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Articles 1 - 21 of 21
Full-Text Articles in Taxation-Federal Estate and Gift
Toward A Reality-Based Estate Tax, Wendy C. Gerzog
Toward A Reality-Based Estate Tax, Wendy C. Gerzog
All Faculty Scholarship
Currently, the estate tax does not accurately value the property and transactions that it is meant to cover. Additionally, the marital and charitable deductions do not reflect actual associated transfers, instead skewing their benefits away from their purported beneficiaries. This Article proposes reforming the estate tax by eliminating these sources of unreality and distortion, and to make the current estate tax a reality-based tax. Through six specific proposals, the Article identifies solutions to the problems associated with testamentary transfers, puts forth alternative methods of valuation to prevent gaming of transfer taxes, and offers significant modifications to two deduction provisions.
The Family Llc: A New Approach To Insuring Dynastic Wealth, Evan Michael Purcell
The Family Llc: A New Approach To Insuring Dynastic Wealth, Evan Michael Purcell
The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law
This Article introduces the taxpayer to the basic background principles needed to understand the inner workings of the investment, then provides a guide to drafting considerations for the family's attorney, and concludes with a general plan to maintain business legitimacy and take advantage of tax-favored status, while retaining the flexibility essential to combating the unexpected. Part II addresses the historically favored tax treatment of life insurance products, as well as relatively recent restrictive reforms. Part III addresses the background foundation of the LLC entity and surveys its skeletal structure. Part IV introduces a practical example of how to create an …
Review: Linking The Certainty Of Death And Taxes, Browne C. Lewis
Review: Linking The Certainty Of Death And Taxes, Browne C. Lewis
Law Faculty Articles and Essays
This is a review of "Wills for Everyone: Helping Individuals Opt Out of Intestacy" (53 B.C.L. Rev. 877 (2012)), by Reid Kress Weisbord. Lewis praises Weisbord’s attempt to simplify the testamentary process. She agrees with his assertion that in failing to execute a will, most people are not fearing their own mortality and instead are just not willing or able to navigate a complicated testamentary process. She supports his suggestion to make executing a will more like filing a simple tax return, when possible. In sum, she praises his efforts to reduce the rate of intestacy by simplifying the testamentary …
Tax Consequences Of Assigning Life Insurance - Time For Another Look, Douglas A. Kahn, Lawrence W. Waggoner
Tax Consequences Of Assigning Life Insurance - Time For Another Look, Douglas A. Kahn, Lawrence W. Waggoner
Articles
The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 furnishes the courts and the Internal Revenue Service an opportunity to close certain loopholes in the federal tax consequences of assigning life insurance. About twenty years ago, we published an article arguing that the tax consequences of assigning life insurance affords taxpayers unwarranted opportunities for tax avoidance. Since then, developments in the case law and Internal Revenue Service rulings have broadened the loopholes. In the update of our article, we show how the new tax law supports our original position.
Federal Taxation Of The Assignment Of Life Insurance, Douglas A. Kahn, Lawrence W. Waggoner
Federal Taxation Of The Assignment Of Life Insurance, Douglas A. Kahn, Lawrence W. Waggoner
Articles
The most litigated estate tax issue concerning life insurance is whether the proceeds should be included in the insured's gross estate. This question usually is governed by section 2042 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, the estate tax provision directed specifically at life insurance. While the Tax Reform Act of 1976 wrought enormous changes in many areas of estate taxation, Congress did not change section 2042. Thus the several unresolved questions concerning the interpretation of that section remain unsettled. But the question of the includability of life insurance proceeds in the gross estate of the insured is not always …
Estate Taxation Of Life Insurance Under §2042: Recent Decisions Defining Incidents Of Ownership
Estate Taxation Of Life Insurance Under §2042: Recent Decisions Defining Incidents Of Ownership
Washington and Lee Law Review
No abstract provided.
Irrevocable Term Life Insurance Trusts And Gifts In Contemplation Of Death Under § 2035, Edward S. Graves, Stephen M. Finley
Irrevocable Term Life Insurance Trusts And Gifts In Contemplation Of Death Under § 2035, Edward S. Graves, Stephen M. Finley
Washington and Lee Law Review
No abstract provided.
