Taxation & Estate Planning

8 Audit Red Flags

Posted on March 22, 2010
CBS Money Watch, Audit Red Flags: 8 Things Not to Do: No matter how fastidiously you file your receipts or how professionally your accountant fills out the forms, you probably still fear an IRS audit. And thanks to a flurry of tax changes this year, there are more audit red...

Bartlett: Tea Party Has a Low Tax IQ

Posted on March 22, 2010
Bruce Bartlett (Forbes), The Misinformed Tea Party Movement: For an Antitax Group, They Don't Know Much About Taxes: On March 16 the Tea Party crowd showed up for yet another demonstration on Capitol Hill in Washington. Curious about the factual knowledge these people have regarding the issues they are protesting,...

The Tax Impact of the Recovery Act on the Working Poor

Posted on March 21, 2010
Irina Goldberg (LL.M. (Tax) 2010, San Diego; J.D. 2009, Whittier) has published Comment, Hope for Low-Income Tax Returns: The Tax Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on the Working Poor, 31 Whittier L. Rev. 105 (2009). Here is the Introduction: In the New York Times' Bestseller, Nickel and...

Vallario: Death by a Thousand Cuts: The Rule Against Perpetuities

Posted on March 21, 2010
Angela M. Vallario (Baltimore) has posted Death by a Thousand Cuts: The Rule Against Perpetuities, 25 Harv. J. on Legis. 141 (1999), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This article suggests the policy and social justifications against dead hand control far outweigh transfer tax advantages provided to wealthy settlors and...

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Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads

Posted on March 21, 2010
There is a bit of movement in this week's list of the Top 5 Recent Tax Paper Downloads, with a new paper (which I highly recommend) debuting on the list at #5: 1. [410 Downloads] Ten Estate Planning Advantages of Limited Liability Companies, by Paul L...

IRS Invites Taxpayers to Apply for Membership on Taxpayer Advisory Panel

Posted on March 21, 2010
The IRS on Friday invited taxpayers to apply for a 3-year term on the Taxpayer Advisory Panel: The IRS is inviting civic-minded individuals to help improve the nation?s tax agency by applying to be members of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel ("TAP"). The panel provides a forum for citizens from each...

The Strict Liability Penalty Standard in Noneconomic Substance Transactions

Posted on March 20, 2010
Mik Shin-Li (J.D. 2011, Fordham) has published Note, Strictly Wrong as a Tax Policy: The Strict Liability Penalty Standard in Noneconomic Substance Transactions, 78 Fordham L. Rev. 2009 (2010). Here is the abstract: This Note analyzes the propriety of using a strict liability standard to assess tax penalties for transactions...

The Constitutionality of the Texas Margin Tax

Posted on March 20, 2010
Nikki Laing (J.D. 2010, Baylor) has posted Note, An Income Tax by Any Other Name is Still an Income Tax: The Constitutionality of the Texas Margin Tax as Applied to Partnerships and Other Unincorporated Associations, 62 Baylor L. Rev. ___ (2010), on SSRN...

David Hasen Leaves Penn State for Santa Clara

Posted on March 20, 2010
Tax Prof David Hasen (Penn State), formerly of Michigan and the 2008-09 IRS Office of Chief Counsel Professor in Residence, has accepted a permanent position at Santa Clara. From his Penn State web page: Professor Hasen's principal areas of teaching and research interest are taxation, jurisprudence, administrative law, and contracts...

AALS, ABA, SALT Support UC-Hastings Over CLS in Supreme Court Case

Posted on March 20, 2010
American Lawyer, Law School Groups Back Hastings in High Court Case: Law school organizations are lining up behind the University of California Hastings College of the Law in the upcoming Supreme Court argument pitting the school against the Christian Legal Society...

House Health Care Bill 'Dangerously Expands IRS's Power'

Posted on March 19, 2010
Wall Street Journal, US House Republicans Say Health Bill Expands IRS Power: House Republicans said Thursday that the health care overhaul will expand IRS authority by giving agents the power to verify acceptable health care coverage and fine or confiscate the tax refunds of Americans without coverage...

Is March Madness Grounds for an Exam Deferral?

Posted on March 19, 2010
Above the Law, Does March Madness Justify Exam Rescheduling? UW Law Says No: One student at the University of Washington School of Law feels that exams shouldn?t get in the way of the NCAA College Basketball Tournament. ...One of his finals conflicted with the tournament, and he sent a very...

Sahm, Shapiro & Slemrod: The $96b Stimulus Payments in 2008 Generated $32b of Consumer Spending

Posted on March 19, 2010
Claudia R. Sahm (Board of Governors, Federal Researve System), Matthew D. Shapiro (University of Michigan, Department of Economics) & Joel B. Slemrod (University of Michigan, Ross School of Business) have posted Household Response to the 2008 Tax Rebate: Survey Evidence and Aggregate Implications on NBER...

Top Law Prof Competition

Posted on March 19, 2010
Vote for your favorite Tax Prof in The Blackbook Legal Blog's second annual Top Law Prof Competition: Last year's competition was a major success with hundreds of different voters from different schools casting their ballot. In the end, Professor Peter Smith of The George Washington University Law School emerged victorious...

Capital Gains Taxes and the Risk-Return Tradeoff

Posted on March 19, 2010
Zhonglan Dai (University of Texas-Dallas), Douglas A. Shackleford (University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill) & Harold H. Zhang (University of Texas-Dallas) have posted Capital Gains Taxes and the Risk-Return Tradeoff on SSRN. Here is the abstract: We derive cross-sectional implications of a capital gains tax rate change on the risk-return tradeoff...

