Taxation & Estate Planning

Kim Brooks Named Dean at Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University

Posted on July 07, 2010
Tax Prof Kim Brooks (McGill) has been named Dean of the Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University. From the press release: Professor Brooks graduated with a BA from the University of Toronto, a Bachelor of Laws from UBC and a Master of Laws (Taxation) from York University, Osgoode Hall Law...

NY Times: Charitable Deduction Subsidizes Israeli Settlements, Contrary to U.S. Policy

Posted on July 07, 2010
New York Times, Tax-Exempt Funds Aid Settlements in West Bank: HaYovel is one of many groups in the United States using tax-exempt donations to help Jews establish permanence in the Israeli-occupied territories ? effectively obstructing the creation of a Palestinian state, widely seen as a necessary condition for Middle East...

McMahon: Using Federal Taxes to Put the 'Community' in Community Property

Posted on July 07, 2010
Stephanie McMahon (Cincinnati) has posted California Women: Trying to Use Federal Taxes to Put the 'Community' in Community Property, 15 Wis. J.L., Gender & Soc. ___ (2010), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Community property is thought to be a more equitable marital property regime than the common law because...

Law Prof Blog Rankings

Posted on July 07, 2010
Below are the updated quarterly traffic rankings (page views and visitors) of the Top 35 blogs edited by law professors with publicly available SiteMeters for the most recent 12-month period (July 1, 2009 - June 30, 2010), as well as the percentage change in traffic from the prior 12-month period:...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

50-State Tax Increase Ranking

Posted on July 06, 2010
U.S. News & World Report, 10 States Where Taxes Are Rising the Most, by Rick Newman: Over the last two years, 36 out of 50 states have raised taxes or fees, according to data from the National Association of State Budget Officers. The combined tab comes to more than $25...

Johnston: Furniture Makers Say Focus on Growth, Not Deficit Reduction

Posted on July 06, 2010
David Cay Johnston has published Furniture Makers Don't Think G-20 Plan Is Built Right, 128 Tax Notes 109 (July 5, 2010): People in the depressed furniture-making center of North Carolina talk about the role taxes play in building a strong economy and take issue with the G-20 plan to focus...

Benshalom: How to Live with a Tax Code with Which You Disagree -- The Debt?Equity Distinction

Posted on July 06, 2010
Ilan Benshalom (Hebrew University, Faculty of Law) has published How to Live with a Tax Code with Which You Disagree: Doctrine, Optimal Tax, Common Sense, and the Debt?Equity Distinction, 88 N.C. L. Rev. 1217 (2010). Here is the abstract: The current financial crisis and recession demonstrate the overwhelming social cost...

TaxProf Blog Holiday Weekend Roundup

Posted on July 06, 2010
Saturday: NPR -- Martin Ginsburg's Legacy: Love Of Justice (Ginsburg) Bill Gates Sr.: Raise My Taxes. Please. ABA Tax Section Submits Comment Letters Congress and the Health Savings Account Sunday: Taxes and the Declaration of Independence Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads Sending Your Child Into a Hurricane NY Times: The...

TIGTA: IRS Does Not

Posted on July 06, 2010
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration today released Taxpayer Data Used at Contractor Facilities May Be at Risk for Unauthorized Access or Disclosure (2010-20-051): IRS procedures do not identify all contractors who process, store or house confidential taxpayer information at their facilities, thereby placing such data at risk for...

More on the Carried Interest Tax Proposals

Posted on July 06, 2010
David Hasen (Santa Clara), End the Federal Tax Break for Equity Fund Managers (San Jose Mercury News): How would you feel if the lawyer or plumber next door paid 15% tax on his or her earned income, while you were stuck paying 28% or more even though you made about...

NLJ: As Tax Breaks Expire, Lobbyists Feel the Heat

Posted on July 06, 2010
National Law Journal, As Tax Breaks Expire, Lobbyists Feel the Heat: Senators fail to extend corporate breaks, leaving tax lobbyists and their clients searching for a strategy. It's hard to play "let's make a deal" if clients won't deal ? which is exactly the problem tax lobbyists face...

A Four-Pound Tax Return

Posted on July 06, 2010
Warren Mayer at Coyote Blog has this great picture of his four-pound tax return: (Hat Tip: Andy Morriss.)

NY Times: Colleges Deploy Tech Tools to Combat 61% of Students Who Cheat

Posted on July 06, 2010
New York Times, To Stop Cheats, Colleges Learn Their Trickery: As the eternal temptation of students to cheat has gone high-tech ? not just on exams, but also by cutting and pasting from the Internet and sharing of homework online like music files ? educators have responded with their own...

WaPo: IRS Rules Could Block Rewards for Whistleblowers

Posted on July 05, 2010
Following up on last month's post, IRS Releases Tax Whistleblower Guidelines (June 18, 2010): Washington Post, Change in IRS Rules Could Block Rewards for Whistleblowers: Congress has called on the IRS to pay rewards to whistleblowers on the theory that they may be the agency's best hope for penetrating tax-evasion...

