Rethinking Taxing Excess Profits,
2024
University of Michigan Law School
Rethinking Taxing Excess Profits, Reuven S. Avi-Yonah, Tamir Shanan
Articles
This article discusses the application of excess profit taxes (EPTs, also referred to as windfall taxes) that have gained renewed interest and popularity over the past several years. The revival of these windfall taxes gained renewed interest following the COVID-19 outbreak, which led to a sharp price increase in corporate revenues of medical equipment and within pharmaceutical industries. However, the revival of such taxes was also used following the recent rise in energy prices mainly in Europe, leading to a sharp increase in corporate revenues of energy corporations and the recent surge in borrowing interest rates that was not accompanied …
State Constitutional Limitations To Cities Taxing The Digital Economy,
2024
University of Missouri School of Law
State Constitutional Limitations To Cities Taxing The Digital Economy, Lauren Shores Pelikan
Faculty Publications
The digital economy’s rapid evolution, most recently with the rise of artificial intelligence, demands a reevaluation of state constitutional limitations on local taxation of digital transactions. Citizens have long feared excessive or unfair tax burdens, hence the adoption of constitutional amendments that prohibit legislators from increasing taxes or imposing new taxes without a public vote. However, these constitutional limitations are now preventing cities from taxing digital transactions that are taking over the economy. This is a serious financial problem for cities whose traditional sources of tax revenue, such as sales taxes and property taxes, are dwindling due to the digitalizing …
The Missing "T" In Esg,
2024
Bar-Ilan University
The Missing "T" In Esg, Danielle A. Chaim, Gideon Parchomovsky -- Professor Of Law
Vanderbilt Law Review
Environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) philosophy is the zeitgeist of our time. The rise of ESG investments came against the perceived failure of the government to adequately promote socially important goals. And so, corporations are now being praised and credited for stepping up where the government has fallen short. In this Essay, we contend that the standard narrative of ESG suffers from a major flaw. The reason for this discrepancy is taxes. The companies that are widely perceived as saviors of the ESG era are in fact the cause of some of the main deficiencies ESG seeks to redress. Astoundingly, …
The Need For A New Political Playbook Which Mitigates The Public Harm Caused By Tax Incentives,
2024
Mississippi Christian University School of Law
The Need For A New Political Playbook Which Mitigates The Public Harm Caused By Tax Incentives, Robert Louis Perkins
MC Law Review
This article is politically pragmatic and written with a clear acknowledgement that tax incentives will continue to be utilized by policymakers, despite data continuing to reflect that the actual influence tax incentives have in determining where a company or industry locates is often exceeded by their cost. Government investment in public services such as education and infrastructure are often scaled back to accommodate the cost of the incentives. However, public officials have strong incentives of their own which encourage them to rely on these costly measures. These incentives include the resulting political points they score from being able to take …
Charity Law & Blockchain Technology: Using Old Wineskins For New Wine?,
2024
Notre Dame Law School
Charity Law & Blockchain Technology: Using Old Wineskins For New Wine?, Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer
Journal Articles
Whenever something new emerges, the question of how existing law applies arises. Sometimes it is both easy to answer that question and the answer is consistent with the policy goals of existing law. But sometimes the answer to that question is uncertain, does not fit well with those policy goals, or reflects a mixture of these two issues.
This question is particularly vexing today with respect to new assets facilitated by blockchain technology. These new assets include cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and ownership interests in decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). Commentators have written about how certain laws, particularly securities law, apply …
Taxing The Metaverse,
2024
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Taxing The Metaverse, Young Ran (Christine) Kim
Articles
The buzz surrounding the Metaverse has been growing steadily for the past couple of years, but the tax implications of this novel ecosystem remain fuzzy to most tax scholars. Such uncertainty is concerning, given the potential and momentum of this emerging technology. Although the Metaverse evolved from online video games focused only on user consumption, it now allows users to produce income and accumulate wealth entirely within the Metaverse. Current law seems to defer taxation of such until a realization or cash-out event. This Article challenges this approach and offers novel arguments justifying Metaverse taxation. Because economic activity within the …
Building The Gateway: Why The Two Pillars Need Each Other,
2024
University of Michigan Law School
Building The Gateway: Why The Two Pillars Need Each Other, Reuven S. Avi-Yonah, Ajitesh Kir
Law & Economics Working Papers
There is a reason the OECD proposed two pillars for its gateway to a better tax future. A gateway requires both pillars, and neither can stand without the other. Pillar 2 is a fait accompli, but it needs countries to implement Pillar 1 as well. Pillar 1 is not going forward in the absence of a Multilateral Tax Convention, but it can be implemented unilaterally, although that would require overriding existing tax treaties.
