Leave Your Conscience At The Court: Religious Tax Protest Before And After Rfra,
2023
Loyola University Chicago, School of Law
Leave Your Conscience At The Court: Religious Tax Protest Before And After Rfra, Samuel D. Brunson
Faculty Publications & Other Works
In the 1970s and 1980s, a number of Americans objected, on religious grounds, to paying income taxes on the grounds that certain government spending violated their religious beliefs. These religious tax protestors largely came from two traditions: Catholics, who opposed government spending on abortion and Quakers, whose Peace Testimony prohibited them from paying taxes that funded war.
These First Amendment objections proved singularly unavailing. Courts consistently held that the Free Exercise Clause of the Constitution does not excuse tax payments, irrespective of the sincerity and ardor of a religious believer’s objections. This constitutional rule was fundamental and established enough that …
A More Capacious Concept Of Church,
2023
Loyola University Chicago, School of Law
A More Capacious Concept Of Church, Samuel D. Brunson
Faculty Publications & Other Works
United States tax law provides churches with extra benefits and robust protection from IRS enforcement actions. Churches and religious organizations are automatically exempt from the income tax without needing to apply to be so recognized and without needing to file a tax return. Beyond that, churches are protected from audit by stringent procedures. There are good reasons to consider providing a distance between church and state, including the state tax authority. In many instances, Congress granted churches preferential tax treatment to try to avoid excess entanglement between church and state, though that preferential treatment often just shifts the locus of …
Canadian Qdmtt Challenges,
2023
Osgoode Hall Law School of York University
Canadian Qdmtt Challenges, Jinyan Li, Angelo Nikolakakis, Jean-Pierre Vidal
Articles & Book Chapters
Nobody believes that Canada is a tax haven. The fact remains that the effective tax rate of certain entities could be less than 15%. If nothing is done, Pillar Two could therefore apply and taxes that naturally accrue to Canada could end up in foreign hands. We must therefore find a solution and the most obvious is that of adopting a qualified domestic minimum top up tax. Other solutions are possible, but they seem less attractive. A QDMTT still presents some challenges. These challenges include sharing with the provinces, determining the priority to be given to certain foreign taxes relating …
Nestlé V. Doe: A Death Knell To Corporate Human Rights Accountability?,
2023
Seattle University School of Law
Nestlé V. Doe: A Death Knell To Corporate Human Rights Accountability?, Phillip Ayers
Seattle University Law Review
The Supreme Court in Nestlé v. Doe held that foreign plaintiffs who claimed to be victims of overseas tortious conduct by corporate defendants had no jurisdiction to sue in federal courts using the Alien Tort Statute. This Comment looks at the history of the Alien Tort Statute, from its inspiration, long dormancy, and recent reinvigoration beginning in the 1980s. The Comment then explores the background of Nestlé and its issues with child slavery in its cocoa supply chain. From there, the Comment analyzes the Nestlé v. Doe decision, and posits an alternative outcome. Finally, this Comment looks for a new …
Tax-Free And The Offshore Imaginary,
2023
University of Richmond - School of Law
Tax-Free And The Offshore Imaginary, Allison Anna Tait
Law Faculty Publications
Much of the legal geography of wealth and wealth inequality—the cartography of capitol distribution and financial concern—is easily expressed in coordinates that define neighborhoods and visible in structured spaces of both confinement and opportunity. There are elite zip codes, million-dollar blocks, and pockets of poverty across the landscape. Some geographic localizations of family money tend, however, more toward the offsite, the clandestine, and most particularly the offshore. For high-wealth families and individuals—and the financial institutions that cater to them—the dream of finding offshore islands and locating off-map comes with many benefits since remote siting promises not just the spatial privacy …
A Beginner's Guide To Cryptocurrencies: Explaining The Technologies Behind Cryptocurrencies, How The United States Taxes And Regulates Them, And Offering Changes To The Existing Taxation And Regulation Schemes,
2023
University of Richmond School of Law
A Beginner's Guide To Cryptocurrencies: Explaining The Technologies Behind Cryptocurrencies, How The United States Taxes And Regulates Them, And Offering Changes To The Existing Taxation And Regulation Schemes, J. Merritt Francis
Law Student Publications
The United States federal government has attempted to use its existing regulatory and taxation schemes to regulate and tax cryptocurrencies, while many individuals are still unsure as to what cryptocurrency really is. The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodities Future Trading Commission have both asserted their jurisdiction over cryptocurrency, resulting in unclear guidance for developers in the cryptocurrency space and a failure to adequately protect investors. Further, the Internal Revenue Service taxes cryptocurrency like a security rather than a currency, which disincentivizes adopting cryptocurrency as a form of payment. Nevertheless, although cryptocurrencies are taxed like securities, there are tax …
Athena Providence Place Et Al. V. Elyse M. Pare, In Her Capacity As Tax Assessor For The City Of Providence, Et Al., 262 A.3d 679 (R.I. 2021),
2023
Candidate for Juris Doctor, Roger Williams University School of Law
Athena Providence Place Et Al. V. Elyse M. Pare, In Her Capacity As Tax Assessor For The City Of Providence, Et Al., 262 A.3d 679 (R.I. 2021), Evan William Dandrea
Roger Williams University Law Review
No abstract provided.
