Taxation-Federal Commons^™

Zappers & Employment Tax Fraud, Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

Beyond the grey area of worker misclassifications and general employment tax irregularities there are darker employment relationships where workers are intentionally paid in cash “off-the-books” or “under-the-table.” Grey employment relationships present civil enforcement issues that may become criminal; darker-relationships are criminal from the beginning. Zappers are found on the dark side.

Zappers are fraud-technologies that automatically (and remotely) skim cash from electronic cash registers (ECRs) or back room point of sales (POS) systems. Globally, tax auditors are finding that Zappers frequently provide the cash that is used to compensate “under-the-table” workers. In fact, a Zapper appears to be at the …

Wimmer Wins Flp Annual Exclusions, Wendy G. Gerzog

All Faculty Scholarship

In Wimmer, the Tax Court held that the income stream from a taxpayer’s gifts of family limited partnership interests was eligible for the annual exclusion. By comparing the income interest in the partnership’s dividend paying marketable securities to the income interest in a trust, the court made Wimmer a winner. But does the opinion logically lead to that conclusion?

A Tax Hike Liberals And Conservatives Should Both Like, Nathan B. Oman

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

Justice For All: Reimagining The Internal Revenue Service, David J. Herzig

Law Faculty Publications

The ability of the Internal Revenue Service to both collect the tax and enforce the initial determination of tax liability in a neutral and fair manner has been compromised by a February 2011 pronouncement issued by the Department of Justice stating that the President and the Department of Justice believe that section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional and that the Department of Justice will no longer defend the statute in courts. The pronouncement results in a disparate treatment of similar taxpayers based solely on the forum of litigation. Through this lens, I examine whether it is …

Those Who Know, Those Who Don't, And Those Who Know Better: Balancing Complexity, Sophistication, And Accuracy On Tax Returns, Michelle Lyon Drumbl

Scholarly Articles

Refundable credits, particularly the earned income tax credit (EITC) and the child tax credit, serve an important anti-poverty measure for low-income taxpayers. Annually, millions of taxpayers who do not owe any federal income tax must file a tax return in order to claim these credits that are in the nature of social benefits. The eligibility requirements for refundable credits are complex, and these returns are particularly prone to audit: EITC audits comprise one-third of all individual income tax audits. Because of the large dollar amounts at stake, a taxpayer’s mistaken understanding of the eligibility requirements for these refundable credits can …

Reforming Federal Tax Litigation: An Agenda, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

King Vertigorn, it is said, wished to build a castle to defend Britain against invaders. Each day, his mason raised and set the stones. Each night, however, the earth would rumble, bringing the work crashing to the ground. Vexed, Vertigorn asked Merlin for an explanation. Merlin’s mystical divination revealed that, in a cavern far below the surface, there resided two foes, a red dragon and a white dragon. In their perpetual struggle for dominance, first one dragon then the other would gain temporary ascendancy. Their jostling unsettled the ground, rendering all construction temporary.

In federal tax procedure, the red dragon …

Omg! Esd Codified!: The Overreaction To Codification Of The Economic Substance Doctrine, Monica D. Armstrong

Florida A & M University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Auer/Seminole Rock Deference In The Tax Court, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

Dirty Remics, Revisited, David J. Reiss, Bradley T. Borden

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Reforming The Second Tier Of The U.S. Pension System: Tabula Rasa Or Step By Step?, 46 J. Marshall L. Rev. 631 (2013), G. A. (Sandy) Mackenzie, Jonathan Barry Forman

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Rationale And Changing The Charitable Deduction, Roger Colinvaux

Scholarly Articles

There are two principal rationales for the charitable deduction. Depending upon choice of rationale, some tax reform changes are suggested and others are not. A base measurement rationale suggests eliminating the deduction for unrealized appreciation, keeping the benefit as a deduction and not a credit, not adopting caps or a nonitemizer deduction, and protecting the tax base by narrowing the class of organizations eligible to receive deductible contributions. A subsidy rationale, depending upon which strand is emphasized, might favor a more equitable tax benefit in the form of a credit or through caps or a nonitemizer deduction, and could lead …

Charitable Contributions Of Property: A Broken System Reimagined, Roger Colinvaux

Scholarly Articles

On average, nearly $46 billion of property is given to charitable organizations each year, about twenty-five percent of the total charitable deduction. This makes the charitable contribution deduction for property a tax expenditure within a tax expenditure, yet it is rarely analyzed as such. It emerged as part of a noble effort to encourage contributions to worthy organizations. But the deduction for property has never worked well. The general rule allowing a deduction based on the fair market value of the property may have some intuitive appeal, but its implementation has yielded numerous exceptions and immense complexity. The Article argues …