Coping With California’S Deficit, Part 1: Borrowing And Taxes,
2024
University of Missouri School of Law
Coping With California’S Deficit, Part 1: Borrowing And Taxes, David Gamage, Darien Shanske
Faculty Publications
In this installment of Academic Perspectives on SALT, Shanske and Gamage examine California’s projected budget deficit and possible solutions. California has a large budget deficit that is predicted to last for several years. In this two-part series, we will place California’s situation in context and propose solutions.
The state should use short-term borrowing to cover at least some of the cyclical shortfall. That the real revenue cycle is unlikely to neatly unfold over one traditional fiscal year should not change this conclusion. To that end, we will show how California can operationalize this simple insight despite the impression some may …
What Matters In Moore,
2024
University of Michigan Law School
What Matters In Moore, Reuven Avi-Yonah
Articles
Why does the pending Moore case in the Supreme Court matter? The obvious answer is that if the Court decides that realization is a constitutional requirement for an income tax, the holding will have significant implications for the existing income tax regime. Depending on how broad the decision is, it could enable constitutional challenges to subpart F, the global intangible low-taxed income regime, partnership and subchapter S taxation, and sections 275, 877A, 1256, and 1259, to name just a few. And even if most or all of these challenges are ultimately decided against the taxpayers (for example, because realization does …
Building Resilience By Removing Barriers: Addressing Structural Impediments To Advocacy By Nonprofit Organizations On Behalf Of The Unenfranchised,
2024
University of Tennessee
Building Resilience By Removing Barriers: Addressing Structural Impediments To Advocacy By Nonprofit Organizations On Behalf Of The Unenfranchised, Kirsten Widner, Heather M. Kolinsky
University of Cincinnati Law Review
Charitable contributions, particularly from private foundations, are an essential source of support for many nonprofit charitable organizations. However, the ability to accept these contributions comes with significant restrictions on lobbying and advocacy. Using vulnerability theory and an original survey of nonprofit advocacy organizations, we show that current restrictions on 501(c)(3) organizations disproportionally limit advocacy on behalf of the most politically disadvantaged groups—those without the right to vote. This, in turn, reinforces existing inequalities in whose voices are heard and whose interests are considered by policymakers. This Article argues that reforming the laws that structure what organizations can take tax-deductible charitable …
A Tale Of Two Subject-To-Tax Rules,
2024
University of Washington School of Law
A Tale Of Two Subject-To-Tax Rules, Sol Picciotto, Jeffery M. Kadet, Bob Michel
Articles
In this article, we analyze and compare two proposals for a new subject-to-tax rule (STTR) provision to be included in tax treaties, one from the U.N. Tax Committee and the other from the G20/OECD inclusive framework on base erosion and profit shifting. The U.N. proposal is broad, and would clarify that restrictions in tax treaties on taxation of income at the source where it is derived are conditional on that income being taxed at an agreed-upon minimum rate in the country where it is received. The inclusive framework version is much more limited, being confined to payments between connected entities …
Artful Imbalance: How The Us Tax Code And State Trust Laws Enable The Growth Of Inequality Through High-Value Art Collections,
2024
Brooklyn Law School
Artful Imbalance: How The Us Tax Code And State Trust Laws Enable The Growth Of Inequality Through High-Value Art Collections, Mimi Strauss
Brooklyn Law Review
The United States has become the leading jurisdiction for those who wish to buy and store high-value art and NFTs, pay as few taxes as possible, and ultimately secure their wealth for generations. This “onshore” tax crisis is the result of tax loopholes, money laundering, the securitization of art and NFTs, and the state-by-state trust system. These forms of tax dodging—both legal and illegal—contribute to wealth inequality and deplete the welfare state. As natural disasters and pandemics become ever more present, the United States will rely more heavily on taxes, and that burden should be carried by everyone, not just …
Resolving Unfairness In A Fair Way: How The Grantor Trust Rules Should Be Reformed,
2024
Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University
Resolving Unfairness In A Fair Way: How The Grantor Trust Rules Should Be Reformed, Aaron T. Anderson
ACTEC Law Journal
Affluent taxpayers often create one or more grantor trusts to achieve significant tax savings. By leveraging mismatches in the rules between the income and estate tax systems, these taxpayers avoid the compressed income tax brackets of trusts while minimizing the property that is included in their estates for estate tax purposes. Some commentators have argued that reform is needed to remove such mismatches. Yet, trusts that rely on the current grantor trust rules abound. This Note (1) provides a background and history of the rules and use of grantor trusts, (2) argues that harmonizing the estate and income tax systems …
The Importance Of Language In The Context Of Heirs' Property Policymaking,
2024
Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University
The Importance Of Language In The Context Of Heirs' Property Policymaking, Molefi Mcintosh
ACTEC Law Journal
No abstract provided.