Verizon New England Inc. V. Savage, 267 A.3d 647 (R.I. 2022),
2023
Candidate for Juris Doctor, Roger Williams University School of Law
Verizon New England Inc. V. Savage, 267 A.3d 647 (R.I. 2022), Matthew Cavanaugh
Roger Williams University Law Review
No abstract provided.
Yesterday's Protester May Be Tomorrow's Saint: Reimagining The Tax System Through The Work Of Dorothy Day,
2023
Elisabeth Haub School of Law
Yesterday's Protester May Be Tomorrow's Saint: Reimagining The Tax System Through The Work Of Dorothy Day, Bridget J. Crawford, W. Edward Afield
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
This Article offers a critical exploration of Day's views on the relationship between the tax system and Catholic social theory. Part I of this Article provides a biographical sketch of Dorothy Day and an overview of the Catholic Worker movement. Part II explores Day's views on taxation, pacifism, and social justice. It attempts to reconcile her belief in wealth redistribution with her nonpayment of federal income taxes and her failure to seek tax-exempt status for the Catholic Worker. Part III examines Day's tax resistance in the context of Catholic social teaching, particularly as that thought was developing during Day's lifetime …
The Future Of The Corporate Form In Income Tax: A Case Study Of Canada,
2023
Osgoode Hall Law School of York University
The Future Of The Corporate Form In Income Tax: A Case Study Of Canada, Jinyan Li
All Papers
A corporation is nothing but a piece of paper. And yet, this piece of paper enjoys the status of a person and has an independent identity as a taxpayer (the “separate entity principle”). It can generate tremendous value for its shareholders through tax savings resulted from tax deferral, tax shifting, and tax subsidies. Why does tax law allow such value to exist? Is there any hard line constraining the scope of the tax benefits associated with the corporate form? To what extent can the two pillars (Pillar One and Pillar Two) crush the corporate form? What is the future of …
“Engaged In”: The Rocky Marriage Between Commercial And Business Activity And Subchapter V Eligibility,
2023
Emory University School of Law
“Engaged In”: The Rocky Marriage Between Commercial And Business Activity And Subchapter V Eligibility, Blake Clevenger
Emory Bankruptcy Developments Journal
The Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019, which created subchapter V bankruptcy relief for eligible small business debtors, is a step towards a small-business-friendly bankruptcy environment. The legislative history of subchapter V stated the goal of this new statute was to provide a cost-effective and streamlined path to reorganization to allow financially distressed small businesses to remain in business. To be eligible for subchapter V relief, a debtor must, among other requirements, be “engaged in commercial or business activities.” However, courts have continuously disagreed on the meaning of “engaged in commercial or business activities.” Courts have …
Corporate Governance And Gender Equality: A Study Of Comply-Or-Explain Disclosure Regulation,
2023
Seattle University School of Law
Corporate Governance And Gender Equality: A Study Of Comply-Or-Explain Disclosure Regulation, Aaron A. Dhir, Sarah Kaplan, Maria Arabella Robles
Seattle University Law Review
In 2020, the Nasdaq Stock Market filed a proposal with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission seeking permission to adopt a board diversity-related disclosure requirement for its listed companies. In 2021, the SEC approved the proposal, thus entrenching Nasdaq’s position as the most significant stock exchange to date to mandate listing rules that reflect the intention of diversifying corporate boardrooms. Nasdaq’s movement into the diversity space is not the first attempt to address homogeneous boards in the U.S. In 2009, the SEC adopted a rule requiring publicly traded firms to report on whether they consider diversity in identifying director nominees. …
Judicial Ethics And The Eradication Of Racism,
2023
Seattle University School of Law
Judicial Ethics And The Eradication Of Racism, Dontay Proctor-Mills
Seattle University Law Review
In 2020, the Washington Supreme Court entrusted the legal community with working to eradicate racism from its legal system. Soon after, Washington’s Commission on Judicial Conduct (hereinafter the Commission) received a complaint about a bus ad for North Seattle College featuring King County Superior Court Judge David Keenan. Along with a photo of Judge Keenan’s face, the ad included the following language: “A Superior Court Judge, David Keenan got into law in part to advocate for marginalized communities. David’s changing the world. He started at North.” The Commission admonished Judge Keenan for violating the Code of Judicial Conduct, in part …
Table Of Contents,
2023
Seattle University School of Law
Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review
Seattle University Law Review
Table of Contents
Why Corporate Boards Should Include Lgbtq+ People,