Estate Taxation Of Life Insurance Policies Held By The Insured As Trustee - Estate Of Skifter V. Commissioner
Maryland Law Review
No abstract provided.
Mandatory Buy-Out Agreements For Stock Of Closely Held Corporations, Douglas A. Kahn
Mandatory Buy-Out Agreements For Stock Of Closely Held Corporations, Douglas A. Kahn
Articles
A buy-out of a shareholder's stock is a sale of his stock holdings in a specific corporation pursuatnt to a pre-existing contract. In recent years such arrangements have, deservedly, become an increasingly popular planning device for shareholders in closely held corporations; they make it possible to limit the class of potential shareholders, provide liquidity for the estate of a deceased shareholder, and establish a value for stock which has no active market. There are two popular categories of buy-out plans. If the prospective purchaser of a decedent's shares is the corporation that issued them, the plan is called an "entity …
Estate Tax--Life Insurance--Section 2035 As A Basis For Including Life Insurance Proceeds In The Gross Estate Of An Insured Who Paid Premiums On A Policy Owned By Another Person, Michigan Law Review
Estate Tax--Life Insurance--Section 2035 As A Basis For Including Life Insurance Proceeds In The Gross Estate Of An Insured Who Paid Premiums On A Policy Owned By Another Person, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
If a decedent possessed any of the incidents of ownership of a life insurance policy, or if the policy proceeds were payable to his executor, the entire amount of the insurance proceeds is included in his estate for estate tax purposes under section 2042 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (Code). However, if the decedent had transferred ownership of the policy to another person in a transaction that both met the requirements of section 2042 and was not regarded as "in contemplation of death," but continued to pay the insurance premiums until his death, it is unclear whether any …
Loopholes And Ambiguities Of Section 2036, James C. Ervin Jr.
Loopholes And Ambiguities Of Section 2036, James C. Ervin Jr.
Michigan Law Review
The possibility of divergent tax treatment of economically similar situations has made section 2036 of the Internal Revenue Code' one of the most abused of the federal estate tax provisions. Originally enacted to ensure inclusion within the gross estate of the value of all property ostensibly transferred by the decedent prior to his death and yet beneficially enjoyed by him during his lifetime, the section is being circumvented by an increasing number of tax avoidance patterns. Although some of the confusion can be traced to the erratic approach of the courts to cases involving section 2036, the primary interpretive difficulty …
Federal Estate Taxation Of Community Property Life Insurance, Michigan Law Review
Federal Estate Taxation Of Community Property Life Insurance, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
Under section 2042 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, proceeds of insurance policies on the life of the decedent payable to beneficiaries other than the decedent's executor are included in the gross estate only if the decedent possessed at the time of his death "any of the incidents of ownership [in the insurance policies], exercisable either alone or in conjunction with any other person." To determine the extent of the decedent's "incidents of ownership," the Regulations provide for the application of state property law. The problems inherent in relying upon state law to govern federal estate taxation of the …
Federal Taxation - Tax Aspects Of Corporate Buy And Sell Agreement, Joel D. Tauber S.Ed.
Federal Taxation - Tax Aspects Of Corporate Buy And Sell Agreement, Joel D. Tauber S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
It is the purpose of this comment to consider the tax problems connected with both types of "conventional" corporate buy and sell agreements. It should be recognized, however, that there are many questions of local law and business necessity that also exert influence on the use of such agreements.
Taxation - Federal Estate Tax - Insurance And Annuity Combinations, John B. Schwemm S.Ed.
Taxation - Federal Estate Tax - Insurance And Annuity Combinations, John B. Schwemm S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Decedent, aged seventy-six, invested in three single premium life insurance policies. Issuance of each was conditioned on the purchase of a single life, nonrefundable annuity of specified value, and no physical examination was required. Each combination was balanced so that the total premium, exclusive of loading charges, equalled the face value of the insurance. The resulting correlation between compound interest and annuity disbursements made the guaranteed payments to the annuitant correspond precisely with the expected income of a reinvestment of the entire deposit by the insurer. Decedent retained the annuity rights, but all present and future interests in the life …
Corporate Buy-Sell Agreements: Tax Problems In Drafting, Richard Lloyd Strecker
Corporate Buy-Sell Agreements: Tax Problems In Drafting, Richard Lloyd Strecker
Washington and Lee Law Review
No abstract provided.
