Taxation & Estate Planning

TIGTA Releases Three Tax Reports

Posted on June 14, 2010
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration today released three reports: Additional Security Controls Are Needed to Protect the Automated Collection System (2010-20-028) Most Unpaid Taxes of Participants in the Troubled Asset Relief Program Have Been Resolved (2010-30-050) Payments Processed Through the Remittance Strategy for Paper Check Conversion Are Posted...

Younger Profs Teach Better in Introductory Courses, Older Profs Teach Better in Advanced Courses

Posted on June 14, 2010
Scott E. Carrell (University of California-Davis, Department of Economics) & James E. West (U.S. Air Force Academy) have published Does Professor Quality Matter? Evidence from Random Assignment of Students to Professors, 118 J. Pol. Econ. 407 (June 2010): We find that less experienced and less qualified professors produce students who...

The Carried Interest and Foreign Tax Credit Proposals

Posted on June 14, 2010
Bruce Bartlett has a helpful roundup of various studies on the carried interest and foreign tax credit proposals making their way through Congress.

ABA Podcast: Law School Tuition

Posted on June 13, 2010
The ABA Journal has posted a podcast, Lowering the Stakes: How Law Schools Can Help Next Gen Lawyers Take Gamble Out of Hefty Tuition: More and more, critics of ever-increasing law school tuition say enrolling only makes economic sense if students don?t have to pay tuition, or graduate from a...

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Structured Settlements and Single-Claimant Qualified Settlement Funds

Posted on June 13, 2010
Jeremy Babener (J.D. 2010, NYU) has published Structured Settlements and Single-Claimant Qualified Settlement Funds: Regulating in Accordance with Structured Settlement History, 13 N.Y.U. J. Legis. & Pub. Pol'y 1 (2010). Here is the abstract: In 1982 Congress legislated a tax subsidy incentivizing the use of structured settlements...

Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads

Posted on June 13, 2010
There is quite a bit of movement in this week's list of the Top 5 Recent Tax Paper Downloads, with new papers debuting on the list at #4 and #5: 1. [532 Downloads] Pursuing a Tax LLM Degree: Where?, by Paul L. Caron (Cincinnati), Jennifer M. Kowal (Loyola-L...

Pennsylvania?s Inheritance Tax

Posted on June 12, 2010
Timothy J. Witt (J.D. 2010, Penn State) has published Individuals and Inheritance Taxes: A Praxeological Examination of Pennsylvania?s Inheritance Tax, 114 Penn St. L. Rev. 1105 (2010). Here is part of the Introduction: Much has been written regarding the economic effects of the federal estate tax, but relatively little has...

Pennsylvania's Taxpayer Relief Act

Posted on June 12, 2010
Jaime S. Bumbarger (J.D. 2010, Penn State) has published Comment, Pennsylvania's Taxpayer Relief Act: Big Gamble Pays Off for Some, But Most Lose Their Shirt, 114 Penn St. L. Rev. 1003 (2010). Here is part of the Introduction: This Comment will examine the state of local school property taxes in...

5th Annual Junior Tax Scholars' Workshop Concludes Today at Notre Dame

Posted on June 12, 2010
The Fifth Annual Junior Tax Scholars' Workshop concludes today at Notre Dame with these papers: Panel #4: Tax Policy David Herzig (Valparaiso), Bellbottoms, the Bicentennial, and Basis: Does Carry Over Basis Ever Work? Tom Brennan (Northwestern), The Regressive Tax on Risk-Taking David Gamage (UC-Berkeley), Toward a Theory for the Optimal...

BP, Fishermen, and the Tax Man

Posted on June 11, 2010
L.A. Times, The Fishermen and the Tax Man: BP's request for tax records poses a problem for some residents of fishing communities in southeastern Louisiana ? the nonconformists who haven't kept records or reported their cash income.

Ivimey & Cooper: 2009 Developments in Connecticut Trusts & Estates Law

Posted on June 11, 2010
John R. Ivimey (Reid and Riege, Hartford) & Jeffrey A. Cooper (Quinnipiac) have posted 2009 Developments in Connecticut Estate and Probate Law, 84 Conn. Bar J. ___ (2010), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In this Article, we provide a summary of recent developments impacting Connecticut estate planning and probate...

German Millionaires Volunteer to Pay 'Rich Tax'

Posted on June 11, 2010
CNBC, German Millionaires Volunteer to Pay 'Rich Tax': A group of 51 German millionaires and billionaires founded a Club of the Wealthy and wrote to Chancellor Angela Merkel proposing to give up 10% of their income in the form of a "Rich Tax" for 10 years to consolidate the budget...

Forbes Tax Articles

Posted on June 11, 2010
Five Rules For Inherited IRAs (June 9, 2010), by Deborah L. Jacobs: "Families can stretch out the tax breaks of retirement accounts for decades if they know the rules." Five True Tales From a Tax Lawyer (June 9, 2010), by Robert W. Wood: "Tax law can get pretty interesting when...

DePaul Law Prof Refuses to Follow Grade Curve

Posted on June 11, 2010
Above the Law, A Brawl at DePaul Over Grades: [A]t DePaul College of Law, the administration decided to strictly enforce its curve as a way of combating wanton grade inflation. Apparently not all of the professors were on the same page. Professor Howard Rubin taught Legal Profession this past spring...

IRS Issues Call for Tax Statistics Research Proposals

Posted on June 11, 2010
The Treasury Department has issued a solicitation notice for tax statistics research for the IRS's Statistics of Income Division: The SOI requires high quality proposals for research projects that would necessitate access to federal tax microdata and are for statistical puposes, not tax compliance...

