Putting The Commerce Back In The Dormant Commerce Clause: State Taxes, State Subsidies, And Commerce Neutrality,
2016
Brooklyn Law School
Putting The Commerce Back In The Dormant Commerce Clause: State Taxes, State Subsidies, And Commerce Neutrality, Ryan Lirette, Alan D. Viard
Journal of Law and Policy
The unpredictability of the Supreme Court’s dormant Commerce Clause (“DCC”) jurisprudence continues to draw trenchant criticism from commentators and the Justices themselves, as the Court remains unable to explain which state taxes and subsidies impede interstate commerce. We show that these problems can be resolved by a Commerce Neutrality framework requiring that state taxes and subsidies provide a combined treatment of inbound and outbound transactions at least as favorable as their treatment of intrastate transactions. This simple test has an economic foundation because taxes and subsidies that violate it create incentives to engage in intrastate rather than interstate transactions. The …
Transfer Pricing Challenges In The Cloud,
2016
Southern Methodist University, Dedman School of Law
Transfer Pricing Challenges In The Cloud, Orly Mazur
Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters
Cloud computing - the provision of information technology resources in a virtual environment - has fundamentally changed how companies operate. Companies have quickly adapted by moving their businesses to the cloud, but international tax standards have failed to follow suit. As a result, taxpayers and tax administrations confront significant tax challenges in applying outdated tax principles to this new environment. One particular area that raises perplexing tax issues is the transfer pricing rules. The transfer pricing rules set forth the intercompany price a cloud service provider must charge an affiliate using its cloud services, which ultimately affects in which jurisdiction …
We'll Always Be Bosom Buddies,
2016
New York Law School
We'll Always Be Bosom Buddies, Arthur S. Leonard
Other Publications
No abstract provided.
No State Left Behind: An Analysis Of The Post-Egtrra Death Tax Landscape And An Argument For Kentucky To Repeal State Death Taxes,
2016
University of Kentucky
No State Left Behind: An Analysis Of The Post-Egtrra Death Tax Landscape And An Argument For Kentucky To Repeal State Death Taxes, Mary Ellen Wimberly
Kentucky Law Journal
No abstract provided.
Bitcoin Transactions: A Bit Of Financial Privacy,
2016
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Bitcoin Transactions: A Bit Of Financial Privacy, Sumit Agarwal
Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal
No abstract provided.
Cross-Deductions In The Net Investment Income Tax Imposed On A Trust Or Estate With Separate Shares,
2016
California Western School of Law
Cross-Deductions In The Net Investment Income Tax Imposed On A Trust Or Estate With Separate Shares, Michael T. Yu
Faculty Scholarship
Part I of this article first provides a general overview of §§ 1411 and 663(c) and the interaction between them and the respective regulations thereunder and then proposes a revised regulation to clarify the relationship between and among the two sections and their regulations. Part II discusses the possibility of certain cross-deductions under § 1411, in conjunction with §§ 661, 662, and 663(c). Finally, Part III presents and discusses a proposed calculation and allocation, to the separate shares of a trust or estate, of income and deduction items entering into the computation of NII and DNI of the trust or …
Bringing International Tax Policy Into The 21st Century,
2016
Columbia Law School
Bringing International Tax Policy Into The 21st Century, Michael J. Graetz
Faculty Scholarship
Michael J. Graetz delivered the following remarks at the Tax Policy Center's "A Corporate Tax for the 21st Century" conference on July 14 in Washington. These remarks are substantially taken from his April 2015 Ross Parsons Lecture at the University of Sydney Law School.
