Taxation & Estate Planning

Polito: Trade or Business Within the U.S. as an Interpretive Problem

Posted on June 26, 2009
Anthony P. Polito (Suffolk) has published Trade or Business Within the United States as an Interpretive Problem Under the Internal Revenue Code: Five Propositions, 4 Hastings Bus. L.J. 251 (2008), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Whether a particular set of activities constitute the conduct of a trade or business...

UC-Berkeley & Oxford Host Week-Long Workshop on International Taxation

Posted on June 26, 2009
The UC-Berkeley Robert D. Burch Center for Tax Policy and Public Finance and the Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation are sponsoring a five day Workshop on International Taxation this week "intended to promote the integration of the relevant tools of economic analysis, and the results from the economics literature,...

Illinois Admitted Unqualified Applicants in Exchange for Gov. Blagojevich's Help Getting Jobs for Grads at Bottom of Class, to Boost Law School's Ranking

Posted on June 26, 2009
In today's Chicago Tribune, U. of I. Jobs-for-Entry Scheme; E-mails Reveal Law School Put a Price on Admission of Unqualified Candidate: What does it cost to get an unqualified student into the University of Illinois law school? Five jobs for graduating law students, suggest internal e-mails released Thursday...

Settling Michael Jackson's Estate May Be a Thriller for the Lawyers

Posted on June 26, 2009
Business Week: Settling Michael Jackson's Estate May Be a Thriller, by Christopher Palmeri: The King of Pop will likely leave behind one royal estate battle. Michael Jackson, the onetime child star whose string of hit songs got people boogying from Boise to Bahrain, died suddenly on June 25 after being...

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Bill Introduced to Allow Home Office Standard Deduction

Posted on June 26, 2009
Senators Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME) and Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Rep. Charles A. Gonzalez (D-TX) have introduced the Home Office Tax Deduction Simplification and Improvement Act of 2009. From Web CPA: The bipartisan bill, introduced in both the House and Senate, would direct the Treasury Secretary to create an optional,...

Global Tax Competition and the Crisis of Constitutional Democracy

Posted on June 25, 2009
Ming-Sung Kuo (Max Planck Institute) has posted (Dis)Embodiments of Constitutional Authorship: Global Tax Competition and the Crisis of Constitutional Democracy, 41 Geo. Wash. Int'l L. Rev. ___ (2009), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The initial onset of globalization generated optimism regarding the possible creation of a global legal universe...

Dickinson: The Socratic Method After the Carnegie Report

Posted on June 25, 2009
Joseph A. Dickinson (Franklin Pierce) has published Understanding the Socratic Method in Law School Teaching After the Carnegie Foundation's Educating Lawyers: Preparation for the Legal Profession, 31 W. New Eng. L. Rev. 97 (2009). Here is the abstract: For many committed law school teachers, the traditional Socratic pedagogy they practice...

The Organized Tax Lawyer

Posted on June 25, 2009
Kelly Lynn Anders (Washburn) has published The Organized Lawyer (Carolina Academic Press, 2009): The Organized Lawyer is designed to address the needs of all types of lawyers - corporate, nonprofit, government, private, academic, and solo practitioners...

The Washington Metro Subway Crash: "Tax Law Should Raise Revenue, Not Kill People"

Posted on June 25, 2009
Tuesday's post on Sarah Lawsky's observations on How Tax Law Caused the Washington Metro Train Wreck has attracted a lot of attention. Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Charles Grassley today issued this press release: Senator Chuck Grassley is urging House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer to include language in any proposal...

5th Circuit Upholds Civil Liability of Lawyer Who Wrote Tax Opinion in Jenkens & Gilchrist Tax Shelter

Posted on June 25, 2009
The Fifth Circuit has upheld a district court's finding that a Louisiana lawyer (William E. Bradley ) who wrote a tax opinion (for which he was paid $25,000) supporting a Jenkens & Gilchrist tax shelter was civilly liable to an investor in the tax shelter, but reversed the district court's...

Garrett & Coughlin: Income Elasticity of Demand for Lottery Tickets

Posted on June 25, 2009
Thomas A. Garrett (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis) & Cletus C. Coughlin (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis) have published Inter?temporal Differences in the Income Elasticity of Demand for Lottery Tickets, 62 Nat'l Tax J. 77 (2009). Here is the abstract: We estimate annual income elasticities of demand for...

