Taxation-Federal Commons^™

Realization, Recognition, Reconciliation, Rationality And The Structure Of The Federal Income Tax System, Patricia D. White

Michigan Law Review

There are a few structural requirements that are necessarily common to any tax system. In Part I of this article I examine those requirements. I show that by isolating the necessary structure of a tax system from its particular content or goals, we can better understand the role played within the federal system of certain of its most characteristic features. In particular, I trace the function of the realization requirement for the recognition of income and distinguish it from another sort of function that could lead to the recognition of income within an income tax system. This second function is …

Jurisdiction Over Civil Tax Cases, Larry Kramer

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Innocent Spouse Problem: Joint And Several Liability For Income Taxes Should Be Repealed, Richard C.E. Beck

Vanderbilt Law Review

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 This Article argues that the rule is unfair and unjustified and should be repealed.

Part II of the Article describes the nature and scope of the problems caused by joint and several liability of spouses filing joint re-turns (hereinafter "joint return liability"). When separation or divorce is involved, the …

Electronic Tax Returns And The Preparer Penalties, 10 Computer L.J. 551 (1990), Michael W. Traynham

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

No abstract provided.

The Innocent Spouse Problem: Joint And Several Liability For Income Taxes Should Be Repealed., Richard C.E. Beck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unfair and unjustified and should be repealed

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.

1988 Amendment To 26 U.S.C. Section 7430: Expanding Taxpayers' Rights To Recover Costs In Tax Controversies, Debra A. Chini

Vanderbilt Law Review

Bureaucratic mistakes at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) forced Barbara and David Kaufman to seek a court-ordered injunction prohibiting the IRS from collecting a 14,380 dollar tax assessment for 1980. Even though the Kaufmans had notified the IRS office in Chicago of their new Maine address, the IRS mistakenly mailed the preliminary notice of deficiency to the Kaufmans' prior Illinois address. In addition, the Service mailed the statutory notice of deficiency to another couple also named Barbara and David Kaufman.' Because the Kaufmans never received notice of the proposed deficiency, they did not have an opportunity to contest the tax …

Administrative Procedure And The Internal Revenue Service: Delimiting The Substantial Understatement Penalty, Peter A. Appel

Scholarly Works

In the early 1980's, Congress faced the mounting problems of tax shelters and other forms of tax avoidance. It responded by passing a series of laws.1 One of these provisions, section 6661 of the Internal Revenue Code, penalizes "substantial understatement" of tax liability.2 While section 6661 may appear to be a typical, innocuous tax code provision, close examination reveals that the substantial understatement penalty threatens to expand quietly the power of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) over taxpayers, violating the spirit of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) in the process.

Section I of this Note explores the background of section …

Recent Approaches To The Trade Or Business Requirement Of Section 174: Unauthorized Snow Removal, Daniel S. Goldberg

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

State Taxation Of Federally Deferred Income: The Interstate Dimension, James C. Smith, Walter Hellerstein

Scholarly Works

Most states that impose income taxes conform their levies to the federal model. Consequently, when income is realized but not recognized at the federal level-for example, when a taxpayer reinvests the gain from the sale of her former residence in a new residence or when a taxpayer realizes gain from the exchange of like-kind property -- states typically follow the federal rule in deferring recognition of that income. On the assumption that state conformity to the federal nonrecognition rules reflects an implicit endorsement of the policies underlying those rules, state deferral ordinarily raises no issue independent of those raised by …

Realization And Recognition Of Losses On Stock Surrenders: A Frolic Through Subchapter C, Gwendolyn Griffith

Florida State University Law Review

A shareholder's surrender of stock to a corporation for no consideration arguably results in a realized loss to the shareholder. But should that loss be recognized? The Supreme Court's decision in Fink v. Commissioner denied loss recognition for stock surrenders resulting in only a small reduction in a shareholder's percentage ownership in a corporation. While correct in results, the analytical basis for this decision is problematic and offers a unique opportunity to examine the basic issues of loss realization and recognition within the context of subchapter C of the Internal Revenue Code.

