Taxation & Estate Planning

Chicago-Kent to Host Symposium on Law of Philanthropy in the 21st Century

Posted on August 10, 2009
Chicago-Kent is hosting a symposium on Law of Philanthropy in the 21st Century on October 23, 2009. For a list of the speakers and their topics, and to register (free of charge), see here.

The Precarious Promise of Post-Employment Health Benefits

Posted on August 10, 2009
Richard L. Kaplan (Illinois), Jordan Zucker (DLA Piper) & Nicholas J. Powers have posted Retirees at Risk: The Precarious Promise of Post-Employment Health Benefits, 9 Yale J. Health Pol'y, L. & Ethics ___ (2009), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This article examines the increasingly troubled state of employer-provided health...

ABA Tax Section Publishes Summer 2009 Issue of News Quarterly

Posted on August 10, 2009
The ABA Tax Section has published 28 News Quarterly No. 4 (Summer 2009): Point & Counterpoint: Equity, Cost of Living, and the Internal Revenue Code Improving the Equity of the Federal Income Tax, by James P. Angelini (Suffolk University) & Tracy Noga (Bentley University) (pp...

Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads

Posted on August 09, 2009
There is a lot of movement in this week's list of the Top 5 Recent Tax Paper Downloads, with new papers debuting on the list at #3 and #4: 1. [339 Downloads] The Obama International Tax Plan: A Major Step Forward, by Reuven S. Avi-Yonah (Michigan) 2. [260 Downloads] Recent...

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ABA Approves 19th Law School in California

Posted on August 09, 2009
With the ABA Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar's granting of full approval to Western State University College of Law, there are now 19 accredited law schools in California.

IRS Issues FBAR Notice

Posted on August 09, 2009
The IRS on Friday issued Notice 2009-62, 2009-35 I.R.B. ___ (Aug. 31, 2009), which provides information on the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) for government agencies to use in criminal, tax, or regulatory investigations or proceedings.

U.S. Corporate Tax Rate Is 2nd Highest in Industrialized World

Posted on August 09, 2009
The Tax Foundation has released U.S. Lags While Competitors Accelerate Corporate Income Tax Reform: New data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) shows that the U.S. corporate tax rate has fallen even further out of step with the rest of the industrialized world as countries such as...

Tax Delinquency and Blight in Pennsylvania

Posted on August 08, 2009
Kate Murray Diersen (J.D. 2010, Pittsburgh) has published Note, Tax Delinquency and Blight in Pennsylvania, 6 Pitt. Tax Rev. 131 (2009). Here is the abstract: Blight and tax delinquency are both issues that municipalities in Pennsylvania currently face and both are issues that can be addressed using the tax sale...

Revising § 2702 to Apply to Same-Sex Couples

Posted on August 08, 2009
Matthew Fry (J.D. 2010, Temple) has published Comment, One Small Step for Federal Taxation, One Giant Leap for Same-Sex Equality: Revising Section 2702 of the Internal Revenue Code to Apply Equally to All Marriages, 81 Temp. L. Rev. 545 (2008). Here is the Conclusion: This Comment suggests the revision of...

Hickman: D.C. Circuit Delivers a Doozy

Posted on August 08, 2009
Following up on yesterday's post on the D.C. Circuit's remarkable opinion in Cohen v. Commissioner, No. 08-5088 (D.C. Cir. Aug. 7, 2009): Kristin E. Hickman (Minnesota), who is cited four times in the opinion (and whom the dissent calls "the leading academic on this issue) has agreed to share her...

Tax Prof Vegan

Posted on August 08, 2009
As the father of a new vegan, I enjoyed the posts by Tax Prof Neil Buchanan (George Washington) on the one-year anniversary of joining the 1% of Americans who are vegans, especially his concluding thoughts: I have always loved animals. I now express that love by refusing to contribute to...

CBO Releases

Posted on August 07, 2009
The Congressional Budget Office yesterday released the Budget Options, Second Volume. The document discusses tax options: Increase Individual Income Tax Rates Permanently Extend the Individual Income Tax Provisions of EGTRRA Permanently Extend the Zero and 15% Tax Rates for Capital Gains and Dividends Replace Multiple Tax Rates on Long-Term Capital...

Fleming, Peroni & Shay: A U.S. Perspective on the Worldwide Taxation vs. Territorial Taxation Debate

Posted on August 07, 2009
J. Clifton Fleming, Jr. (BYU), Robert J. Peroni (Texas) & Stephen E. Shay (Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Tax Affairs) have posted Some Perspectives from the United States on the Worldwide Taxation vs. Territorial Taxation Debate, 3 J. Australasian Tax Teachers Ass'n 35 (2008), on SSRN...

Gupta: Who's at Risk? Abbot and Costello Take on Section 465

Posted on August 07, 2009
Ajay Gupta has published Who's at Risk? Abbot and Costello Take on Section 465, 17 U. Miami Bus. L. Rev. 47 (2008). Here is the abstract: Hello again, everybody. It's a "bee-yooo-tiful" day for baseball. The setting is the unlikely state of Wyoming. Taking the field is a local outfit...

More Celebrity Tax Woes

Posted on August 07, 2009
The Detroit News has several new additions to its list of celebrities with tax woes: Val Kilmer (actor): IRS $538,858 tax lien M.C. Hammer (rapper): IRS $625,792 tax lien, California $45,390 tax lien Robert Huizenga (celebrity weight loss doctor (The Biggest Loser, Dance Your Ass Off)): California $1,080,660 lien Conrad...