Conservation Easements: Design Flaws, Enforcement Challenges, And Reform, Roger Colinvaux

Scholarly Articles

The charitable deduction for conservation easements promises a conservation benefit, lasting forever. Millions of acres have been protected by deductible conservation easements. On average over $1.5 billion are claimed in easement contributions each year, not including corporate contributions. The deduction, however, has serious problems. As use of the incentive has grown, doubts about the public benefit conveyed by conservation easements and significant enforcement difficulties have led to increased scrutiny of land trusts and to a growing chorus of calls for reform of the tax benefit and state laws governing easements. This Essay argues that it is because the tax incentive …

The Cost Of Progress: Enduring The Tax Deductibility Of International Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives, Wayne C. Wood

Global Business Law Review

Until the end of the twentieth century, the predominant view in America was that a corporation’s sole duty was to supply wealth to its shareholders. The idea that a corporation owes a broader duty to all of its stakeholders has gained ground based largely on the emerging international recognition of human rights norms. Increasingly American MNCs have opted to voluntarily create and implement CSR policies for moral, economic, and political reasons. While charitable donations made to exempt organizations are expressly deductible under section 170 of the Internal Revenue Code, the same might not be true for a given CSR expenditure. …

The Tax Import Of The Fasb/Iasb Proposal On Lease Accounting, George Mundstock

Articles

No abstract provided.

Recent Irs Guidance Provides A Degree Of Certainty For 403(B) Plans, Gregory L. Needles, Christina Payne-Tsoupros

Journal Articles

The IRS has released long-awaited guidance expanding the availability of self correction for 403(b) plans and opening the pre-approved plan program. On Dec 12, 2012, the IRS released Rev. Proc. 2013-12, 2013-4 IRB 313, which expanded its self-correction program -- the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS) -- for 403(b) plans. On 3/28/13, the IRS issued Rev. Proc. 2013-22, 2013-18 IRB 985, opening its 403(b) pre-approved plan program. The broader scope of correction under Rev. Proc. 2013-12 is a welcome relief to 403(b) plan sponsors, who may now take advantage of EPCRS to remedy mistakes and avoid plan disqualification in …

Give Taxpayers A Break: Putting The Reliance Element Back Into The Reasonable Reliance And Good Faith Defense, 28 Akron Tax J. 123 (2013), Ronald Z. Domsky

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

This Article considers the present law regarding the accuracy related penalties pursuant to I.R.C § 6662 and the reasonable reliance and good faith defense provided for in I.R.C § 6664 using Canal as a prime example of how the courts have treated and penalized taxpayers for relying on tax advisors in planning proposed transactions and in taking positions on returns and proposes a new analysis of a taxpayer's good faith and reasonable reliance. Section II of this Article discusses the current state of the law regarding the Section 6662 penalties, the function and regulations imposed on tax attorneys in advising …

Jurisdiction To Tax Corporations, Omri Y. Marian

UF Law Faculty Publications

Corporate tax residence is fundamental to our federal income tax system. Whether a corporation is classified as “domestic” or “foreign” for U.S. federal income tax purposes determines the extent of tax jurisdiction the United States has over the corporation and its affiliates. Unfortunately, tax scholars seem to agree that the concept of corporate tax residence is “meaningless.” Underlying this perception are the ideas that corporations cannot have “real” residence because they are imaginary entities and because taxpayers can easily manipulate corporate tax residence tests. Commentators try to deal with the perceived meaninglessness by either trying to identify a normative basis …

Recent Developments In Federal Income Taxation: The Year 2012, Martin J. Mcmahon Jr., Ira B. Shepard, Daniel L. Simmons

UF Law Faculty Publications

This recent developments outline discusses, and provides context to understand the significance of, the most important judicial decisions and administrative rulings and regulations promulgated by the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department during the most recent twelve months - and sometimes a little farther back in time if we find the item particularly humorous or outrageous. Most Treasury Regulations, however, are so complex that they cannot be discussed in detail and, anyway, only a devout masochist would read them all the way through; just the basic topic and fundamental principles are highlighted - unless one of us decides to go …

On The Future Of Tax Salience Scholarship: Operative Mechanisms And Limiting Factors, David Gamage

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This Essay — written for Florida State University’s symposium on the 100th anniversary of the U.S. federal income tax — evaluates how the literature on tax salience should be advanced in order for it to better guide tax policy over the coming decades. The literature on tax salience analyzes how taxpayers account for the costs imposed by taxation when the taxpayers make decisions or judgments, both in the taxpayers’ roles as voters and as market participants. This Essay evaluates both possible operative mechanisms that might underlie observed tax salience effects and limiting factors that might prevent tax salience effects from …