Edward B. Benjamin Jr., Kenneth W. Bergen, James B. Lewis

Akron Tax Journal

This report is submitted to the Council of the Section of Taxation, American Bar Association as a proposed response to the request of the Treasury Department for suggestions for reform of the Federal transfer taxes (the estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer taxes). That request was contained in a letter dated November 19, 1985, from Ronald A. Pearlman, the Assistant Secretary (Tax Policy), to Hugh Calkins, then Section Chair.' After receiving individual comment papers on the subject from members of the Section's Committee on Estate and Gift Taxes, Mr. Calkins, on April 14, 1986, created this Task Force and asked it …

Traveling Expenses To Temporary Job Sites Kohr V. United States Walraven V. Commissioner, John Ney

Akron Tax Journal

The issue addressed in this update is the current status of the deductibility of traveling expenses to temporary job sites. The analysis is a comparison of two recent cases: Kohr v. United States I and Walraven v. Commissioner.' Kohr involves the granting of a summary judgment in favor of the taxpayer from the District Court. In Walraven, the Eighth Circuit affirmed a Tax Court ruling in favor of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. Both cases involve construction workers who maintained residences that were considerable distances from their employment. Both were employed at a nuclear power plant construction project, and both …

Constructive Receipt Of Income Baxter V. Commissioner, Adam M. Ekonomon

Akron Tax Journal

In Baxter v. Commissioner, the court decided whether taxpayer Baxter had constructively received $13,095 of commissions he had earned in 1978. Baxter, a cash basis taxpayer, received a check in the mail for these commissions in early 1979. The check was dated December 30, 1978. Treasury Regulation Section 1.451-2(a) controls and provides, in part, that a taxpayer constructively receives income when it is otherwise made available to draw upon at any time, even though it is not reduced to the taxpayer's possession. However, there is no constructive receipt if "taxpayer's control of its receipt is subject to substantial limitations or …

26 U.S.C. 501(C)(9) Tax Exempt Status Of Voluntary Employees' Benefit Associations, Tony Paxton

Akron Tax Journal

This article discusses Canton Police Benevolent Association v. United States and it's implications related to 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(9).

Unitary Theory Of Stock Ownership Fink V. Commissioner, Janis Stamm

Akron Tax Journal

In Commissioner v. Fink,' the Supreme Court held that a dominant shareholder who voluntarily surrenders a portion of his shares to the corporation, while retaining control, does not sustain an immediate loss deductible for income tax purposes. Such a surrender of stock must be treated as a contribution to capital, the basis of the surrendered shares being reallocated to the remaining shares held and loss or gain recognized only when the shareholder disposes of the remaining shares.

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?

Should General Utilities Be Reinstated To Provide Partial Integration Of Corporate And Personal Income—Is Half A Loaf Better Than None?, Douglas A. Kahn

Articles

The General Utilities doctrine is the name given to the now largely defunct tax rule that a corporation does not recognize a gain or a loss on making a liquidating or nonliquidating distribution of an appreciated or depreciated asset to its shareholders. The roots of the doctrine, can be traced to a regulation promulgated in 1919 that denied realization of gain or loss to a corporation when making a liquidating distribution of an asset in kind. No regulatory provision existed which specified the extent to which realization would or would not be triggered by a nonliquidating distribution such as a …

The Rhetoric Of The Anti-Progressive Income Tax Movement: A Typical Male Reaction, Marjorie E. Kornhauser

Michigan Law Review

This article examines the arguments against progressivity and the supporting philosophic premises behind the mask of rhetoric. It neither treats exhaustively nor demolishes the legitimacy of the arguments or the underlying philosophy. Part I briefly summarizes the major arguments against progressivity. Part II examines the economic argument, its underlying assumptions, and its limitations. Part III examines the neoconservative philosophy which underlies the justification for a flat tax and contrasts it with an alternative feminist vision of people and society, which provides strong justification for progressive taxation.

Part IV concludes that there is a strong case for progressive taxation based not …

Shifting Of Income Within The Family: Will 1986 I.R.C. Changes Bring Significant Reform, John A. Lynch Jr.

All Faculty Scholarship

In challenging Congress and the citizenry to embrace tax reform, President Reagan stated:

While most Americans labor under excessively high tax rates that discourage work and cut drastically into savings, many are able to exploit the tangled mass of loopholes that has grown up around our tax code to avoid paying their fair share-sometimes to avoid paying any taxes at all.

Fairness and simplicity were clearly overriding objectives of the tax reform movement that culminated in the Tax Reform Act of 1986.

From the perspectives of both fairness and simplicity, one of the most egregious features of prior law was …

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.

The New Tax Law: The Future Of Private Enterprise And Entrepreneurship, Alan Greenspan

Akron Tax Journal

This is an excerpt from a speech by Alan Greenspan related to the future of private enterprise and entrepreneurship. Greenspan talks about the 1987 tax law passed by Congress, and this history of tax law in the United States leading up to this point.

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.

Below Market Loans: From Abuse To Misuses – A Sports Illustration, Phillip J. Closius, Douglas K. Chapman

All Faculty Scholarship

Below market loans have been traditionally used as substitutes for gifts, salaries, and dividends for the primary purpose of tax avoidance in the transfer of wealth. The Supreme Court's opinion in Dickman v. Commissioner subjected both demand and term loans in an intrafamilial setting to the federal gift tax. Congress, while subjecting all below market loans to either income or gift tax, applied different valuation formulas to term and demand loans and, in so doing, favored the use of demand loans as a salary substitute. This Article analyzes the current status of below market loans by examining their use in …

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 …