Six Degrees Of Graduation: Law And Economics Of Variable Sanctions,
2016
Columbia Law School
Six Degrees Of Graduation: Law And Economics Of Variable Sanctions, Alex Raskolnikov
Faculty Scholarship
From parking tickets to tax fines and punitive damages, legal sanctions matter in people's lives. Yet neither the legal nor the economics literature offers a comprehensive treatment of sanctions. Their practical complexity is not well understood, and their theoretical analysis is fragmented. This Essay addresses both limitations using tax law as a primary example. Sanctions are complex because they vary along at least six different dimensions: aggressiveness, magnitude, culpability, effort to comply, likelihood of detection, and offense history. These six degrees of sanction graduation are distinct, and potentially independent, but often intertwined in obscure and perplexing ways. After clarifying the …
"Death Tax" Politics,
2016
Columbia Law School
"Death Tax" Politics, Michael J. Graetz
Faculty Scholarship
In his Keynote Address "Death Tax" Politics at the October 2, 2015 Boston College Law School and American College of Trust and Estate Counsel Symposium, The Centennial of the Estate and Gift Tax: Perspectives and Recommendations, Michael Graetz describes the fight over the repeal of the estate tax and its current diminished state. Graetz argues that the political battle over the repeal of the estate tax reflects a fundamental challenge to our nation's progressive tax system. This Address concludes that a revitalized estate tax is important for managing the national debt and reducing massive inequalities in wealth.
Taxing Remote Sales In The Digital Age: A Global Perspective,
2016
UGA School of Law
Taxing Remote Sales In The Digital Age: A Global Perspective, Walter Hellerstein
Scholarly Works
This Article addresses three fundamental questions raised by the taxation of remote sales in the digital age from a global perspective, but focuses on the implications, if any, of the answers to these questions in the global context for the U.S. subnational retail sales tax. First, should remote sales be taxed under a consumption tax? Second, if the answer to the first question is “yes,” where should such sales be taxed? Third, how can remote sales be taxed effectively under a consumption tax in the digital age?4
Toward A Reality-Based Estate Tax,
2016
University of Baltimore School of Law
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 Phase-Out And Sunset Of Travel Restrictions In The International Health Regulations,
2016
Brooklyn Law School
The Phase-Out And Sunset Of Travel Restrictions In The International Health Regulations, Sarah R. Goldfarb
Brooklyn Journal of International Law
Whether and to what extent travel restriction should be implemented during international infectious disease epidemics became a controversial issue, most recently, during the 2014 Ebola outbreak. The primary authority on the manner in which to respond to such epidemics is the International Health Regulations (IHR). The IHR is a treaty, established by the World Health Organization (WHO), which governs and coordinates international responses to international infectious disease epidemics. Despite the WHO's strong advisement to the contrary, many countries who were signatories to the IHR implemented travel bans and other types of travel restrictions to prevent the transmission of the disease …
Kill-Switches In The U.S. Model Tax Treaty,
2016
Brooklyn Law School
Kill-Switches In The U.S. Model Tax Treaty, Allison Christians, Alexander Ezenagu
Brooklyn Journal of International Law
The new U.S. Model income tax treaty contains an unusual addition: mechanisms for the parties to unilaterally override the negotiated treaty rates in specified circumstances. Previewed last year in proposed form—a first for the Treasury—these new mechanisms work as kill-switches, partially terminating the treaty as to one or both treaty partners. The idea is to forestall a more problematic outcome, such as an enduring breach of one of the parties’ expectations, or the opposite, a complete termination of all the treaty terms in the face of such a breach. Yet embedding a kill-switch in a treaty creates distinct legal, procedural, …
Tax Treaties And The Taxation Of Services In The Absence Of Physical Presence,
2016
Brooklyn Law School
Tax Treaties And The Taxation Of Services In The Absence Of Physical Presence, Michael S. Kirsch
Brooklyn Journal of International Law
The increasing ability to deliver personal services electronically raises significant cross-border tax issues. In particular, given that the service provider need not be physically present in the would-be source country, significant questions arise as to the continued viability of tax treaty rules that focus on the service provider’s physical location. In response to these developments, proposed changes to the United Nations Model tax treaty have been approved that would allow source country taxation of technical services, even in the absence of the service provider’s physical presence. This article raises concerns about the broad scope of the proposed changes and recommends …
