Taxation & Estate Planning

Pete DuPont: Coming Tax Hikes Will Cause Greater Economic Collapse Than 2008-09

Posted on January 26, 2010
Wall Street Journal op-ed, An Economic Time Bomb: Even If Congress Does Nothing, Tax Hikes Will Hit Hard a Year From Now, by Pete DuPont (Chairman of the Board, National Center for Policy Analysis): Weather-wise it has been a very cold January, and politically the Scott Brown Senate victory has...

IRS Hits Arizona Cardinals' Pro Bowl Safety With $2.2m Tax Bill

Posted on January 26, 2010
Forbes, IRS Hits Cardinals' Antrel Rolle With $2.2 Million Bill; Football Safety Sues After Audit Nixes His Big Charitable and Business Deductions, by William P. Barrett: The IRS says Arizona Cardinals safety Antrel Rolle understated his taxable income by more than 50% during his first two years in pro football,...

2010 Tannenwald Tax Writing Competition

Posted on January 26, 2010
For students writing tax seminar papers this semester (or having completed a tax paper last semester): The Theodore Tannenwald, Jr. Foundation for Excellence in Tax Scholarship and American College of Tax Counsel are sponsoring the 2010 Tannenwald Writing Competition: Named for the late Tax Court Judge Theodore Tannenwald, Jr...

Debating a Payroll Tax Break to Spur Jobs

Posted on January 26, 2010
Senators Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) and Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT) have published an op-ed in the New York Times, A Payroll Tax Break for Jobs: With the national unemployment rate at 10%, and more than 15 million Americans looking for work, ideas to spur job creation are at the forefront...

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62nd Annual USC Law Tax Institute Begins Today in L.A.

Posted on January 25, 2010
The three-day 62nd Annual USC Law Tax Institute kicks off today in Los Angeles: Monday's sessions will focus on corporate and business tax planning issues, and with separate programming tracks on tax planning for large corporations and for privately held businesses...

Kahn Fires Fourth Shot on Justice Sotomayor's Tax Opinions

Posted on January 25, 2010
Douglas A. Kahn (Michigan) has posted It Is Logic Rather Than Whom You Trust: A Rejoinder to Prof. Cohen, 126 Tax Notes 372 (Jan. 18, 2010). Here is the abstract: Recently, Prof. Stephen B. Cohen [Judge Sonia Sotomayor's Tax Opinions, 124 Tax Notes 474 (Aug...

U.S. News Defends Peer Reputation Ranking

Posted on January 25, 2010
Following up on my post, More on the U.S. News "Echo Chamber", which discussed a new paper by Michael N. Bastedo (University of Michigan, School of Education) & Nicholas A. Bowman (University of Notre Dame, Center for Social Concerns), U.S. News & World Report College Rankings: Modeling Institutional Effects on...

Heritage: VAT -- No Easy Fix for the Deficit

Posted on January 25, 2010
Curtis S. Dubay (Heritage Foundation) has published Value-Added Tax: No Easy Fix for the Deficit: There is a growing call by backers of bigger government for Congress to impose a value-added tax (VAT) on top of all the other taxes Americans already pay...

TaxProf Blog Weekend Roundup

Posted on January 25, 2010
Saturday: It's Official: IRS Designates Earthquake in Haiti a Qualified Disaster President Obama Signs Haiti Charitable Contribution Bill ABA Tax Section Midyear Meeting The NCAA, the IRS, and the 'New Amateurism' Sunday: Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads BigLaw Partners Charged With Tax Evasion NY Times: Why Can't the IRS Provide...

Gentry Presents Capital Gains Taxation and Entrepreneurship Today at Northwestern

Posted on January 25, 2010
William Gentry (Williams College, Department of Economics) presents Capital Gains Taxation and Entrepreneurship at Northwestern today as part of its Advanced Topics in Taxation Series organized by Tom Brennan and Charlotte Crane. Here is the Conclusion: Entrepreneurial assets are an important part of the aggregate net worth of U...

Law Schools

Posted on January 25, 2010
Above the Law, Law Schools Rearrange Deck Chairs: If you?ve been paying attention, you might have noticed that the value proposition for going to law school is diminishing. Legal salaries are in a deflationary state, despite the fact that law school tuition is on the rise...

Steven Colbert on Estate Tax Repeal

Posted on January 25, 2010
At the 48-second mark: The Colbert Report Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c Colbert Platinum - Estate Tax & Skull Ballot Box www.colbertnation.com Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Economy(Hat Tip: The Tax CPA.)

Taxing Directors or Shareholders on Corporate Political Contributions After Citizens United

Posted on January 25, 2010
Tax lawyer Dan Evans writes, Taxing Political Expenditures: The Supreme Court's recent decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission severely restricts the ability of Congress to regulate, much less prohibit, the use of corporate money to influence elections, but what about Congress's power to tax that money? As it...

President Obama Unveils Middle Class Tax Cuts

Posted on January 25, 2010
Text of Speeches by Vice President Biden and President Obama White House Fact Sheet CNN New York Times Wall Street Journal

President Obama Sings the Beatles' "Taxman"

Posted on January 25, 2010
(Hat Tip: The Tax Lawyer's Blog.)

NY Times: Why Can't the IRS Provide Taxpayers With Pre-Filled Out Tax Forms?

