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Articles 1 - 14 of 14
Full-Text Articles in Taxation-Federal Estate and Gift
The Realization Rule As A Legal Standard, Sloan G. Speck
The Realization Rule As A Legal Standard, Sloan G. Speck
Publications
The realization “rule” in tax law is better characterized as a legal standard. This characterization matters after the Supreme Court’s decision in Moore v. United States, which sets the stage for future courts to decide that the Constitution mandates realization— an identifiable event before accrued income is reportable by taxpayers. The stakes of a constitutional realization requirement are underappreciated. Because current statutory law embeds realization as a background principle, a constitutional realization requirement would operate as a taxpayer-initiated antiabuse doctrine—a sword that taxpayers could use selectively to invalidate parts of the Internal Revenue Code and Treasury Regulations. This novel constitutional …
Incentivizing Wills Through Tax, Margaret Ryznar
Incentivizing Wills Through Tax, Margaret Ryznar
ACTEC Law Journal
There have been recent calls to loosen will formalities in order to allow more people to execute wills, the importance of which has been highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The reduction of necessary will formalities can be successful in expanding the use of wills, as can potential tax incentives for creation of wills, such as a tax credit. However, there are numerous advantages to using tax to initiate change, as considered in this Article.
Please Don’T Make Me Pay Taxes: How New Irs Law Helps Art Collectors Avoid Hefty Taxes, Stephanie Dunn
Please Don’T Make Me Pay Taxes: How New Irs Law Helps Art Collectors Avoid Hefty Taxes, Stephanie Dunn
Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary
No abstract provided.
Individual, Couple Or Family? The Unit Of Taxation For Transfer Tax Purposes: A Shifting Focus, Anne-Marie Rhodes
Individual, Couple Or Family? The Unit Of Taxation For Transfer Tax Purposes: A Shifting Focus, Anne-Marie Rhodes
Akron Law Review
This paper examines the shifting focus of the transfer tax system from the perspectives of the articulated primary purpose for the taxes and the appropriate unit of taxation given that purpose. The historical progression shows that as a sense of purpose became less clear, the unit of taxation similarly became less focused.
The Moving Target Of Tax Reform, Karen C. Burke, Grayson M.P. Mccouch
The Moving Target Of Tax Reform, Karen C. Burke, Grayson M.P. Mccouch
UF Law Faculty Publications
In 2000, Professor William Turnier proposed a package of three reforms to make the estate tax more “equitable” and “taxpayerfriendly.” All of his proposals—allowing a surviving spouse to inherit a deceased spouse’s unused exemption, replacing the state death tax credit with a deduction, and indexing the exemption for inflation—were eventually enacted. Today, the estate tax remains on the books, but changes in rates and exemptions have severely curtailed its role in the larger federal tax system. Income tax rate reductions for capital gains and dividends have further lightened the tax burden on capital income, and international pressure to reduce the …
Change And Continuity In Fringe Benefit Taxation: Seeking Sense And Sensibility, Richard L. Kaplan, Dawson J. Price
Change And Continuity In Fringe Benefit Taxation: Seeking Sense And Sensibility, Richard L. Kaplan, Dawson J. Price
NYLS Law Review
No abstract provided.