The Limitation Of Taxation Of Transfers In Contemplation Of Death By The Revenue Act Of 1950, Edmund W. Pavenstedt
The Limitation Of Taxation Of Transfers In Contemplation Of Death By The Revenue Act Of 1950, Edmund W. Pavenstedt
Michigan Law Review
The Revenue Act of 1950 amended the estate tax provision dealing with transfers in contemplation of death, which has been on the books ever since the estate tax first appeared as a war emergency measure during World War I, by eliminating from this category all transfers made more than three years prior to the date of death. All transfers made within that period are deemed under the new law to have been made in contemplation of death (and hence are includible in the transferor's gross estate) unless the contrary is shown. Such a rebuttable presumption formerly was limited by the …
The Limitation Of Taxation Of Transfers In Contemplation Of Death By The Revenue Act Of 1950, Edmund W. Pavenstedt
The Limitation Of Taxation Of Transfers In Contemplation Of Death By The Revenue Act Of 1950, Edmund W. Pavenstedt
Michigan Law Review
The Revenue Act of 1950 amended the estate tax provision dealing with transfers in contemplation of death, which has been on the books ever since the estate tax first appeared as a war emergency measure during World War I, by eliminating from this category all transfers made more than three years prior to the date of death. All transfers made within that period are deemed under the new law to have been made in contemplation of death (and hence are includible in the transferor's gross estate) unless the contrary is shown. Such a rebuttable presumption formerly was limited by the …
The Revenue Act Of 1942: Federal Estate And Gift Taxation, Paul G. Kauper
The Revenue Act Of 1942: Federal Estate And Gift Taxation, Paul G. Kauper
Michigan Law Review
The Revenue Act of 1942 marks important changes in the substantive law. Most of these changes have been obscured by the publicity accorded the higher rates and other features that distinguish it as the first great taxing measure borne out of the travail of the present conflict. Yet it is remarkable that despite the urgency of the need for war revenues, time and effort should have been expended by Congressional committees and Treasury officials in working out with care and thought revisions that constitute a notable contribution to the clarification and restatement of the substantive law of federal taxation. Important …
Taxation - Federal Gift Tax - Integration With Income Tax, Katherine Kempfer
Taxation - Federal Gift Tax - Integration With Income Tax, Katherine Kempfer
Michigan Law Review
Beck in 1935 created an irrevocable funded insurance trust of $172,000 in securities together with seven policies of insurance on his life. The income from the securities was to be applied to pay the premiums on the policies and any surplus was to be distributed to his wife and daughter. At grantor's death the proceeds of the policies were to be added to the corpus of the trust and all income was to go to the same beneficiaries for life with remainders over. There was no possibility of reverter in the grantor and no right to alter, modify or revoke …
Federal Taxation Of Insurance Trusts, Allan F. Smith
Federal Taxation Of Insurance Trusts, Allan F. Smith
Michigan Law Review
The life insurance trust may take many forms and serve a variety of purposes, but for present purposes it may be defined as a trust, at least part of the corpus of which is a policy of life insurance, in which the duty of the trustee is to receive the proceeds of such policy and administer such proceeds as a trust. Such a trust, like any other, may be revocable or irrevocable, and may be funded or unfunded. These various types will be considered separately only where the tax results vary with the type. The present objective is to survey …
Paul's Studies In Federal Taxation, Third Series -A Review, Josiah Willard
Paul's Studies In Federal Taxation, Third Series -A Review, Josiah Willard
Michigan Law Review
This Third Series of Mr. Paul's Studies in Federal Taxation is a welcome addition to the literature on the subject. Too few members of the tax bar reduce their views on the subject to writing, and many of those who do apparently feel that they must never concede any merit to a contention of the treasury on any doubtful point, for fear that such a concession will be used against them by some treasury attorney in the future. On the other hand, many academic writers on the subject tend to assume that every decision in favor of the taxpayer represents …