Milne: Watersheds -- Runoff from the Tax Code

Posted on March 19, 2010
Janet E. Milne (Vermont) has posted Watersheds: Runoff from the Tax Code, 34 Vt. L. Rev. ___ (2010), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This article examines selected federal and state tax measures from a watershed perspective, exploring ways in which they may?or may not?enhance the quality of water within...

Tax Prof, Free Beer & Hot Wings

Posted on March 19, 2010
Today marked the zenith (nadir?) of my career: a recent TaxProf Blog post provided fodder for the Free Beer & Hot Wings morning radio show. (Hat Tip: Justin Myers.)

Southwestern Law Review Symposium Papers on The Evolution of J.D. Programs

Posted on March 19, 2010
The Southwestern Law Review has published the papers from its symposium on The Evolution of J.D. Programs: Is Non-Traditional Becoming More Traditional?, 38 Sw. L. Rev. 533 (2009): The Evolution of J.D. Programs Brochure, 38 Sw. L. Rev. 533 (2009) Introduction: Bryant Garth, 38 Sw...

Illinois Supreme Court Revokes Tax-Exempt Status of Hospital for Not Being Charitable Enough

Posted on March 19, 2010
The Illinois Supreme Court yesterday upheld a state tax review board's decision to end a hospital's tax-exempt status because the hospital's charity care equaled less than 1% of its revenues. Provena Covenant Medical Center v. Department of Revenue, No...

Markel & Polsky: Taxing Punitive Damages

Posted on March 18, 2010
Following up on my prior post: Dan Markel (Florida State) & Gregg Polsky (Florida State; moving to North Carolina) have posted Taxing Punitive Damages, 96 Va. L. Rev. ___ (2010), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: There is a curious anomaly in the law of punitive damages...

NCAA Basketball Tournament, by Salary of Graduates

Posted on March 18, 2010
Following up on my post, College Rankings by Median Salary of Graduates: PayScale.com has applied its ranking of colleges by their graduates' salaries to determine the outcome of the NCAA Men's College Basketball Tournament, with a final four of Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, and Vanderbilt: The full 65-team bracket by graduates'...

American Seeks Practitioner-In-Residence in its Tax Clinic

Posted on March 18, 2010
American University Washington College of Law invites applications for a Practitioner-In-Residence in its Janet R. Spragens Federal Tax Clinic: The Practitioner-in-Residence Program is a program designed to train lawyers or entry-level clinicians interested in becoming clinical teachers in the practice and theory of clinical legal education...

Tennessee Bill Would Ban Faculty Authors From Earning Royalties ('Kickbacks') on Books Assigned to Their Students

Posted on March 18, 2010
The Tennessean, TN Professors Fume Over Bill Banning Textbook Royalties; Legislator Wants to End 'Kickbacks': [T]o at least one state representative, those book royalties are "kickbacks" to state university professors, earned by "forcing their students to purchase certain books...

Bishop & Kleinberger: The Single Member LLC as Disregarded Entity

Posted on March 18, 2010
Carter G. Bishop (Suffolk) & Daniel S. Kleinberger (William Mitchell) have posted The Single Member Limited Liability Company as Disregarded Entity: Now You See it, Now You Don?t on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The power and complexity of the single member limited liability company (?SMLLC?) comes from a conceptual...

IFA Writing Prize

Posted on March 18, 2010
The International Fiscal Association is sponsoring the Mitchell B. Carroll Prize: In order to encourage scientific work, the IFA has instituted a Prize as a tribute to its first Honorary President, Mitchell B. Carroll. This Prize is awarded for a work dealing with international fiscal questions, comparative fiscal law or...

Chernick Presents Federal-State Tax Interactions in the U.S. and Canada Today at UCLA

Posted on March 18, 2010
Howard A. Chernick (Hunter College, Department of Economics) presents Federal-State Tax Interactions in the U.S. and Canada, 40 Publius ___ (2010) (with Jennifer Tennant) at UCLA today as part of its Tax Policy and Public Finance Colloquium Series hosted by Steven Bank and Kirk Stark...

House Approves Bill Requiring the IRS to Use 'Plain Writing,' Except in Regs

Posted on March 18, 2010
The House yesterday voted 386-33 to approve H.R. 946, the Plain Writing Act of 2010, which would require the IRS and other government agencies to write public documents in "plain writing," defined as "writing that the intended audience can readily understand and use because that writing is clear, concise, well-organized,...

Tax Preparers Face Lean Times

Posted on March 18, 2010
News & Observer: Tax Preparers Face Lean Times in Triangle: The down economy is hurting yet another industry: tax preparers. A number of independent tax services and accountants, as well as national firms such as H&R Block and Jackson Hewitt, report that business is flat or down from last year...

Northwestern Offers 15-Week LL.M.

Posted on March 18, 2010
National Law Journal, Northwestern Offers Foreign Students a Fast Track LL.M.: Who says you need a year to earn a Master of Laws degree? Northwestern University School of Law on Tuesday announced a new program through which foreign lawyers can complete an LL...

President Obama Signs HIRE Act

Posted on March 18, 2010
President Obama today signed H.R. 2847, the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act: Statutory Language IRS, IR-2010-33, Two New Tax Benefits Aid Employers Who Hire and Retain Unemployed Workers Associated Press, Obama Signs Jobs Bill The Atlantic, President Signs $18 Billion Jobs Bill...

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