Taxation-Federal Commons^™

Further Thoughts On Kanter And Ballard, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

On December 7, 2004, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the consolidated Kanter and Ballard cases. The Tax Court had substantially upheld the IRS’s determinations of large deficiencies and fraud penalties against several taxpayers. The taxpayers argued in part that the Tax Court's application of its Rule 183 violated both due process and applicable statutes. I disagreed with those arguments then, and I continue to do so now. On appeal, the taxpayers' challenges to Rule 183 were rejected by the Fifth, Seventh, and Eleventh Circuits. The decisions of those circuits are sound and should be affirmed.

Both an …

Could One Simple Election Solve The Attorney Fee Problem?, Jeffrey H. Kahn

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

Administrability-Based Tax Simplification, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

The Boyd School of Law is a vibrant place, and our trajectory continues to move strongly in the right direction. One of the things that has been so important to us is the excellent support we have received from so many in and around Nevada. An example of that support brings us together tonight. The Wiegand Foundation has endowed a professorship at the Law School to support the study of tax law. I am fortunate to be the current holder of that professorship. This address is the first formal event memorializing the Wiegand Foundation’s support for scholarship and for Law …

The Doctrine Of Judicial Estoppel, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

The doctrine of judicial estoppel is not on some lawyers’ radar screens. That’s regrettable. Not anticipating application of the rule, a person may make a claim that can hurt him or her in the long run. Or, unaware of the rule, a party may fail to assert a potentially successful defense. Or, having only a very general awareness of the rule, an attorney may miss subtleties or forum variations that are the difference between winning and losing.

This article has three parts. Part I describes the doctrine of judicial estoppel, emphasizing its purposes. Part II explores the recent judicial estoppel …

The 1998 Act And The Resources Link Between Tax Compliance And Tax Simplification, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

Tax compliance sometimes is thought of as purely a matter of administration. But there are important connections between substance and procedure.' Both affect compliance. This article explores how simplification of the substantive tax law can improve compliance. The particular emphasis is on how simplification can liberate human and material resources for the IRS without which otherwise well conceived efforts to improve compliance are likely ultimately to fail.

Tax Reality Bites, Jeffrey H. Kahn

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

Secondary Liability For Federal Trust Fund Taxes, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

When collection of unpaid taxes cannot be effected from the person primarily liable for them, the Internal Revenue Code creates for the IRS a number of mechanisms for collection from secondary parties. To satisfy the requirements of fairness and due process, secondary liability is imposed only when the party has some nexus to the liability, that is, when that person's actions helped create the liability or frustrated its collection from the primary taxpayer.

This article discusses l.R.C. § 6672, one of the most widely used and important of the secondary liability mechanisms in tax. There are numerous § 6672 assessments …

The Canon That Tax Penalties Should Be Strictly Construed, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

Employer Tax Liability For Employees' Tips: Fior D'Italia, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

Given Nevada's heavy concentration of businesses in which employees are tipped, lawyers here may be more than usually interested in a recent decision by the United States Supreme Court. On June 17, 2002, the Court decided United States v. Fior D'ltalia, Inc. By 6 to 3, the Court held that the IRS may use an “aggregate estimation” method to determine employers’ liability for Social Security (FICA) taxes imposed on their employees’ tip income. The decision is an important development in a controversy of long duration, but it is not the end of that controversy. This article …

Why Craft Isn't Scary, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

In April 2002, the Supreme Court of the United States decided United States v. Craft. The Court held that the federal tax lien attaches to a tax-debtor spouse’s interest in property held in tenancy by the entirety even when the other spouse does not owe tax and state law provides that entireties property and interests cannot be reached by separate creditors of only one spouse.

Craft was correctly decided. The older, contrary view that Craft displaced was fundamentally at odds with federal tax collection analysis as laid out by the Court. In addition, the old view invited tax abuse and …

After Craft: Implementation Issues, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

Scientists often observe that answering one question about the world or universe causes many new questions to arise. Chess players understand that to win material in the opening or middle game is empty without playing the end game properly. Military commanders and their civilian superiors know that winning a battle is not an end in itself. They must then address what do with their victory, how to turn it to useful result. Having to confront these second-generation or follow-up problems clearly beats the alternatives (remaining ignorant or losing the game or battle), but initial success ushers in not immediate repose …

Should Ambiguous Revenue Laws Be Interpreted In Favor Of Taxpayers?, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

There was a time when courts construed, or said that they construed, ambiguous federal tax statutes in favor of taxpayers. That time is long past. Or is it? This article examines whether, because of a recent Supreme Court case, the pro-taxpayer constructional preference may be resuscitated, and whether it should be.

