Taxation & Estate Planning

Frolik: Converting 401(k) Accounts into Federally Guaranteed Lifetime Annuities

Posted on December 18, 2009
Lawrence A. Frolik (Pittsburgh) has posted Protecting Our Aging Retirees: Converting 401(k) Accounts into Federally Guaranteed Lifetime Annuities on SSRN. Here is the abstract: America?s retirees are faced with a potential financial disaster. Economic security in retirement has long depended on Social Security, private savings and employer provided retirement plans...

Christmas Gifts for that Special Tax Person

Posted on December 17, 2009
Any of the three books I published in 2009 would make a great Christmas gift for that special tax person: Tax Stories (Foundation Press, 2d ed. 2009): This book explores the historical contexts of seminal federal income tax cases and the role they continue to play in our current tax...

Rangel Introduces Mutual Fund Tax and Regulation Bill

Posted on December 17, 2009
House Ways & Means Committee Chair Charles Rangel (D-NY) and Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures Chair Richard Neal (D-MA) yesterday introduced H.R. 4337, the Regulated Investment Company Modernization Act of 2009. The press release outlined the three goals of the legislation: Modernization: The tax rules that relate to RICs date...

Tax Policy Center Hosts Discussion Today on The Higher Cost of Being Gay: Life, Death, and Taxes

Posted on December 17, 2009
The Tax Policy Center hosts a luncheon discussion today on The Higher Cost of Being Gay: Life, Death, and Taxes (webcast here): Same-sex couples in the United States face higher costs than their heterosexual counterparts, largely because federal law either precludes or does not require equivalent treatment...

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Stewart Posts Tax Papers on SSRN

Posted on December 17, 2009
Miranda Stewart (Melbourne) has posted two tax papers on SSRN: Gender Equity in Australia's Tax System: In 2008, the Australian Labor government announced a review of Australia?s Future Tax System which reports at the end of 2009. The Review has a broad remit to examine Australia?s federal and state tax...

The Constitutionality of a Retroactive Reenactment of the Estate Tax in 2010

Posted on December 17, 2009
Bloomberg, Estate Tax Expiration Sets Up Battle on Retroactive Restoration, by Ryan J. Donmoyer: The imminent expiration of the federal tax on multimillion-dollar estates and a pledge by congressional Democrats to renew it retroactively next year marks a new phase in an ongoing battle over the levy...

U.S. Civil Rights Commission to Investigate Whether Colleges Are Discriminating Against Women in Admissions

Posted on December 17, 2009
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has selected 19 colleges in the Washington, D.C. area to study whether colleges discriminate against female applicants in the admissions process (based on this research proposal by Gail Heriot (San Diego)): Historically black colleges: Howard University, Lincoln University of Pennsylvania, University of Maryland Eastern...

Dean: Tax Deharmonization and the Future of the International Tax Regime

Posted on December 17, 2009
Steven Dean (Brooklyn) has published More Cooperation, Less Uniformity: Tax Deharmonization and the Future of the International Tax Regime, 84 Tul. L. Rev. 125 (2009). Here is the abstract: Efforts to foster improved international tax cooperation have become preoccupied with tax harmonization...

How Murphy May Stymie Fundamental Tax Reform

Posted on December 17, 2009
Jason A. Derr (Office of Inspector General, Federal Reserve Board) has published "Taxnapping": How Murphy v. IRS Used Direct Taxation to Steal the Tax Reform Debate, 12 Barry L. Rev. 21 (2009). Here is part of the abstract: In Murphy v. IRS, the D.C. Circuit considered whether the taxation of...

Did Tax Problem Force S&C Partner to Leave Firm?

Posted on December 17, 2009
Above the Law reports this morning that former Sullivan & Cromwell corporate partner John O?Brien may have left the firm back in April, escorted from the building by security personnel, over a tax problem: Multiple sources inform us that John O?Brien left Sullivan & Cromwell due to an issue relating...

ACTEC Sponsors 2010 Student Writing Competition

Posted on December 16, 2009
The Legal Education Committee of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) is sponsoring the 2010 Law Student Writing Competition: Purpose: This competition was created by ACTEC?s Legal Education Committee, which consists of law school professors who teach in the area of trusts and estates and practitioners who...

Blattmachr, Gans & Lo: A Beneficiary as Trust Owner

Posted on December 16, 2009
Jonathan G. Blattmachr (Milbank, New York), Mitchell M. Gans (Hofstra) & Alvina H. Lo (Credit Suisse) have posted A Beneficiary as Trust Owner: Decoding Section 678, 35 ACTEC J. 35 (Fall 2009), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This article explores the circumstances under which a person who does not...

Will Estate Tax Expire in 16 Days?

Posted on December 16, 2009
Press reports indicate that congressional efforts to head off the repeal of the estate tax on Jan. 1 may be breaking down. Some lawmakers predict that no action will be taken by year-end, with a fix later in 2010 to be made retroactive to Jan. 1. Others are proposing a...

IRS Eased NOL Rules for Citigroup in Exchange for Repayment of TARP Funds

Posted on December 16, 2009
On Friday, the IRS eased NOL rules for companies that sold stock to the Government under the TARP program, resulting in a $38 billion tax break for Citigroup. On Monday, Citigroup agreed to repay the $20 billion of TARP funds it received from the Treasury Department...