Section 752(C): The Other Issue In Tufts V. Commissioner, L. Scott Stafford

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Innocent Spouse Provision Under Section 6013(E) Of The Internal Revenue Code: Relief Or Refuse, Michael F. Lax

University of Arkansas at Little Rock 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

Improving The Earned Income Credit: Transition To A Wage Subsidy Credit For The Working Poor, Jonathan Barry Forman

Florida State University Law Review

Millions of American families have incomes that fall below the poverty line. Of these, many families are poor despite the fact that at least one member of these families works during the year. In this article, Professor Forman examines one tool in the fight against poverty, the earned income credit. Professor Forman examines the history of the credit and its shortcoming and then suggests ways in which the credit could be improved to better serve the working poor.

Tax Symposium: An Overview Of The Low Income Housing Tax Credit, Andrew Zack Blatter, Elena Marty-Nelson

University of Baltimore Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Canadian White Paper On Sales Tax Reform And The Model Value Added Tax Statute For The United States: A Comparative Analysis, Alan Schenk

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

Tax Symposium: Capital Losses: Falling Short On Fairness And Simplicity, Fred W. Peel Jr.

University of Baltimore Law Review

No abstract provided.

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 …

Section 183 Of The Internal Revenue Code: The Need For Statutory Reform, Joseph H. Marxer

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Is It Really Reform? A Theoretical Overview Of The 1986 Tax Reform Act, Daniel L. Simmons

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Casenotes: Federal Income Tax — Taxpayers Can Defer The Gain Recognized On The Sale Of Their Primary Residence And Deduct Depreciation And Maintenance Expenses On The Rental Of That Same Property. Bolaris V. Commissioner, 776 F.2d 1428 (9th Cir. 1985), Kendel L. Sibiski

University of Baltimore Law Review

No abstract provided.

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 …

Are We A Nation Of Tax Cheaters? New Econometric Evidence On Tax Compliance, Jeffrey A. Dubin, Michael J. Graetz, Louis L. Wilde

Faculty Scholarship

In 1982, then Commissioner of Internal Revenue Roscoe Egger reported to Congress that legal sector noncompliance with the Federal Income Tax statutes generated an "income tax gap" of $81 billion in 1981, up from $29 billion in 1973. He further projected a gap of $120 billion for 1985 (U.S. Congress, 1982). Perceptions of accelerating noncompliance inspired a crisis mentality within the Internal Revenue Service, Congress, and the tax bar.

The IRS responded in part by funding a major independent study of tax noncompliance via the National Academy of Sciences, and the American Bar Foundation initiated an investigation of its own …

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

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

State And Local Taxation Of Financial Institutions:An Opportunity For Reform, C. James Judson, Susan G. Duffy

Vanderbilt Law Review

Forces at work in both public and private sectors may soon change the way state and local political subdivisions tax financial institutions. The market for financial services is changing dramatically. Governments have expanded substantially the scope of activities in which financial depositories may engage. The competitive environment for financial activities also is changing as general business corporations enter the financial services field, an area previously considered the exclusive domain of financial institutions. Financial institutions have increasing opportunities for interstate activity, which offers both risks and challenges. These changes have occurred during a period in which the extensive framework of state …

Distinguishing Between Capital Expenditures And Ordinary Business Expenses: A Proposal For A Universal Standard, Steven J. Greene

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

It is apparent from an examination of the various court decisions that there is no single, common standard used to distinguish between capital expenditures and ordinary business expenses. The courts are not completely to blame for this situation, however, because the Internal Revenue Code provides little guidance on the capital/ordinary distinction. This Note proposes an amendment to the Tax Code that would provide courts with a universal standard to apply in differentiating between the two types of expenditures and that best reflects the general purpose of the Code in matching income with its related expenses. Part I analyzes the historical …

Efficiency And Income Taxes: The Rehabilitation Of Tax Incentives, Edward A. Zelinsky

Articles

This Article explores two prominent issues in current legal literature: the propriety of tax incentives in the federal income tax and the use of economic analysis to examine questions of concern to academic lawyers. One premise of this Article is that there is a connection between these two topics.