Taxation & Estate Planning

WSJ: The 1099 Insurrection

Posted on September 14, 2010
Wall Street Journal editorial, The 1099 Insurrection: The White House Fights an Effort to Ease a Burden on Small Business: You might not have seen it reported, but the Senate will vote this morning on whether to repeal part of ObamaCare that it passed only months ago...

Boehner Blinks

Posted on September 14, 2010
Wall Street Journal editorial, Boehner's Tax Bungle: The House GOP Leader Steps Into Obama's Trap: President Obama has made House Minority Leader John Boehner his campaign bogeyman, and maybe the criticism is getting to the Ohio Republican. How else to explain Mr...

Women BigLaw Partners Outperform Men, But Are Paid Less

Posted on September 14, 2010
Marina Angel (Temple Law School), Eun-Young Whang (Texas-Pan American), Rajiv D. Banker (Temple Business School) & Joseph Lopez (Temple Law School) have posted Statistical Evidence on the Gender Gap in Law Firm Partner Compensation on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Our study compiled the largest research sample on the gender...

The Case Against Do-It-Yourself Wills

Posted on September 14, 2010
Forbes, The Case Against Do-It-Yourself Wills: "Why am I strenuously opposed to do-it-yourself wills? There are just so many things that can go wrong--from the wording of the document, to the required formalities for how it must be signed and witnessed before it can be valid...

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Viard: The Neglected Stepchild of the Bush Tax Cuts

Posted on September 14, 2010
Alan D. Viard (American Enterprise Institute) has published The High-Income Rate Reductions: The Neglected Stepchild of the Bush Tax Cuts. Here is the abstract: Congress is considering allowing the Bush tax cuts? rate reductions for high-income households to expire at the end of 2010 while providing a deficit-financed extension of...

Another Endorsement of Clickers in the Classroom

Posted on September 14, 2010
I previously have extolled the advantages of teaching with clickers (Taking Back the Law School Classroom: Using Technology to Foster Active Student Learning, 54 J. Legal Educ. 551 (2004)). The Philadelphia Inquirier agrees in High-Tech Gadget Transforming College Teaching -- And Learning: The trendy, high-tech learning tool, used to take...

The Top 70 Law Faculties by Citations in Law Reviews

Posted on September 13, 2010
The University of St. Thomas has posted Scholarly Impact of Law School Faculties: Extending the Leiter Rankings to the Top 70 on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This study explores the scholarly impact of the faculties at all law schools accredited by the ABA and then ranks the Top 70...

Over 280,000 Federal Workers Owe $3.3 Billion in Back Taxes

Posted on September 13, 2010
Over 280,000 federal workers and retirees owed more than $3.3 billion in back income taxes in 2009 (up from $3.0 billion in 2008 and $2.7 billion in 2007). The cabinet departments with the largest percentages of employee/retiree tax deadbeats are: Housing & Urban Development: 4...

Sullivan: U.S. Multinationals Cut U.S. Jobs While Expanding Abroad

Posted on September 13, 2010
Martin A. Sullivan (Tax Analysts) has published U.S. Multinationals Cut U.S. Jobs While Expanding Abroad, 128 Tax Notes 1102 (Sept. 13, 2010): It is only natural that U.S. companies have increased hiring overseas during the last decade. After all, the world economy has become increasingly integrated...

Tax Court Denies Prof's Claimed Deductions for Research

Posted on September 13, 2010
The Tax Court on Thursday denied a CUNY tenured math professor's $15,397 deduction for expenses related to his research and writing activities (including $2,108 for a Sony Vaio notebook computer): Petitioner has, potentially, two trades or businesses...

Quellos CEO, Tax Attorney Plead Guilty in Tax Shelter Case, to Pay $7m to IRS & Give Ethics Lectures at NYU, UW

Posted on September 13, 2010
ABA Journal, Ex-Quellos Tax Attorney Takes Plea, Will Help Pay $7M, Speak at Law School: The former chief executive officer and tax attorney for the Quellos Group LLC hedge fund have accepted a plea agreement that will require them to pay the IRS up to $7M and cover the estimated...

TaxProf Blog Weekend Roundup

Posted on September 13, 2010
Saturday: NY Times: Tax Cuts Are Better for Politicians Than for the Economy Quick Facts on Obama's Bonus Depreciation & 100% Expensing Proposals Obama's Business Tax Proposals: Permanent Economic Policy Pivot or Temporary Political Shift? Alabama to Vigorously Assess Use Tax on Online Purchases Zelinsky: Tax Social Security Benefits Sunday:...

McMahon Presents Marital Taxation in the U.K. and U.S. Today at Loyola-L.A.

Posted on September 13, 2010
Stephanie McMahon (Cincinnati) presents London Calling: Does the U.K.'s Experience with Individual Taxation Clash with the U.S.'s Expectation?, 54 St. Louis U. L.J. ___ (2010), at Loyola-L.A. today as part of its Tax Policy Colloquium Series. The commentator is Lily Kahng (Seattle)...

WSJ College Rankings Based on Survey of Employers

Posted on September 13, 2010
Wall Street Journal, Penn State Tops Recruiter Rankings: State universities have become the favorite of companies recruiting new hires because their big student populations and focus on teaching practical skills gives the companies more bang for their recruiting buck...

Treasury: Estates May be Given Choice Between 2009 & 2010 Estate Tax Law

Posted on September 13, 2010
Wall Street Journal, Estate Tax Choice May Be In Works For 2010 -- Treasury Official, by Martin Vaughan: The estates of those who died this year might be allowed to be taxed as if they died in 2009, in order to resolve a problem created by the repeal of the...