42nd Annual University of Cincinnati Tax Conference

Posted on December 16, 2009
The 2-day 42nd Annual University of Cincinnati Income Tax Conference concludes today. For a list of the speakers and their topics, see here.

Tax Prof Tenure-o-Meter?

Posted on December 16, 2009
Check out the Tenurometer, described by Inside Higher Ed as "a cheekily named tool (still in beta phase) designed to measure scholars' impact on their fields by counting how much they have contributed to the literature and how frequently those articles have been cited...

District Court Decides G-I Holdings

Posted on December 16, 2009
The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey on Wednesday decided In re G-I Holdings, No. 02-3082 (D. N.J. Dec. 14, 2009): [T]he Government is seeking to recover unpaid tax liabilities from the Debtors, arguing that GAF?s transfer of property in the 1990 transaction was actually a taxable...

WSJ: Tax Court Lets DUI Driver Write Off Car Damage

Posted on December 16, 2009
Following up on Friday's post, Tax Court Allows Driver Cited for DUI in Accident to Deduct Car Damage as Casualty Loss Because He 'Only' Blew a .09: in today's Wall Street Journal, Tax Court Lets DUI Driver Write Off Car Damage, by Arden Dale: Drink, drive, crack up the car...

John Grisham Disses Tax Law (Again)

Posted on December 16, 2009
From The Faculty Lounge: I read John Grisham's book, The Associate, this week. ... In a brief part of the book, the main character (a recent Yale law grad) is preparing for the bar exam. This sentence caught my eye: "During three years of law school, they had dreaded the...

Black Eyed Peas' Tax Problem

Posted on December 16, 2009
A lawyer for the Black Eyed Peas is accusing the hip-hop supergroup's manager of failing to file income tax returns for its touring operation going back as far as eight years. Huffington Post Slate The Wrap (Hat Tip: Eric Chiappinelli, Ann Murphy.)

Christmas Gifts for that Special Tax Person

Posted on December 16, 2009
IRS Chocolate Bars ($1.45 each; $72.50 for case of 50):

Burman: Bank Bonus Taxes are a Bad Idea

Posted on December 15, 2009
Leonard E. Burman (Syracuse University, Maxwell School), Bank Bonus Taxes are a Bad Idea: The UK recently instituted a 50% tax on bankers? bonuses and France is reportedly about to follow suit. German chancellor, Angela Merkel, is said to like the idea, but would prefer to institute a tax on...

Christmas Gifts for that Special Tax Person

Posted on December 15, 2009
For sale on eBay: items related to IRS action figure Irwin R. Schyster (modeled after WWF wrestler Mike Rotunda): Action figure Autographed photograph Trading card His signature lines: "I'm gonna write you off!" "You can pay me now, or you will pay me later!" "It's time to cut the crying,...

The ABA Blawg 100 -- Legal Theory

Posted on December 15, 2009
Here is the voting after two weeks for the 2009 ABA Blawg 100, in the Legal Theory category: 1 Volokh Conspiracy 118 2 TaxProf Blog 61 3 Feminist Law Professors 24 4 Leiter's Law School Reports 21 5 Concurring Opinions 19 6 Faculty Lounge 18 7 Legal Ethics Forum 17...

Pollack Reviews War and Taxes

Posted on December 15, 2009
Sheldon D. Pollack (University of Delaware, Lerner College of Business) reviews War and Taxes (Urban Institute Press, 2008), by Steven A. Bank (UCLA), Kirk J. Stark (UCLA) & Joseph J. Thorndike (Tax Analysts), in 30 J. Am. Tax'n Ass'n 114 (Fall 2009): War and Taxes is a useful addition to...

Borden: Considering Tax Expenditures in State Budget Deliberations

Posted on December 15, 2009
Bradley T. Borden (Washburn) has posted Considering Tax Expenditures in State Budget Deliberations on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This is the manuscript of a talk given at a public forum on tax expenditures in Topeka, Kansas. It explains how tax expenditures erode tax bases and diminish the state's ability...

Over 275,000 Federal Workers Are Tax Deadbeats

Posted on December 15, 2009
Over 276,000 federal workers and retirees owed more than $3 billion in back income taxes in 2008 (up from $2.7 billion owed in 2007). The cabinet departments with the largest percentages of employee/retiree tax deadbeats are: Housing & Urban Development: 4...

Colorado Supreme Court: Prosecutors Can't Root Around Immigrants' Tax Records

Posted on December 15, 2009
Following up on my prior posts (here and here): the Colorado Supreme Court ruled yesterday in a 4-3 decision that prosecutors had improperly searched a tax preparer's records for evidence that undocumented immigrants had used others? Social Security numbers...

Exam Fiasco at Oregon

Posted on December 15, 2009
Check out the final exam fisaco in Oregon Law Prof John Bonine's administrative law class. ABA Journal Above the Law

Tax Practice for Legal Services and Pro Bono Attorneys

Posted on December 15, 2009
Southeast Louisiana Legal Services has updated its 93-page manual, Tax Practice for Legal Services and Pro Bono Attorneys (Dec. 2009): This guide covers the basics of federal income tax practice for legal services attorneys: interview information to collect from the taxpayer, Internal Revenue Service procedures, appeal rights, Tax Court litigation,...

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