2023
Seattle University School of Law
Why Corporate Boards Should Include Lgbtq+ People, Jeremy Mcclane, Darren Rosenblum
Seattle University Law Review
Corporate boardrooms sit at the heart of most of society’s most consequential decisions but fall far short of the diversity of our society. The current movement toward board diversification aims to remedy the underrepresentation of marginalized groups on corporate boards. More recently, some efforts have included LGBTQ+ people, even though the basis for their inclusion on corporate boards remains largely unstated. This Article examines both the normative and instrumental bases for LGBTQ+ inclusion in board diversity initiatives, articulating unspoken assumptions and linking LGBTQ+ people to the broader inclusion effort. In so doing, it begins to surface the unique issues LGBTQ+ …
A Critical Evaluation Of The Qualified Small Business Stock Exclusion,
2023
University of Georgia School of Law
A Critical Evaluation Of The Qualified Small Business Stock Exclusion, Gregg Polsky, Ethan Yale
Scholarly Works
Section 1202 of the Internal Revenue Code grants a gain exclusion to certain shareholders who own "qualified small business stock." We describe the tortured history of this rule, explain how it works (and fails to work), and critically evaluate whether the rule serves any coherent policy objective. If Congress keeps the rule in place, significant revisions are necessary to align the rule with sound policy and tamp out the abusive manipulations arguably permitted by the law in its present form. We propose several improvements along these lines. We also make the case for eliminating the exclusion in its entirety.
Stanley Surrey's Lasting Influence,
2023
University of Georgia School of Law
Stanley Surrey's Lasting Influence, Assaf Harpaz, C. Eugene Steue
Scholarly Works
Stanley Surrey is perhaps best known for his promotion of the concept of tax
expenditures—the characterization of various tax preferences as substitutes for
direct expenditures. That emphasis understates his lasting influence on the tax
policy process. An equally important and lasting achievement was establishing
and promoting the integrity and professionalism of the Treasury’s Office of Tax
Policy (OTP), while garnering the support of much of the wider tax policy
community for basing tax policy on the principles of fairness, simplicity, and
efficiency.
In this article, we focus mainly on historical developments in the concept and
use of tax expenditures both …
The Abandonment Of International College Athletes By Nil Policy,
2023
University of Georgia School of Law
The Abandonment Of International College Athletes By Nil Policy, Victoria J. Haneman, David P. Weber
Scholarly Works
A new era in college sports dawned on July 1, 2021, when the National Collegiate Athletic Association announced that college athletes were (subject to various limitations and restrictions) entitled to earn money based upon their name, image, and likeness ("NIL"). NIL is now a billion-dollar industry. The more than 450,000 college athletes across the United States are now able to leverage NIL to make paid appearances, endorse products or services on social media, receive compensation for autograph signings, and promote local and national businesses. Excluded from most NIL opportunities, however, are the 12 percent of athletes recruited from outside of …
The Income Tax, The Constitution, And The Unrealized Importance Of Helvering V. Griffiths,
2023
Duke Law
The Income Tax, The Constitution, And The Unrealized Importance Of Helvering V. Griffiths, Lawrence Zelenak
Faculty Scholarship
The Supreme Court recently granted certiorari in Moore v. United States, for the purpose of deciding whether the realization doctrine remains a constitutional limitation on Congress's ability to impose an unapportioned income tax, as the Court held in its famous 1920 decision in Eisner v. Macomber. Although it is natural to look to 1920 and Macomber as the cause of today's uncertain scope of the congressional power to tax income, what did not happen in the Court's 1943 decision in Helvering v. Griffiths is as significant as what did happen in 1920. the presence of Moore on the Court's docket …
What Issues Are Fair Game In Moore V. United States?,
2023
Washington University in St. Louis School of Law
What Issues Are Fair Game In Moore V. United States?, Conor Clarke
Scholarship@WashULaw
On December 5th, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Moore v. United States, a constitutional challenge to the mandatory repatriation tax (“MRT”) in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The case raises basic questions about the scope of Congress’s taxing power, and has the potential to reshape and limit federal taxation. (Ben Silver had a nice summary of the complicated constitutional and statutory background last week, and I’ve also written about the case elsewhere. Rather than rehash those details, I will assume some basic familiarity with the case in what I say below.
