Taxation & Estate Planning

Obama Attacks Republicans on Tax Policy

Posted on October 16, 2010
In his Saturday radio address, President Obama attacked Republicans over tax policy, accusing them of favoring corporate tax loopholes that encourage companies to create jobs overseas. ABC News, Weeks to Election Day, Obama Draws Line in the Sand Over Tax Loopholes Associated Press, Obama: End Tax Breaks to Stop Overseas...

Northeastern Seeks to Hire Faculty for Online Tax Program

Posted on October 16, 2010
Northeastern University's College of Business Administration, in partnership with Embanet ULC, is seeking to hire Lead Faculty for its online Masters of Science in Taxation Program. Applicants need to have experience in developing a graduate-level tax course and be a subject matter expert in one of the following topics: International...

Tax Consequences of Georgetown?s Public Interest Stipend

Posted on October 16, 2010
Above the Law, Taxes Eat Away at Georgetown?s Public Interest Stipend for Some Students: We?ve done a lot of coverage about deferral stipends, public interest stipends, and other direct payments to graduates who are not able to secure prime, private practice employment...

85% of College Grads Move Back Into Their Parents' Home

Posted on October 16, 2010
CNN Money, Boomerang Kids: 85% of College Grads Move Home: Getting a degree used to be a stepping stone to limitless career opportunities. Now it's more of a hiatus from living under your parents' roof. Stubbornly high unemployment -- nearly 15% for those ages 20-24 -- has made finding a...

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Forbes: Are Contributions to 501(c)(4) Groups Subject to the Gift Tax?

Posted on October 15, 2010
Forbes, Hey, Secret Big Political Donor, Don?t Forget The 35% Gift Tax, by William P. Barrett: In the run-up to next month?s elections, a big and controversial development has been the ability of tycoons to make unlimited political donations without any public disclosure whatsoever...

McCaffery & Hines: The Last Best Hope for Progressivity in Tax

Posted on October 15, 2010
Edward McCaffery (USC) & James R. Hines (Michigan) have published The Last Best Hope for Progressivity in Tax, 83 USC L. Rev. 1031 (2010). Here is the abstract: We argue that a spending tax, as opposed to an income or wage tax, is the last best hope for a return...

Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget Releases Tax Expenditures Report

Posted on October 15, 2010
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget yesterday released released a report on Tax Expenditures, which concluded: Reforming tax expenditures could go a long way toward closing the fiscal gap. Moreover, the changes would improve the complex and inefficient tax system...

Gamage: Preventing State Budget Crises

Posted on October 15, 2010
David Gamage (UC-Berkeley) has published Preventing State Budget Crises: Managing the Fiscal Volatility Problem, 98 Cal. L. Rev. 749 (2010), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Forty-nine of the U.S. states have balanced budget requirements, and every state acts as though bound by such constraints...

33% of IRS's 106,000 Employees Are Eligible for Retirement

Posted on October 15, 2010
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration yesterday released Improvements Have Been Made to the Recruitment Process, but Continued Focus and Additional Enhancements Are Needed (2010-10-113): Like many Federal agencies, the IRS will be challenged to replace existing talent because of a large number of expected retirements...

Law School Rankings by BigLaw Partners

Posted on October 15, 2010
Tax Prof Ted Seto (Loyola-L.A.), Where Partners Come From -- Finding the Brass Ring: This post reports preliminary results of a study examining what many law students view as the ultimate outcome measure: partnership in a big firm. Specifically, it attempts to gauge how successful graduates of each US law...

Former Commissioner Mortimer Caplin Blasts IRS's 'Social Mission'

Posted on October 15, 2010
Web CPA, Former Commissioner Blasts IRS?s Social Mission: IRS responsibilities today revolve not only around tax collecting, but also include policing social and economic policies with limited resources. The passage of the health care bill add exponentially to an already packed list of administering homebuyer credits, economic stimulus disbursements, and...

Academic Performance of Division III Athletes and Non-Athletes

Posted on October 15, 2010
The College Sports Project has released a report measuring academic outcomes for athletes and non-athletes at 84 NCAA Division III colleges and universities. From the the press release: Analyses of data on 83,728 students in the 2005-06 and 2006-07 entering cohorts following their first and second years in college find...

TIGTA: IRS Is Wasting Billions in Stimulus, Procurement Spending

Posted on October 15, 2010
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration yesterday released two reports finding recurring problems in the IRS's oversight of billions in spending: Procurement Audit Results Indicate Problems Continue to Exist After Corrective Actions Were Implemented (2010-10-088): "As of March 15, 2010, the Internal Revenue Service?s (IRS) Office of Procurement was...

Wells Posts Tax Papers on SSRN

Posted on October 15, 2010
Bret Wells (Houston) has posted several of his tax papers on SSRN: Voluntary Compliance: 'This Return Might be Correct But Probably Isn't', 29 Va. Tax Rev. 645 (2010) What Corporate Inversions Teach About International Tax Reform, 127 Tax Notes 1345 (2010) Adopting the More Likely Than Not Standard for Tax...

Duke Symposium on Turning Points in the History of the Federal Income Tax

Posted on October 14, 2010
Duke Law School's Law and Contemporary Problems has published a symposium on Turning Points in the History of the Federal Income Tax (Vol. 73, No. 1 (2010)): Lawrence A. Zelenak (Duke), Foreword, 73 Law & Contemp. Probs. i (2010) Charlotte Crane (Northwestern), Pollock, Macomber, and the Role of the Federal...

