Accounting Law Commons^™

Navigating Sino-American Business Relationships, Ryan Stenquist

Marriott Student Review

Relationships between American and Chinese companies have never been more important or profitable as they are now. With linguistic, moral, governmental, and legal systems developed entirely independent of each other for thousands of years, these relationships also prove the most difficult and complex to navigate. This article explores mistakes foreigners often make while doing business in China, the current environment and culture of joint ventures with native Chinese, and how to succeed in the challenging yet rewarding economy now opening up to the world.

Exploring The Legal Issues Of Blockchain Applications, Nathan Fulmer

Akron Law Review

A decade ago, blockchain technology made its mainstream debut with the introduction of Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency that has generated a lot of buzz in the financial sector. Blockchain’s elegantly simple way of securely and reliably recording data gives the technology the power to disrupt multiple industries. Cryptocurrencies and smart contracts are blockchain’s most common applications, but it can be implemented in a variety of ways.

This article examines blockchain’s core characteristics and mechanics as they apply to its common applications like cryptocurrency and smart contracts, as well as other transactional uses. The author presents some of the ...

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap): Uncovering The Fraud, Ada Torres

Economic Crime Forensics Capstones

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), once labeled the Food Stamp Program, was constructed mainly to boost low-income households’ capabilities in regards to purchasing food in order to maintain a satisfactory nutritional, low-cost diet. The program accomplishes this by providing benefits as a supplemental income to recipients in order to allow them to purchase certain foods. The federal government supplies the funds for the benefits and transfers the obligation to the states as far as administrating the program. Specifically, the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is liable for defining the program regulations and confirming that the states are complying with ...

Money Laundering Through Cryptocurrencies, George Forgang

Economic Crime Forensics Capstones

Bitcoin, the world’s first cryptocurrency, was first introduced in 2009, by Satoshi Nakamoto. While many believe the name is a pseudonym, and the true identity of the creator(s) is unknown, it is an undisputed fact that cryptocurrencies have introduced an indelible change to monies worldwide. Consequently, cryptocurrencies have also introduced a plethora of new opportunities for money laundering activity.

While cryptocurrencies follow the same three-step laundering process of placement, layering, and integration, the activity can be more difficult to detect due to the anonymous nature of cryptocurrencies. Moreover, while traditional schemes such as smurfing or gambling at a ...

Legislative Foundation Of The United States' New International Tax System, Joshua D. Harms

Seattle University Law Review

This Note begins with commentary on the United States’ former worldwide system of taxation. This system taxed multinational corporations’ offshore profits at the applicable domestic income tax rate less credits for taxes paid to foreign governments. This tax regime provided for the deferral of income tax due on the profits of multinational corporations’ overseas operations until the time of repatriation. This Note considers the issues inherent in this system and analyzes the repatriation tax holiday under the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004. This holiday has been unanimously criticized by both sides of the political aisle and led to large ...

The Meaning Of Capital In The Twenty-First Century, Edward J. Mccaffery

Edward J McCaffery

America is on a path towards a level of both wealth and income inequality unparalleled in recorded history. Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century summarizes and conveys the work of Piketty and many co-authors, over many decades, looking at the structure of income and wealth inequality across many nations and centuries. This review essay builds on Piketty’s ambitions as well as his data, in order to put forth a better solution: one that accepts and even embraces the facts of unequal ownership of capital, but changes the social meaning of those facts to avoid the social harms ...

Taxing Wealth Seriously, Edward J. Mccaffery

Edward J McCaffery

The social and political problems of wealth inequality in America are severe and getting worse. A surprise is that the U.S. tax system, as is, is a significant cause of these problems, not a cure for them. The tax-law doctrines that allow those who already have financial wealth to live, luxuriously and tax-free, or to pass on their wealth tax-free to heirs, are simple. The applicable legal doctrines have been in place for nearly a century under the income tax, the primary social tool for addressing matters of economic inequality. The analytic pathways to reform are easy to see ...

It's Tax Not Trade (Stupid), Edward J. Mccaffery

Edward J McCaffery

Globalization, trade and other free market policies increase wealth. But the gains from trade are not being evenly spread among all citizens. People and politicians rage against foreigners. But it is the United States tax system, not trade, that ought to change, and wealthy Americans, not workers world-wide, who should be sharing the wealth. A nd it is the form of tax, not just its rate structure, that must reform, so that capital at last bears a meaningful share of the burden.

De Novo: Reviewing Tax Court Redressability Incongruities In Innocent Spouse Relief Sections 66© And 6015(F), Jason Harn

Seattle University Law Review

Part One of this Note details the historical background of joint and several liability in federal income taxation. Part Two introduces, compares, and contrasts the two statutory provisions Congress has enacted to relieve “innocent spouses” from joint and several liability. Part Three discusses the incongruent standards of review applied by the Tax Court to these—§§ 66 and 6015—two substantially similar relief provisions. Finally, Part Four suggests remedies to alleviate this incongruity.

Investigating Physicians Billing For Services Not Rendered: Fraud Detection, Interviewing And Referral To Law Enforcement, Glenn Forte Jr

Economic Crime Forensics Capstones

This qualitative study examines the role of healthcare insurance investigators related to medical fraud among physicians billing for services not rendered. Grounded in academic scholarship, industry case studies and first-hand knowledge, this study introduces methods identifying fraudulent activities, fraud detection practices and implications from discovering fraud among physicians, patients, and health insurance companies. The three types of methodologies employed provide a lens into determining misappropriation of healthcare insurance and patient monetary funds.