Living Room Monologues: Law School Was a Mistake

Posted on July 05, 2010

Celebrity Lawyer Mickey Sherman Pleads Guilty to Nonpayment of $400k in Taxes

Posted on July 05, 2010
Celebrity lawyer Michael "Mickey" Sherman (husband of Fox News legal analyst Lis Wiehl), who represented Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel in his murder trial, pleaded guilty last week to two misdemeanor counts of failing to pay $400,000 in taxes. From the Associated Press: "I have many explanations, but no excuses," Sherman...

WSJ: The Obama Tax Trap

Posted on July 05, 2010
Wall Street Journal editorial, The Obama Tax Trap: How Some Republicans Are Preparing to Walk Right Into It: "Next year when I start presenting some very difficult choices to the country, I hope some of these folks who are hollering about deficits step up...

NY Times: As Oil Industry Fights a Tax, It Reaps Tax Subsidies

Posted on July 05, 2010
New York Times, As Oil Industry Fights a Tax, It Reaps Subsidies: When the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform set off the worst oil spill at sea in American history, it was flying the flag of the Marshall Islands. Registering there allowed the rig?s owner to significantly reduce its American taxes...

The NFL's Undeserved Tax-Exempt Status

Posted on July 04, 2010
Andrew B. Delaney (J.D. 2011, Vermont) has posted Taking a Sack: The NFL and its Undeserved Tax-Exempt Status on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This is an article about the NFL's tax status with some humor thrown in. Enjoy. I've tried to make it readable...

Taxes and the Declaration of Independence

Posted on July 04, 2010
From the TaxProf Blog vault: a July 4th post by Neil Buchanan (George Washington) during a guest blogging stint here: I thought I would take another look at our oft-mentioned and seldom-read Declaration of Independence to see what it has to say about taxes and other issues of import...

Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads

Posted on July 04, 2010
There is a bit of movement in this week's list of the Top 5 Recent Tax Paper Downloads, with a new #1 paper and a new paper debuting on the list at #5: 1. [634 Downloads] The Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax: A Quick Guide, by Mark Powell (Chapman) 2...

Sending Your Child Into a Hurricane

Posted on July 04, 2010
My son (who just completed his freshman year of college) got back last night from a one-month internship with Back2Back Ministries in Monterrey, Mexico. One of the joys of parenthood is watching your kids grow in abilities to do things that you could never do yourself...

ABA Tax Section Submits Comment Letters

Posted on July 03, 2010
The ABA Tax Section has submitted comment letters on: Disclosure of Uncertain Tax Positions Proposed § 355 Regs on Active Trade or Business Requirement The Taxation of Carried Interests Proposed § 901 Regs on Compulsory Tax Payments

Congress and the Health Savings Account

Posted on July 03, 2010
Jessica A. Bejerea (J.D. 2011, Chicago-Kent) has published Note, It is Not Too Late for the Health Savings Account, 85 Chi.-Kent L. Rev. 721 (2010): Here is the abstract: The Health Savings Account (HSA), a tax-advantaged savings vehicle for paying medical expenses, paired with the high deductible health plan, has...

NPR: Martin Ginsburg's Legacy: Love Of Justice (Ginsburg)

Posted on July 03, 2010
Following up on Wednesday's post, Remembering Marty Ginsburg (1932-2010): NPR Weekend Edition, Martin Ginsburg's Legacy: Love Of Justice (Ginsburg), by Nina Totenberg (listen to the story here, with several clips of Marty): The Ginsburg marriage was one of those marvels of life, a 56-year marathon of love and support...

Bill Gates Sr.: Raise My Taxes. Please.

Posted on July 03, 2010
Seattle Times, Bill Gates Sr. Makes His Case for Income Tax Initiative: Bill Gates Sr. fielded questions from reporters Thursday morning, sometimes with a note of exasperation, about the income tax initiative 1098. I-1098 sponsors turned in 350,000 signatures, with another 20,000 expected Friday -- more than enough to qualify...

Tax Court Video Series

Posted on July 02, 2010
The U.S. Tax Court has produced an eight part video series, Welcome to the Tax Court: Welcome and Overview Part One: Understanding the Process Part Two: Introduction to the United States Tax Court Part Three: Filing the Petition Part Four: Pretrial Matters Part Five: Calendar Call and Trial Part Six:...

McLure: The Folly of California's Proposed Business Net Receipts Tax

Posted on July 02, 2010
Charles E. McLure, Jr. (Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution) has published The Business Net Receipts Tax: A Dog That Will Not Hunt, 37 Hastings Const. L.Q. 745 (2010). Here is the Conclusion: Not only does the BNRT exhibit the well-known defects of a subtraction method VAT; sales-only apportionment would not actually...

2010 IRS Research Conference in Washington

Posted on July 02, 2010
Below the fold are the panels, papers, and speakers at the 2010 IRS Research Conference held this week in Washington, D.C.: Panel Discussion: The Impact of Globalization on Tax Administration (Moderator: Rosemary D. Marcuss (Director, Research, Analysis, and Statistics, IRS)) Michael Danilack (Deputy Commissioner (International), Large and Mid-Size Business, IRS)...

Obama Signs 3-Month Extension of $8,000 Homebuyer Tax Credit

Posted on July 02, 2010
President Obama today signed H.R. 5623, the Homebuyer Assistance and Improvement Act of 2010. The Act provides a 3-month extension of the closing deadline for the $8,000 homebuyer tax credit through Sept. 30 (Buyers still need a contract that was in place by April 30...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.