Tax Law Commons^™

The Effective Tax Rate Of The Largest Us And Eu Multinationals, Reuven S. Avi-Yonah, Yaron Lahav

Law & Economics Working Papers

This paper compares the effective tax rates of the 100 largest US multinationals to the 100 largest EU multinationals for the period 2001-2010, based on financial disclosures. The paper finds that despite the higher US statutory rate the effective tax rates are comparable and that EU multinationals tend to have a higher effective tax rate. The likely explanation is that EU corporate taxes have a broader base. The paper concludes that current US tax law does not subject US based multinationals to a competitive disadvantage against their EU based competitors.

Taxes, Free Expression, And Adult Entertainment, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

The interaction of morality and money produces interesting results. One manifestation is legislation in some states and proposals in others to impose higher taxes on “gentlemen’s show lounges” (OK, I mean strip clubs) and other venues of adult entertainment.

In 2010 and 2011 two state supreme courts passed on the legality of different forms of those taxes, upholding them against challenges that they infringed on free speech/free expression rights protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. This installment of the column considers those two decisions: the February 2010 Utah decision in Bushco v. Utah State Tax Commi …

An Industry-Specific Vat In Michigan - Objective Valuation In The Retail Gasoline Trade, Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

New York adopted an industry-specific value added tax (VAT) to solve problems with virtual intermediaries (room remarketers) under its hotel accommodations tax. The New York VAT resembles the VAT used in the European Union (EU). It is a credit-invoice VAT that subjectively values supplies.

Michigan has also adopted an industry-specific credit-invoice VAT, however the targeted industry is the retail gasoline trade. The valuation method is objective, rather than subjective. In valuing supplies objectively rather than subjectively, the Michigan VAT resembles the exception provisions that are found in most VATs around the globe. Objective valuations are used in VATs when dealing …

The "Illegal" Tax, Francine J. Lipman

Connecticut Public Interest Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Reframing Economic Substance, Karen C. Burke

UF Law Faculty Publications

Under the economic substance doctrine as codified in 26 U.S.C. § 7701(o), legislatively unintended tax benefits may be disallowed if a transaction lacks a substantial business purpose or fails to accomplish a meaningful change in the taxpayer's economic position. In a recent article on framing the “transaction” in economic substance cases, David Hariton makes three interrelated points. First, he observes that even though the judicial outcome may depend largely on how the relevant transaction is framed, few courts have explicitly focused on the framing issue. Second, he proposes that courts should presumptively frame the underlying transaction broadly by focusing on …

Saving Seaborn: Ownership Not Marriage As The Basis Of Family Taxation, Dennis J. Ventry Jr

Indiana Law Journal

One of the most famous Supreme Court tax cases celebrated its eightieth birthday last year. In Poe v. Seaborn, the Court reified two principles of the federal income tax: ownership determines tax liability and state law determines ownership. This Article affirms that family taxation continues to follow ownership, not marriage, despite the federal government’s position that the “ownership equals taxability” rule applies almost exclusively to heterosexual spouses. Verifying the vitality of this principle carries significant implications for all families, particularly nontraditional families. Under the aegis of Seaborn, the principle authorizes certain members of state-recognized relationships—marriages, domestic partnerships, civil unions—to file …

Cohen: Hard Case Makes (Semi) Bad Law, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

The first Justice Harlan famously cautioned that hard cases can lead to bad law. United States v. Clark, 96 U.S. 37, 49 (1878) (dissenting opinion). This aphorism captures the reality that, when confronted with litigating equities strongly favoring one party, judges tend to massage doctrine to support judgment for that party.

The Case For Tradable Tax Credits, Clint Wallace

Faculty Publications

This note argues that tradable tax credits offer advantages as compared to other mechanisms the federal government can use to affect social and economic policy. Policymakers should consider the tradable tax credit as a potentially desirable form of tax incentive, rather than a necessity of political compromise as was the case in the enactment of existing tradable credits. First, the note establishes that tradable tax credits can be the economic equivalent of direct spending programs and of refundable tax credits. Next, the note examines a limited but significant set of circumstances in which the tradable tax credit can offer efficiency …

Medical Deduction Allowed For In-Home Personal Use, Danny A. Pannese

WCBT Faculty Publications

The Tax Court held that payments made to an elderly woman's providers of personal care that she required due to her diminished capacity qualified as long-term-care services and were therefore deductible under IRC § 213(d)(1)(C). Lillian Baral was diagnosed with dementia by her physician in 2004. The court agreed with Baral's estate that the amounts paid to the caregivers for their services were deductible as qualified long-term-care services. Baral was chronically ill, and the care was medically necessary to protect her from threats to her health and safety, as determined by her physician. The court also held the amounts paid …