Healthcare fraud falls within the arena of white-collar crime. It consists of filing dishonest healthcare claims to receive a profit. Fraudulent healthcare schemes come in many forms. The ...

Money Laundering By Politically Exposed Persons In Nigeria: Consequences And Combative Measures, Ike Onyiliogwu

Economic Crime Forensics Capstones

The Capstone Project will focus on money laundering in Nigeria by Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) and the devastating negative impact on Nigeria’s progress as well as various measures that could combat it.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) defines money laundering as the processing of “ Criminal proceeds to disguise their illegal origin.” And PEPs as “someone who has been entrusted with a public function.” (FATF, 2018). The Nigerian government has adopted the term, “politically exposed persons” to include senior politicians and senior government officials as well as their immediate family.

According to Nigeria’s president, Muhammadu Buhari, $150 billion ...

California Board Of Accountancy, Anna V. Randall, J. D. Fellmeth

California Regulatory Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Individual Lawyers, The Sec Revolving Door, And Comment Letters, Michael Shen, Teck Meng Junior Tan

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Government officials, advocacy groups, and the business press have raised concerns thatformer SEC employees may continue to influence the SEC after leaving the agency. Usinga hand-collected database of individual lawyers that represent firms in responding to SECcomment letters, we examine the impact of individual lawyers, and lawyers formerly employedby the SEC, on the comment letter process. We document significant differencesbetween lawyers and law firms in their clients’ resistance to SEC comment letters, and findthat firms that retain former SEC employees are larger, more profitable, and more likely tohave received a comment letter raising accounting issues. After matching on lawyer, commentletter ...

Shareholder Litigation And Corporate Disclosure: Evidence From Derivative Lawsuits, Thomas Bourveau, Yun Lou, Rencheng Wang

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Using the staggered adoption of universal demand (UD) laws in the United States, we study the effect of shareholder litigation risk on corporate disclosure. We find that disclosure significantly increases after UD laws make it more difficult to file derivative lawsuits. Specifically, firms issue more earnings forecasts and voluntary 8-K filings, and increase the length of management discussion and analysis (MD&A) in their 10-K filings. We further assess the direct and indirect channels through which UD laws affect firms' disclosure policies. We find that the effect of UD laws on corporate disclosure is driven by firms facing relatively higher ...

Accounting Choices And The Legal Environment: The Impact Of The Ex Post Loss Rule, Teck Meng Junior Tan

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Using a landmark Supreme Court decision as a natural experiment, I examine the impact of a fundamental requirement in securities litigation, the ex post loss rule, on income-decreasing accounting choices. Dura Pharmaceuticals v. Broudo (2005) established that plaintiffs must show that the alleged misrepresentations caused an actual economic loss. The case resolved a circuit split, allowing me to identify a treatment jurisdiction affected by Dura, and control jurisdictions in which the rule was already the prevailing legal standard. Motivated by legal analyses suggesting that Dura incentivizes firms to delay negative corrections, I hypothesize and find that treatment firms in high-litigation ...

Sourcing Service Receipts For Franchise Tax Apportionment In Texas, Ray Langenberg, Matt Jones

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract forthcoming

Equitable Sharing Aids Circumventing State Civil Asset Forfeiture, Ella Fisher

Economic Crime Forensics Capstones

Civil Asset Forfeiture (CIVIL ASSET FORFEITURE) is a disputable law enforcement asset utilized to combat the war on drugs and criticized as an abusive practice. Are law enforcement agencies really combatting the war on drugs using civil asset forfeiture law or just using the law for their own self interests? Civil Asset Forfeiture abuse relates to perverse incentives which are further aided by the federal equitable sharing program (ESP). Civil asset forfeiture law allows owners’ assets to be seized and forfeited, by law enforcement agencies without a warrant and/or a criminal conviction. When federal agencies adopt and prosecute, state ...

Beneficial Ownership: Tracking The True Owners Of Business Accounts, Angela Lintag-Ihde

Economic Crime Forensics Capstones

Bank accounts are a popular place to hide and move illegal funds. Many banks offer private banking or wealth management services, to customers with more than $1,000,000. That provides premier banking services as well as a confidential, safe, and legal haven. With these services is a heightened money laundering risk. The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) of Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering (BSA/AML) Examination Manual specifically states that privacy and confidentiality are important elements of private banking relationships. “Private Banking and Wealth Management services are vulnerable to money laundering schemes that include: private bankers as client ...

The Cfpb’S Endaround, Chris O'Brien

Catholic University Law Review

The financial crisis of 2008 led Congress to enact the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and establish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to better protect consumers. Although Dodd-Frank and the CFPB introduced sweeping changes to many areas of financial lending, automobile dealers and financers were expressly excluded from oversight by the CFPB. Despite this express limitation on the CFPB’s authority, the Bureau nonetheless expanded its definition of “larger participants” to encompass automobile dealers and financiers. This action has resulted in duplicative regulatory oversight and increased costs to consumers, which in turn, imposes additional burdens on ...

Accessible Reliable Tax Advice, Emily Cauble

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Unsophisticated taxpayers who lack financial resources are disadvantaged by a shortage of adequate tax advice. The IRS does not have the resources to answer all questions asked, and the IRS’s informal advice comes with no guarantee as to its accuracy and offers the taxpayer no protection when it is mistaken. Furthermore, non-IRS sources of advice have not sufficiently filled the void left by a lack of satisfactory IRS guidance. These biases against unsophisticated taxpayers have been noted by existing literature. This Article contributes to existing literature by proposing several novel reform measures to assist unsophisticated taxpayers.

First, with respect ...