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly In Post-Drye Tax Lien Analysis, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

Personal Deductions – An "Ideal" Or Just Another "Deal"?, Jeffrey H. Kahn

Scholarly Publications

The allowance of many personal deductions, such as the deduction for medical expenses or charitable contributions, has been criticized on the contention that such deductions are not appropriate elements of an income tax system, but rather are merely devices by which Congress has expended federal funds to further some nontax program or other goal. The tax revenues that are not collected because of these provisions have been characterized as “subsidies” or as camouflaged direct expenditures of the government. This view has attained such prominence that Congress requires the federal government to publish annually a “budget” that lists those tax provisions …

Discovery In Summary Assessment Proceedings, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

When the collection of tax could be imperiled by going through the usual deficiency procedures, the IRS may make a jeopardy assessment or a termination assessment (hereinafter sometimes called “summary assessment”) and proceed immediately to collection. To prevent the misuse of this power, section 7429 provides affected taxpayers expedited administrative and judicial review. The IRS has made tens of thousands of jeopardy and termination assessments over the years, and there are hundreds of court decisions in litigated section 7429 cases.

The unique nature of jeopardy and termination assessments makes section 7429 proceedings very different from typical tax litigation. This article …

Federal Tax Collection Controversies In The Era Of Drye, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

By “tax collection controversies,” I mean cases in which it has been established that the taxpayer owes additional taxes, those taxes remain unpaid, and the IRS is attempting to enforce collection out of the taxpayer’s assets. Such cases are numerous and involve attorneys in general legal practice as well as tax specialists. For example, the taxpayer may be your client for non-tax matters, and may expect you to handle her tax collection controversy as well. Or, your client may not be the taxpayer herself, but instead someone who co-owns property with the taxpayer. Your client expects you to make sure …

The Irs As Super Creditor, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

The IRS is a super creditor in the sense that its efforts to collect tax debts are free of restrictions imposed by state law on other creditors. This principle is no novelty. Several recent developments, though, have involved interesting applications of it. Part I of this article explains the principle. Part II examines recent applications of it.

After Drye: The Likely Attachment Of The Federal Tax Lien To Tenancy-By-The-Entireties, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

On December 7, 1999, the United States Supreme Court unanimously decided Drye v. United States, a case likely to be a landmark in federal tax lien law. Drye clarified what had been muddied by previous Supreme Court and lower court decisions: the proper relation between state law and federal law in tax lien attachment cases. That clarification will permit-indeed, compel-greater analytical precision as future courts address tax lien cases. This Article discusses one such line of cases.

It has long been the rule that the federal tax lien does not attach to tenancy-by-the entireties interests when (1) only one of …

A Residual Damages Right Against The Irs: A Cure Worse Than The Disease, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

Tax scholarship commonly has emphasized the substantive rules of tax liability, according less than due attention to tax procedure. Recently, however, this imbalance has been partly redressed as a result of the taxpayer rights movement. The major legislative products of the movement have been the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TBORl) in 1988, the Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2 (TBOR2) in 1996,and the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TBOR3) in 1998. Congress currently is considering a fourth installment in the series. These measures – especially TBOR3 – have provoked considerable useful commentary from both practitioners and academics.

Nonetheless, much work remains to …

Unfinished Business On The Taxpayer Rights Agenda: Achieving Fairness In Transferee Liability Cases, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

The taxpayer rights movement has been a driving force of tax legislation and administration for over a decade. It has produced the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TBOR) in 1988, the Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2 (TBOR2) in 1996, the Taxpayer Bill of Rights 3 (TBOR3) in 1998, lesser statutory initiatives, and an array of important administrative changes by the Service. While the future of the movement can be debated, it is clear that, for now, it remains a force to be reckoned with in tax policy.

This article advances a proposal to extend and complete one thrust of the taxpayer …

Deducting Year 2000 Costs, Jeffrey H. Kahn

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

Tax Advisor-Client Privilege: An Idea Whose Time Should Never Come, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

Theories Of The Federal Income Tax Exemption For Charities: Thesis, Anithesis, And Synthesis, Rob Atkinson

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

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

Scholarly Publications

A transaction may affect the taxpayer's federal tax liability for both the current period and subsequent periods. No difficulty arises if the taxpayer treats the transaction consistently over the periods. However, significant tax distortions are possible if the taxpayer's characterization of the transaction varies from period to period. A recharacterization may be particularly troublesome if the statute of limitations has expired, and the first period is not open to correction at the time the inconsistent representation is made.

The duty of consistency was developed to address this problem. If the duty applies, the taxpayer is not permitted to shift his …

The Existence Of State And Tax Partnerships: A Primer, Donald J. Weidner

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.