The New Super-Charged Pat (Power Of Appointment Trust), Wendy G. Gerzog

All Faculty Scholarship

This article proposes to repeal the QTIP provisions in order to collect revenue now for transfers that are essentially transfers to third parties and not to the decedent's spouse. Because there are advantages of increased flexibility attendant to a QTIP as opposed to a PAT, this article proposes to take those repealed QTIP benefits and attach them to the PAT, which would greatly enhance that marital deduction trust form. A super-charged PAT would thereby be able to preserve the decedent's GST tax exemption (like a reverse QTIP), create a decedent's by-pass trust by allowing a PAT (or a partial PAT) …

The Unaffordable Health Act: A Response To Professors Bagley And Horwitz, Jeffrey H. Kahn, Douglas A. Kahn

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

Excluding Expert Valuation Testimony, Wendy G. Gerzog

All Faculty Scholarship

In Boltar, a case in which the Tax Court addressed the valuation of a conservation easement, the court ruled on the admissibility of expert testimony.

Does A Federal Tax Lien Take Priority Over A Mortgagee's Lien On Rents: Bloomfield State Bank V. United States, R. Wilson Freyermuth

Faculty Publications

Few reported cases have addressed the relative priority rights of a mortgage lender and the IRS for rents from real estate. In Bloomfield State Bank v. United States, No. 10-3939, 2011 WL 1773953 (7th Cir. May 11, 2011), Judge Richard Posner provided the first reported federal appellate opinion; under its analysis, State Bank would have priority over the IRS in the above hypothetical for the rents due from both tenants. This article discusses Judge Posner's opinion, both for its result (which the author believes is ultimately the correct result) and how it characterizes background principles of real estate finance law …

Beyond Territoriality And Deferral: The Promise Of "Managed And Controlled", Reuven S. Avi-Yonah

Articles

In the new version of his Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., once again proposed to modify the definition of residence for domestic corporations (IRC section 7701). Section 103 of the act seeks to: stop companies run from the United States claiming foreign status by treating foreign corporations that are publicly traded or have gross assets of $50 million or more and whose management and control occur primarily in the United States as U.S. domestic corporations for income tax purposes. [Emphasis in original.] This is not a new suggestion. In response to the inversions of the early …

Is Congress Politicizing The Irs And Its Enforcement Process?, Donald B. Tobin

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

New Light On Auer/Seminole Rock Deference, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

We have been engaged in an extended exploration of doctrines under which courts may defer to positions and interpretations by state and local tax agencies. The immediately prior installment of this column discusses such deference under state equivalents of what is known as the Auer or Seminole Rock principle, under which courts usually defer to agency interpretations of the agencies’ own ambiguous regulations.

About two weeks after the publication of that installment, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a major new decision on the Auer principle: Talk America, Inc. v. Michigan Bell Telephone Co. Talk America bids fair to be …

The Operation Of The Individual Mandate, Jeffrey H. Kahn

Scholarly Publications

In this article, Kahn describes the technical operation of omportion portions of the individual healthcare mandate, including the application of the penalty provision. Kahn finds that there are problems with the technical drafting of that provision and that serious gaps and ambiguities abound.

Should The States Piggyback On Federal Schedule Utp?, J. Richard Harvey

Working Paper Series

There has been much written about Schedule UTP since its announcement by IRS commissioner Shulman in January 2010. However, little has been written about issues other tax administrators may need to consider if they plan on adopting some version of Schedule UTP for their own purposes. State tax administrators are definitely thinking about Schedule UTP. In addition, the Australian Taxation Office has published a draft form for 2012 that is based, in large part, on the IRS Schedule UTP. Although corporations are hoping that most other tax administrators do not adopt some version of Schedule UTP, corporations will likely be …

The Unreasonable Case For A Reasonable Compensation Standard In The Public Company Context: Why It Is Unreasonable To Insist On Reasonableness, Stuart G. Lazar

Journal Articles

There is no question that corporate executives are well paid. But does high executive compensation mean excessive or unreasonable compensation? And if so, what is the solution to curbing the problem of excessive executive pay? More specifically, should the Internal Revenue Code be used as a means for regulating the actions of public companies?

This Article briefly explores these issues. In Part I, this Article provides a narrative of the excessive compensation debate. Without drawing a conclusion as to whether executive compensation is reasonably set or excessive in nature, Part I summarizes the history of public outrage surrounding executive pay. …

Transfer Pricing And Business Restructurings — Intangibles, Synergies, And Shelters, Richard Thompson Ainsworth, Andrew Shact

Faculty Scholarship

Transfer pricing in business restructuring is attracting global attention. In the past two years two key policy-making groups have released three substantive documents on this topic. The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) issued two position statements while the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) issued one. While restructurings are a very common commercial practice, until recently it has been uncommon to apply transfer pricing criteria when examining them in detail.

Essentially, the OECD has overlooked that a unique and valuable intangible is created during the restructuring process. By not acknowledging that this intangible in the mix, the OECD fails …