Former Chicago Rabbi Charged in $35m Tax Fraud Scheme

Posted on August 07, 2009
Chicago Tribune Web CPA

Proposed Bills Would Impose 100% Excise Tax on SILO/LILO Tax Shelters

Posted on August 07, 2009
Following up on my prior posts (links below): the House (H.R. 3439) and Senate (S 1341) are considering the Close the SILO/LILO Loophole Act, which would (1) impose a 100% excise tax on any income or tax benefits received by banks and government agencies from a SILO (sale-in/lease-out) or LILO...

War, Revenue, and State Building

Posted on August 07, 2009
Sheldon D. Pollack (University of Delaware, Lerner College of Business) has published War, Revenue, and State Building: Financing the Development of the American State (Cornell University Press, 2009): In a relatively short time, the American state developed from a weak, highly decentralized confederation composed of thirteen former English colonies into...

Illinois Admissions Review Commission Releases Final Report

Posted on August 07, 2009
The Illinois Admissions Review Commission yesterday released its report and recommendations into the "Clout" admissions at the University of Illinois. The report concludes that former law school dean Heidi Hurd "personally and extensively participated in admissions applications in a manner inconsistent with University-sanctioned principles of ethical conduct and fair dealing...

D.C. Circuit Slams IRS, Opens Door to Billions of Dollars Telephone Excise Tax Refunds

Posted on August 07, 2009
In a blistering 2-1 opinion, the D.C. Circuit today reinstated a challenge to the IRS's procedures for issuing billions of dollars of refunds of the long distance telephone excise tax. Cohen v. Commissioner, No. 08-5088 (D.C. Cir. Aug. 7, 2009). Here is the opening of the majority's opinion: Comic-strip writer...

Beck: Credit Card Defaults Should Not Result in DOI Income

Posted on August 06, 2009
Richard C.E. Beck (New York Law School) has published The Tax Treatment of Cancelled Interest and Penalties on Consumer Debt, 53 N.Y.L. Sch. L. Rev. 1025 (2009). Here is the abstract: When defaulted credit card debt is cancelled, only the forgiven principal is taxable as COD income...

San Diego Hosts Procopio International Tax Institute on Oct. 19-20

Posted on August 06, 2009
The University of San Diego School of Law on October 19-20, 2009, hosts the fifth annual USD School of Law-Procopio International Tax Institute: The conference is dedicated to the latest developments in the dynamic field of international tax law in the U...

Tribune: Ex-dean

Posted on August 06, 2009
Chicago Tribune: Ex-dean Calls Herself "Victim" of Admissions Scandal; After Testimony on University of Illinois Abuses, Heidi Hurd Left Message Praising Chancellor She Had Criticized, by Stacy St. Clair: A former University of Illinois law school dean has made a final effort to distance herself from an admissions scandal, writing...

Tax Lawyer Leads 19 Ducklings to Safety

Posted on August 06, 2009
ABA Journal: Tax Lawyer Says He Led 19 Ducklings to Safe Harbor in Lake Michigan, by Martha Neil: When Frank Hahn encountered 19 ducklings and the mama bird at a downtown Chicago skyscraper on Sunday, the retired tax attorney figured their chance of getting safely through busy city traffic to...

Forbes' College Rankings

Posted on August 06, 2009
Forbes yesterday released America's Best Colleges, a ranking of the Top 600 colleges and universities ranks the best schools from the students' point of view. Here is the methodology: 25%: Student satisfaction with their course instruction 25%: Post-graduate employment success 20%: Average student debt load 16...

Gell: A Federally Mandated Physical Presence Standard for State Business Activity Taxes

Posted on August 06, 2009
Marjorie Gell (Thomas Cooley) has published Broken Silence: Congressional Inaction, Judicial Reaction, and the Need for a Federally Mandated Physical Presence Standard for State Business Activity Taxes, 6 Pitt. Tax Rev. 99 (2009). Here is the abstract: This article concerns the need for Congress to resolve a serious and longstanding...

Epstein: Tax Increment Financing

Posted on August 06, 2009
Richard A. Epstein (Chicago) has posted How to Undermine Tax Increment Financing: The Lessons of Prologis v. City of Chicago, 76 U. Chi. L. Rev. ___ (2009), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This article examines the level of appropriate level of constitutional protection against outside governments that condemn property...

IRS Sends Tax Refunds to Madoff Investors

Posted on August 06, 2009
Wall Street Journal: Madoff Victims Start Getting IRS Refunds, by Arden Dale: The IRS has begun to send refund checks to Madoff investors who paid taxes on money they thought they had made before the massive fraud was revealed. An early trickle of refunds includes checks for substantial amounts, nearly...

Albany Seeks to Hire Tax Clinician

Posted on August 06, 2009
Albany Law School invites applications for the position of Assistant Clinical Professor of Law in its Low Income Taxpayer Clinic: This initial one year appointment involves teaching and supervision of law students who are learning to practice law in a client-centered manner...

Cash for Clunkers = Gross Income to Dealers (Not Customers)

Posted on August 05, 2009
The IRS sent an Automotive Alert to auto dealers on the taxability of payments made to dealerships under the cash for clunkers (Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS)) program: The CARS Act specifically states that the credit is not income to the purchaser...

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