Location Savings And Segmented Factor Input Markets: In Search Of A Tax Treaty Solution,
2016
Brooklyn Law School
Location Savings And Segmented Factor Input Markets: In Search Of A Tax Treaty Solution, Mitchell A. Kane
Brooklyn Journal of International Law
This article analyzes the proper bounds of source-based taxation of profits generated when firms outsource factor inputs, such as labor, to achieve cost savings. The article advances arguments grounded in efficiency, treaty text, and international distribution to justify greater source-based taxation than has historically been the case. To implement such expanded taxation, the article proposes a modification to transfer-pricing rules in instances where factor inputs are acquired from affiliates and a modification to the tax treaty rules regarding permanent establishments where factor inputs are acquired from unrelated parties. Finally, the article deals with a range of complications, particularly relating to …
Treaties In The Aftermath Of Beps,
2016
Brooklyn Law School
Treaties In The Aftermath Of Beps, Yariv Brauner
Brooklyn Journal of International Law
The article argues that, despite the fanfare around it, the outcome of the BEPS project is unlikely to be dramatic, at least in the short term. Beyond a period of increased legal uncertainty and aggressive enforcement by some countries, it expects little substantive change in tax treaties. The challenges to the dominance of the OECD and the richest countries would likely be assuaged with marginal concessions, most or all of which not be affecting tax treaties. Yet, the article sees a silver lining in the non-substantive, structural, and instrumental outcomes of the BEPS project. It argues that even if unintended, …
The Two Faces Of The Single Tax Principle,
2016
Brooklyn Law School
The Two Faces Of The Single Tax Principle, Daniel Shaviro
Brooklyn Journal of International Law
Some argue that a “single tax principle,” said to underlie tax treaties, requires that cross-border income should generally be taxed once, rather than twice or not at all. Even if one accepts this principle, it is important to recognize the difference between “upside” departures, which occur when the same dollar of income is taxed more than once, and “downside” departures, which occur when it is not taxed at all. This article argues that a focus on barring upside departures from the single tax principle can be quite misguided. While over-taxing cross-border activity, relative to that occurring in one country, may …
Tax Treaties As A Network Product,
2016
Brooklyn Law School
Tax Treaties As A Network Product, Tsilly Dagan
Brooklyn Journal of International Law
The copiousness of tax treaties is often presented as proof, not only of their success but also of their desirability. In focusing on alleviating double taxation by allocating tax revenues, however, the treaties project is a missed opportunity. This article explains that an international tax standard is a network product and uses network theory to explore the potential advantages and drawbacks of the tax treaty network in entrenching such a standard. Networks facilitate stability and self-enforcement. By joining (and remaining in) a network, users benefit from the compatibility with other users; this, in turn, incentivizes new users to join and …
How Reform-Friendly Are U.S. Tax Treaties?,
2016
Brooklyn Law School
How Reform-Friendly Are U.S. Tax Treaties?, Fadi Shaheen
Brooklyn Journal of International Law
This article addresses the treaty compatibility aspect of proposals for reforming the U.S. international tax system. Finding that a reform proposal is treaty compatible obviates the need for renegotiating or overriding existing U.S. treaties to implement the proposal if enacted. After establishing that a U.S. move to an exemption system would be treaty compatible despite the literal reading of Article 23 of the U.S. Model income tax treaty as requiring a credit system, the article argues that any system that is or can be expressed as an outright fixed or floating combination of exemption and credit is treaty compatible regardless …
“Thinking Outside The (Tax) Treaty” Revisited,
2016
Brooklyn Law School
“Thinking Outside The (Tax) Treaty” Revisited, Adam H. Rosenzweig
Brooklyn Journal of International Law
The rise and development of “Base Erosion and Profit Shifting” project by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (BEPS) provides an ideal opportunity to revisit the fundamental principles underlying the international tax regime and the bilateral tax treaty regime in particular. This is true because BEPS represents both an attempt to create a new, truly multinational consensus on international tax matters and a clear move away from the bilateral tax treaty as the primary form of international coordination. From this perspective, BEPS provides the perfect opportunity to revisit the role of a proposed dispute resolution mechanism for nontreaty member …