Introducing The Law Of Nonprofit Organizations And Philanthropy, David A. Brennen
Introducing The Law Of Nonprofit Organizations And Philanthropy, David A. Brennen
Law Faculty Scholarly Articles
On January 5,2007, the Nonprofit and Philanthropy Law Section of AALS held its first program at the AALS Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. The program, entitled "State-Level Legal Reform of the Law of Nonprofit Organizations," was a fitting way to launch what should prove to be a valuable contribution to the study of law relating to nonprofit organizations and philanthropy. This burgeoning area of academic legal study is well poised to grow by leaps and bounds in the coming years due to its impact on many traditional areas of legal study, including tax law, corporate law, estate law, trust law, …
Legislating Morality: The Duty To The Tax System Reconsidered, Watson
Legislating Morality: The Duty To The Tax System Reconsidered, Watson
Scholarly Works
Four years ago, I presented a paper at a symposium on professionalism jointly sponsored by the University of Kansas Law School and the Kansas Bar Association. That paper espoused the view (contrary to what appears to be the popular view among tax scholars) that tax lawyers owe no special duty to the "tax system" other than to abide by the law and the applicable standards of professional conduct. During the four-year interim since my last visit to Kansas, however, we have witnessed the deleterious effect of the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 (RRA '98) on IRS enforcement and …
Taxation, Craig D. Bell
The Unconstitutionality Of Eliminating Estate And Gift Taxes, James G. Wilson
The Unconstitutionality Of Eliminating Estate And Gift Taxes, James G. Wilson
Law Faculty Articles and Essays
The recent proposal to eliminate estate and gift taxes is not only immoral and a poor allocation of resources, but also is unconstitutional. Irrespective of their ideology, virtually all American lawyers will initially dismiss this accusation as frivolous because it conflicts with their tradition of equating conceptions of "constitutionality" with United States Supreme Court opinions. The Court has long been highly deferential to Congress in federal tax law cases. It is inconceivable that the current Court would find anything "irrational" in a facially neutral law eliminating all estate and gift taxes. Indeed, if I sat on that bench, I would …
Federal Transfer Taxes: The Possibility Of Repeal And The Post Repeal World , Joel C. Dobris
Federal Transfer Taxes: The Possibility Of Repeal And The Post Repeal World , Joel C. Dobris
Cleveland State Law Review
I do want to focus you on what I now see as the crucial social policy behind transfer taxes in America. And, today I would say, that the death tax, if amended, can vindicate that crucial policy. Rightly or wrongly, I think we do not focus on the key purpose of death taxation in this country. I believe knowing the "secret" makes it easier to explain why the environment is so pro-repeal and it makes it easier for me to prescribe for the future. For better or worse, I believe the crucial purpose of the tax is to assert the …
The Moral Hazard Of The Estate Tax , Carolyn C. Jones
The Moral Hazard Of The Estate Tax , Carolyn C. Jones
Cleveland State Law Review
The current debate about wealth transfer taxation has its themes of morality as well. Opponents have labeled the tax as “immoral.” Taxation is about morality. It is both useful and necessary to consider moral arguments in the debate about the estate tax. In an area largely consigned to economists and philosophers, it is beneficial to broaden perspectives. One could expand the range of academic disciplines considered-to history, psychology, and sociology, for example. One should also take into account the narratives of those affected by the issue. This essay can only probe into this question, beginning with Andrew Carnegie and the …
Tax Lawyers, Ethical Obligations, And The Duty To The System, Watson
Tax Lawyers, Ethical Obligations, And The Duty To The System, Watson
Scholarly Works
Perhaps the most elusive area of law is that of legal ethics. While the term itself is easy to define,' the subject all but defies codification because ethics, or morals (the terms are interchangeable), cannot be encapsulated by or in law. This is because law, in general, contains its own standard of validity on which there is usually clear societal consensus. For example, murder, rape, and theft are morally repugnant universally. Hence, punishment for any of these offenses does not impinge upon religious or individual autonomy because there is no ethical freedom to choose whether or not to engage in …
To Praise The Estate Tax, Not To Bury It, Michael J. Graetz
To Praise The Estate Tax, Not To Bury It, Michael J. Graetz
Faculty Scholarship
For several decades, total revenues raised by estate and gift taxes have roughly equaled those raised by excise taxes on alcohol and tobacco. Yet no law journal has ever asked me to write on alcohol or tobacco excise taxes. The law firms of America do not routinely have divisions devoted to excise tax planning. We do not hear of the suffering of widows and orphans (or even of farmers and small businesses) because of alcohol and tobacco taxes. Philosophers and economists do not routinely debate the merits of such taxes. Perhaps most significantly, increases in such excise taxes do not …