Policy Over Doctrine: A Brief History Of Us Trust Law,
2024
Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University
Policy Over Doctrine: A Brief History Of Us Trust Law, Lucas Clover-Alcolea
ACTEC Law Journal
US trust law is unique because whereas in English law the settlor drops out of the picture once he has created the trust, in the US the settlor’s intentions remain paramount. This fundamental difference in turn permits the recognition of spendthrift trusts, whereby the beneficial interest cannot be alienated, in the US whereas in England such trusts are generally invalid. Similarly, whereas in English law the beneficiaries of absolute trusts, and on occasion discretionary trusts, can collectively implode the trust by forcing the trustee to convey the trust fund to them via a Saunders v Vautier application, this is generally …
Unpacking The Digital Vault: Estate Planning Considerations For Non-Fungible Tokens,
2024
Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University
Unpacking The Digital Vault: Estate Planning Considerations For Non-Fungible Tokens, Ryan D. Tosto
ACTEC Law Journal
The purpose of this article is to shed some light on the emerging, yet largely undefined, principle of openness in EU law. After addressing the semantic confusion existing between openness and transparency, it attempts, through a textual and systemic interpretation of their respective legal bases, to identify the normative content of the European Union's turn to openness. It then explores the principle s potential for attaining its declared Treaty-sanctioned objectives: promoting good governance and ensuring the participation of civil society in the democratic life of the Union. It illustrates that, although openness largely maintains an instrumental rationale, aimed at enhancing …
Front Matter,
2024
Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University
Building Resilience By Removing Barriers: Addressing Structural Impediments To Advocacy By Nonprofit Organizations On Behalf Of The Unenfranchised,
2024
University of Tennessee
Building Resilience By Removing Barriers: Addressing Structural Impediments To Advocacy By Nonprofit Organizations On Behalf Of The Unenfranchised, Kirsten Widner, Heather Kolinsky
UF Law Faculty Publications
Charitable contributions, particularly from private foundations, are an essential source of support for many nonprofit charitable organizations. However, the ability to accept these contributions comes with significant restrictions on lobbying and advocacy. Using vulnerability theory and an original survey of nonprofit advocacy organizations, we show that current restrictions on 501(c)(3) organizations disproportionally limit advocacy on behalf of the most politically disadvantaged groups—those without the right to vote. This, in turn, reinforces existing inequalities in whose voices are heard and whose interests are considered by policymakers. This Article argues that reforming the laws that structure what organizations can take tax-deductible charitable …
Taxing Fat Cats Abroad,
2024
University of Michigan Law School
Taxing Fat Cats Abroad, Reuven S. Avi-Yonah
Articles
On January 12 the IRS announced that it was able to collect $482 million from a new initiative focused on taxing millionaires: The IRS has ramped up efforts to pursue high-income, high-wealth individuals who have either not filed their taxes or failed to pay recognized tax debt, with dozens of revenue officers focused on these high-end collection cases. These efforts are concentrated among taxpayers with more than $1 million in income and more than $250,000 in recognized tax debt. In an initial success, the IRS collected $38 million from more than 175 high-income earners. The IRS last fall began contacting …
Constitutional Restraints On Intrastate Distribution Of Taxing Authority,
2024
University of Georgia School of Law
Constitutional Restraints On Intrastate Distribution Of Taxing Authority, Walter Hellerstein
Scholarly Works
No abstract provided.