Posted on January 24, 2010
New York Times, Why Can?t the IRS Help Fill in the Blanks?: In the digital age, filing income tax returns should be a snap. The important data from employers and financial institutions have already been sent to the government?s computers. Yet taxpayers are still required to perform the anachronistic chore...

IRS TV Today

Posted on January 24, 2010
The IRS and the national TV network Telemundo will air a special one-hour tax program for Spanish-speaking taxpayers today, Taxes and You (?Los Impuestos y Usted?) at: 3:00 p.m. EST 2:00 p.m. CST 2:00 p.m. MST 3:00 p.m. PST

BigLaw Partners Charged With Tax Evasion

Posted on January 24, 2010
Two former partners in large New York City law firms have been charged with state tax evasion: David Mollon (Winston & Strawn) is charged with failing to file state tax returns for 2006-2008, when he earned $1.8 million $600,000/year) and failed to pay $117,000 in state taxes...

Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads

Posted on January 24, 2010
This week's list of the Top 5 Recent Tax Paper Downloads is the same as last week's list: 1. [283 Downloads] The Regulatory Systems for Employee Benefits, by Brian A. Benko (McDermott Will & Emery, Washington, D.C.) 2. [238 Downloads] Taxation of Credit Derivatives, by Lawrence Lokken (Florida) 3...

ABA Tax Section Midyear Meeting

Posted on January 23, 2010
The ABA Tax Section midyear meeting concludes today in San Antonio. The full program is here; Tax Profs with speaking roles today include: Low Income Taxpayers: Section 6015(f) Lantz Update -- Paul Kohlhoff (Valparaiso), Kathryn J. Sedo (Minnesota) (Chair & Moderator), Alice L...

The NCAA, the IRS, and the 'New Amateurism'

Posted on January 23, 2010
Virginia A. Fitt (J.D. 2010, Duke) has published Note, The NCAA's Lost Cause and the Legal Ease of Redefining Amateurism, 59 Duke L.J. 555 (2009). Here is the abstract: The recent resolution of the Andrew Oliver case may mark the death throes of the NCAA?s no-agent rule, prohibiting college athletes...

It's Official: IRS Deignates Earthquake in Haiti a Qualified Disaster

Posted on January 23, 2010
The IRS yesterday designated the earthquake in Haiti as a qualified disaster for federal tax purposes. Notice 2010-16, 2010-06 I.R.B. ___ (Feb. 8, 2010) IR-2010-11

President Obama Signs Haiti Charitable Contribution Bill

Posted on January 23, 2010
President Obama yesterday signed H.R. 4462, A Bill to Accelerate the Income Tax Benefits for Charitable Cash Contributions for the Relief of Victims of the Earthquake in Haiti. From the Joint Committee on Taxation's Technical Explanation (JCX-2-10): The provision permits taxpayers to treat charitable contributions of cash made after January...

Crawford: Ten Noteworthy Estate & Gift Tax Articles of 2009

Posted on January 22, 2010
Bridget J. Crawford (Pace) has published Law Review Articles You Should've Read (but Probably Didn't) in 2009, 126 Tax Notes 397 (Jan. 18, 2010): In many fields lawyers and judges bemoan the absence of relevant law review articles. Cynics complain that law professors write only for each other, without regard...

Tax Policy Center Seeks to Host Tax Profs on Sabbaticals

Posted on January 22, 2010
Rosanne Altshuler, Director of the Tax Policy Center, writes with the following generous offer to Tax Profs with upcoming sabbaticals: The Tax Policy Center is interested in hosting tax law professors on their sabbaticals. In 2009, we hosted Harvard law professor Dan Halperin and University of Florida law professor Larry...

ABA Tax Section Midyear Meeting

Posted on January 22, 2010
The ABA Tax Section midyear meeting continues today in San Antonio. The full program is here; Tax Profs with speaking roles today include: Closely Held Businesses: The Impact of Title of Property on Tax Debt; IRS and Bankruptcy Rules -- T. Keith Fogg (Villanova) Exempt Organizations Subcommittee on Political and...

Why Stop at Banks? 13 Other Great Taxes

Posted on January 22, 2010
U.S. News & World Report, Why Stop at Banks? 13 Other Great Taxes, by Rick Newman: The government is desperate for money, after all, and taxpayers are going to cough it up one way or the other, no matter where the tax starts. So here are some other ?responsibility fees?...

Golfer Jim Thorpe Gets One-Year Prison Sentence for Tax Evasion

Posted on January 22, 2010
Golfer Jim Thorpe was sentenced today to one year in prison by the U.S. District Court in Orlando for failing to pay over $1.6 million in taxes in 2002-2004, during which period he earned over $5.2 million of income. Thorpe has won over $13 million in his career on the...

Tenure Case Hinges on Collegiality

Posted on January 22, 2010
Inside Higher Ed, Tenure Case Hinges on Collegiality: Something's rotten in Ohio. Depending on whom you believe, a bizarre tenure case that has unfolded over the past year at Ohio University either represents a last-ditch effort to oust a troubled and potentially dangerous professor or a concentrated conspiracy to derail...

Morse: Important Federal Income Tax Developments

Posted on January 22, 2010
Edward A. Morse (Creighton) has posted Important Developments in Federal Income Taxation on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This outline covers significant developments involving federal income taxation along with a few other related topics that the author finds interesting, curious, or worthy of comment...

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