Unwilling or Unwilling or Unable to Cheat? Evidence from a Randomized Tax Audit

Posted on June 11, 2010
Henrik J. Kleven (London School of Economics, Department of Economics), Martin B. Knudsen (Danish Inland Revenue, Denmark), Claus T. Kreiner (University of Copenhagen, Department of Economics), Søren Pedersen (Danish Inland Revenue, Denmark) & Emmanuel Saez (UC-Berkeley, Department of Economics) have posted Unwilling or Unable to Cheat? Evidence from a Randomized...

5th Annual Junior Tax Scholars' Workshop Begins Today at Notre Dame

Posted on June 11, 2010
The Fifth Annual Junior Tax Scholars' Workshop kicks off today at Notre Dame with these papers: Panel #1: State & Local Tax Brian Galle (Florida State; moving to Boston College), An IRA for States? Evidence for the Need for Federal Intervention in State Budget Smoothing, and a Proposal for Reform...

Senate Is "Close" to Estate Tax Compromise of $5m Exemption, 35% Rate

Posted on June 11, 2010
Sam Goldfarb, Kyl Says Momentum Is Building for His Estate Tax Proposal, 2010 TNT 112-2 (June 11, 2010): Senate Finance Committee member Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., said June 10 that he is "pretty close" to gathering the 60 votes needed to pass a bill that would establish the estate tax at...

IRS Issues Regs on New 10% Tanning Tax; Snooki and John McCain Are Not Pleased

Posted on June 11, 2010
The IRS announced (IR-2010-073) today that it has issued regulations outlining the administration of the 10% excise tax on indoor tanning services that goes into effect on July 1: In general, providers of indoor tanning services will collect the tax at the time the purchaser pays for the tanning services...

Graduation Day, Part II

Posted on June 10, 2010
Last year, I blogged my son Reed's graduation from high school. This year, my daughter Jayne graduates from high school, making my wife and I official "empty nesters" in two short months. Jayne, I am simply in awe of all you have accomplished and the person you are and are...

Helge: The Taxation of Cause-Related Marketing

Posted on June 10, 2010
Terri Lynn Helge (Texas-Wesleyan) has published The Taxation of Cause-Related Marketing, 85 Chi.-Kent L. Rev. 101 (2010). Here is the abstract: With the economy in turmoil, charitable organizations are looking to nontraditional sources of financing to supplement contributions and fee-based revenues...

NY Times: Does Studying Economics Make You More Republican?

Posted on June 10, 2010
New York Times, Does Studying Economics Make You More Republican?: Several academic studies have found that there is a link between education levels and civic behavior. But a new study from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has concluded that how much economics people study can influence their political...

How Duke Reports 100% Employed at Graduation

Posted on June 10, 2010
Above the Law, The Secret to ?100% Employed at Graduation?: Duke?s Bridge to Practice: When the U.S. News rankings came out this year, Duke Law School had fallen out of the top ten. But one thing that hadn?t fallen was its Graduates Employed At Graduation statistic...

TIGTA: IRS Made Untimely or Inappropriate Lien Determinations of $1.4 Billion

Posted on June 10, 2010
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration today released Lien Determinations Were Untimely or Not Made Appropriately for Over $1.4 Billion in Delinquent Taxes (2010-30-023): The IRS made untimely or inappropriate lien determinations for more than $1...

Ax May Fall on Mortgage Interest Deduction

Posted on June 10, 2010
The Hill, Ax May Fall on Tax Break for Mortgages: The popular tax break for mortgage interest, once considered untouchable, is falling under the scrutiny of policymakers and economic experts seeking ways to close huge deficits. Although Congress last year rejected the White House?s proposed cut to the amount wealthier...

Shaviro Presents Three False Statements on International Tax Policy Today in Toronto

Posted on June 10, 2010
Daniel N. Shaviro (NYU) presents Three False Statements Concerning International Tax Policy at the Tax Policy Research Symposium in Toronto: The 3 false statements: ?International tax policy issue analysis should depend on one?s choice of worldwide welfare norm...

Wayne State to Continue "Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity Award"

Posted on June 10, 2010
Wayne State University has anounced that it will continue to confer its Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity Award despite the 89 year old former reporter's abhorrent comments about Israel: The university said it "strongly condemns" her "wholly inappropriate comments" but they shouldn't diminish her "many years of exemplary service" and...

Texan May be First in 95 Years to Pass Billions to His Children Free of Estate Tax

Posted on June 09, 2010
In my lecture, The Costs of Estate Tax Dithering, 43 Creighton L. Rev. ___ (2010), I talked about how the estates of several recently departed celebrities -- including Texas tycoon Dan Duncan -- might be treated in the current estate tax interregnum. The New York Times has an interesting article...

Call for Tax Posters

Posted on June 09, 2010
The AALS has issued a call for poster presentations for the 2011 Annual Meeting to be held in San Francisco on January 5-8, 2011: Please send your proposal by e-mail by September 3, 2010. The proposal should state your name, the name of your law school, the Section for which...

Newman: Taxation of Households: A Comparative Study

Posted on June 09, 2010
Joel S. Newman (Wake Forest) has posted Taxation of Households: A Comparative Study, 55 St. Louis U. L.J. ___ (2010), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Some of us live alone, but most live in groups. Those of us who live in groups usually pool our income and expenses, somehow...

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