IRS Must Now Use 'Plain Writing'

Posted on October 14, 2010
President Obama yesterday signed H.R.946, the Plain Writing Act of 2010, which requires all federal agencies?including the IRS?to use "writing that is clear, concise, well-organized, and follows other best practices appropriate to the subject or field and intended audience...

Game Theory and the Bush Tax Cuts

Posted on October 14, 2010
Donald B. Susswein (KPMG, Washington, D.C.), Game Theory and the Tax Cuts: If you enjoy game theory -- guessing how two groups with competing interests will resolve a series of choices as if they were playing a game -- the coming debate over the Bush tax cuts should be fun...

Using Financial Derivatives to Deflate the Higher Ed Bubble

Posted on October 14, 2010
Michael C. Macchiarola (CUNY) & Arun Abraham (Cadwalader, New York) have posted Options for Student Borrowers: A Derivatives-Based Proposal to Protect Students and Control Debt-Fueled Inflation in the Higher Education Market, 20 Cornell J.L. & Pub. Pol'y ___ (2010), on SSRN...

Coons Is the Taxman

Posted on October 14, 2010
CoonsTheTaxman.com: 'Hide Your Will. Hide Your Lights. 'Cause He's Taxing Everything Out Here" New York Times, Casting an Opponent as 'The Taxman' Gawker, Scary New Christine O'Donnell Ad Channels 'Bed Intruder Song' Politico, Christine O'Donnell Ad: Chris Coons Is 'the Taxman' Washington Post, O'Donnell Video: The Tax Man Cometh

IRS: Homeowners Can Deduct Interest on Mortgage Loans Up To $1.1m

Posted on October 14, 2010
The IRS today ruled that indebtedness in excess of $1 million incurred to acquire, construct, or substantially improve a qualified residence may constitute home equity indebtedness within the meaning of § 163(h)(3)(C). Rev. Rul. 2010-25, 2010-44 I.R.B...

Mullane Presents Congressional Regulation of Executive Compensation Via the Tax Code Today at St. Thomas

Posted on October 14, 2010
Joy Sabino Mullane (Villanova) presents The Unlearning Curve: Congressional Regulation of Executive Compensation via the Tax Code today at St. Thomas (Miami). Here is the abstract: Congress has repeatedly enacted tax penalties on executive compensation, and threatens to continue doing so...

WSJ: Estate Tax Rises as Issue on Campaign Trail

Posted on October 14, 2010
Wall Street Journal, Estate-Tax Rises Again as Issue on Trail: A move to end the estate-tax is luring new adherents in the 2010 midterm campaign, turning permanent repeal into a negotiating stance for future congressional wrangling over taxes. More than 250 current congressional candidates, mostly Republicans, have signed a pledge...

Small Business Jobs Bill Subjects Landlords to 1099 Burden

Posted on October 14, 2010
A provision in the recently signed Small Business Jobs Act requires all landlords (not just those whose rental activities constitute a trade or business, as under prior law), beginning in 2011, to send 1099 forms to accountants, painters, plumbers, and other contractors to whom they pay more than $600 for...

Buckles: The Federal Excise Taxation of Compensation paid by Charities

Posted on October 14, 2010
Johnny Rex Buckles (Houston) has published Fiduciary Assumptions Underlying the Federal Excise Taxation of Compensation Paid by Charities, 45 Real Prop. Tr. & Est. L.J. 53 (2010). Here is the abstract: This Article provides an overview and criticism of the increased regulation of nonprofit fiduciaries through a federal excise tax...

More on the Death of Meade Emory

Posted on October 13, 2010
Following up on yesterday's post on the death at age 79 of Meade Emory, founding director of the Graduate Tax Program and Professor of Law Emeritus at the University of Washington School of Law: Seattle Times, Obituary: He was a third generation Seattleite, and a third generation lawyer in this...

National Tax Journal Publishes New Issue

Posted on October 13, 2010
The National Tax Journal has published Vol. 63, No. 3 (Sept. 2010): Andrew Johns (Office of Research, Analysis & Statistics, IRS) & Joel Slemrod (University of Michigan, Ross School of Business), The Distribution of Income Tax Noncompliance, 63 Nat'l Tax J...

Hopkins: Increasing Diversity Prevents Tax Increases

Posted on October 13, 2010
Daniel Hopkins (Georgetown University, Government Department) has published The Diversity Discount: When Increasing Ethnic and Racial Diversity Prevents Tax Increases, J. Pol., Vol. 71, No. 1, p. 160 (2009). Here is the abstract: According to recent research, racial and ethnic diversity reduces U...

The Role of the U.S. News Rankings in Faculty Hiring

Posted on October 13, 2010
Inside Higher Ed, Rank Hiring: In what may be a new (and is certainly an unintended) use of the U.S. News & World Report rankings, Christopher Newport University is using them, in part, to hire faculty members. Under a policy instituted by the provost, Mark W...

Open CRS Releases Tax Reports

Posted on October 13, 2010
The Bush Tax Cuts and the Economy (R41393) The Economic Effects of Capital Gains Taxation (R40411) The OECD Initiative on Tax Havens (R40114) Tax Credit Bonds: Overview and Analysis (R40523) Tax Deductible Expenses: The BP Case (R41365) Tax Havens: International Tax Avoidance and Evasion (R40623) Tax Issues and the Gulf...

WaPo: The Tax Code Is Too Tilted Toward the Haves

Posted on October 13, 2010
Washington Post editorial, The Current U.S. Tax System Is Tilted Toward the Haves: If you were spending $400 billion a year on social programs, would you give half of that to the wealthiest 5% of Americans? We didn't think so. But that is the perverse result of the stealthy spending...

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