WaPo: Is Bypassing College Smarter Than Paying $200k for an Elite Degree?

Posted on September 13, 2010
Washington Post, Some Say Bypassing a Higher Education Is Smarter Than Paying for a Degree: Across the region and around the country, parents are kissing their college-bound kids -- and potentially up to $200,000 in tuition, room and board -- goodbye...

Tax Foundation Publishes New Issue of Tax Watch

Posted on September 13, 2010
The Tax Foundation has published the Fall 2010 issue of Tax Watch, with these articles: Costly Countdown: Will the Bush Tax Cuts Expire? Estate Tax May Rise from the Grave Congress Targets Oil Companies for Tax Hikes Dividend Tax Rates May Soar to 68 Percent

Taxing Dirt

Posted on September 12, 2010
Benjamin Miller (Attorney at Law, Hoston) has posted Changing the Way Your Dirt is Taxed: Texas Margin Tax Pitfalls for Real Estate Practitioners on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In 2006, the Texas Legislature passed the first version of its successor to the Texas franchise tax, commonly referred to as...

Thorndike: Americans Don't Mind Taxes, They Hate Tax Loopholes

Posted on September 12, 2010
Washington Post op-ed, Americans Don't Mind Taxes -- They Hate Tax Loopholes, by Joseph J. Thorndike (Tax Analysts): Oliver Wendell Holmes once observed that "taxes are what we pay for civilized society," and for more than 200 years, Americans have been remarkably willing to pony up...

Obama Opposes Bipartisan Push to Repeal Tax Provision in Health Care Law

Posted on September 12, 2010
New York Times, Many Push for Repeal of Tax Provision in Health Law: Many Democrats have joined Republicans in pushing for the repeal of a tax provision in the new health care law that imposes a huge information-reporting burden on small businesses. To improve compliance, the law requires businesses to...

Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads

Posted on September 12, 2010
There is quite a bit of movement in this week's list of the Top 5 Recent Tax Paper Downloads, with a new #1 paper and new papers debuting on the list at #2, #3, #4, and #5: 1. [696 Downloads] Constitutional Decapitation and Health Care, by Steven J. Willis (Florida)...

Labor-Funded Group Accuses Chamber of Commerce of Tax Fraud

Posted on September 12, 2010
New York Times, Chamber of Commerce Accused of Tax Fraud: With a war chest rivaling that of the Republican Party itself, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has emerged in the last year as perhaps the Obama administration?s most-well-financed rival on signature policy debates like health care and financial regulation...

NY Times: Tax Cuts Are Better for Politicians Than for the Economy

Posted on September 11, 2010
New York Times, Tax Cuts May Prove Better for Politicians Than for Economy, by David Kocieniewski: With Congressional midterm elections looming, the financial debate in Washington this fall will probably be consumed by one incendiary and expensive issue: whether, and how, to extend the multitrillion-dollar Bush tax cuts...

Quick Facts on Obama's Bonus Depreciation & 100% Expensing Proposals

Posted on September 11, 2010
Tax Policy Center, Quick Facts: Bonus Depreciation and 100 Percent Expensing: What is the latest proposal? What is bonus depreciation and how does it work? What types of investment benefit? What types of businesses benefit? How much will it cost? Why does this sound familiar? Is it an effective form...

Obama's Business Tax Proposals: Permanent Economic Policy Pivot or Temporary Political Shift?

Posted on September 11, 2010
Wall Street Journal op-ed, Obama Discovers Incentives, by Kevin A. Hassett (American Enterprise Institute) & Glenn Hubbard (Dean, Columbia Business School): Earlier this week President Obama proposed tax cuts for business, including 100% expensing through 2011...

Alabama to Vigorously Assess Use Tax on Online Purchases

Posted on September 11, 2010
Alabama Live, Alabama Sending Tax Notices to Some Consumers for Online, Out-of-State Purchases: The Alabama Department of Revenue is sending letters to a number of residents in an effort to collect unpaid consumer use tax from 2006 through 2008. Set at 4% percent, the state's consumers use tax applies to...

Zelinsky: Tax Social Security Benefits

Posted on September 11, 2010
Edward A. Zelinsky (Cardozo), Advice to President Obama?s Deficit Commission: Tax Social Security Payments: President Obama?s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform is reportedly forging an internal consensus concerning the federal Social Security system...

Gerzog: The Price of an FLP Annual Exclusion

Posted on September 10, 2010
Wendy C. Gerzog (Baltimore) has published The Price of an FLP Annual Exclusion, 128 Tax Notes 1071 (Sept. 6, 2010). Here is the abstract: In Price [v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2010-2], the Tax Court explored once again whether gifts of interests in a family limited partnership qualify for the annual...

CRS Report on Tax Extenders

Posted on September 10, 2010
BNA has made available yesterday's Congressional Research Service report, Certain Temporary Tax Provisions Scheduled to Expire in 2009 (?Extenders?) (RL32367), by James M. Bickley. Here is the Summary: Numerous temporary tax provisions expired on December 31, 2009...

Mason: Federalism and the Taxing Power

Posted on September 10, 2010
Ruth Mason (UConn) has posted Federalism and the Taxing Power, 99 Cal. L. Rev. ___ (2011), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: As many scholars and courts have recognized, the federal government uses its virtually limitless Spending Power to enlist states in achieving federal goals, thus enlarging its powers far...

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