First UBS Client Pleads Guilty to Offshore Tax Evasion

Posted on June 25, 2009
The Department of Justice and IRS announced that the first UBS client pleaded guilty today to tax evasion. Steven Michael Rubinstein, a Boca Raton accountant, pleaded guilty to filing a false 2004 tax return by failing to disclose the existence of a Swiss bank account maintained by UBS of which...

Obama Proposes Using IRS Data to Simplify Process for Applying for College Financial Aid

Posted on June 25, 2009
The Obama Adminsistration yesterday proposed simplification of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form, including allowing student applicants and their parents to directly retrieve relevant tax information from the IRS to help them complete the online FAFSA...

GAO Recommends Improvements to IRS Internal Controls

Posted on June 25, 2009
The Government Accountability Office yesterday issued a management report recommending sixteen improvements to the IRS's internal controls: The purpose of this report is to discuss issues identified during our audit of IRS?s financial statements as of, and for the fiscal year ending, September 30, 2008, regarding internal controls that could...

Crawford: Taxing Surrogate Mothers

Posted on June 24, 2009
Bridget J. Crawford (Pace) has posted Taxing Surrogacy on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Tax law collides with the human body at an unexpected juncture: surrogate motherhood. This article considers the income tax treatment of payments received by a woman for carrying a child for another person...

The Case Against Pigouvian Taxes on Sugar-Based Drinks

Posted on June 24, 2009
Ryan Vinelli (J.D. 2010, Cardozo) has posted Sugar Taxes Aren?t Sweet: The Case Against Pigouvian Taxes on Sugar-Based Drinks on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Everyday there is a new call by politicians and scholars to place taxes on sugar-based drinks...

Anderson: Minimizing Bias in Law Review Article Selection

Posted on June 24, 2009
Rachel Anderson (UNLV) has published From Imperial Scholar to Imperial Student: Minimizing Bias in Article Evaluation by Law Reviews, 20 Hastings Women's L.J. 197 (2009). Here is the abstract: Law reviews have been objects of study at least since Fred Rodell of Yale published his 1936 article Goodbye to Law...

Critical Tax Theory: An Introduction

Posted on June 24, 2009
Anthony C. Infanti (Pittsburgh) & Bridget J. Crawford (Pace) have published Critical Tax Theory: An Introduction (Cambridge University Press, 2009): Tax law is political. This book highlights and explains the major themes and methodologies of a group of scholars who challenge the traditional claim that tax law is neutral and...

IRS Releases 2009 Form 1040

Posted on June 24, 2009

IRS Electronic Advisory Committee Presents Annual Report to Congress

Posted on June 24, 2009
The IRS Electronic Advisory Committee (ETAAC) today presented its 2009 Annual Report to Congress: ETAAC is making ten recommendations in this 2008/2009 report to Congress that we believe are critical to achieving the Congressionally-mandated 80% electronic filing target...

Minnesota Deans Discuss U.S. News Law School Rankings

Posted on June 24, 2009
(Hat Tip: Law School Headlines.)

Dokko: Does the NEA Crowd Out Private Charitable Contributions to the Arts?

Posted on June 24, 2009
Jane K. Dokko (Federal Reserve Board) has published Does the NEA Crowd Out Private Charitable Contributions to the Arts?, 62 Nat'l Tax J. 57 (2009). Here is the abstract: This paper investigates the mechanism by which the federal government?s funding of the arts through the National Endowment for the Arts...

Leiter Condemns DePaul's Firing of Dean Glen Weissenberger

Posted on June 24, 2009
Strong words today from Brian Leiter on DePaul's firing of Dean Glen Weissenberger (blogged here, here, and here): [O]ne suspects [Interim Dean Wolfsom] doesn't know what he's walked into here. What he ought to do is, after a month or so of housekeeping, resign and encourage the Administration to reinstate...

McMahon Presents Rethinking Marital Property for Federal Income Tax Return Filing Today at Cincinnati

Posted on June 24, 2009
Stephanie McMahon (Cincinnati) presents To Have and to Hold: Rethinking Marital Property and Federal Tax Filing at Cincinnati today as part of our 13th Annual Summer Scholarship Series. Here is the abstract: Wealthy taxpayers have always attempted to reduce their federal income taxes...

FBA Hosts Careers in Tax Law

Posted on June 24, 2009
The Federal Bar Association Section on Taxation presents Careers in Tax Law: A Brown Bag Luncheon today at 12:30 p.m. at the Capitol Visitor Center in Washington, D.C.: The free luncheon is for summer associates, law clerks, and young lawyers considering a career in tax law...

New Issue of Akron Tax Journal

Posted on June 23, 2009
Volume 24 (2009) of the Akron Tax Journal is now available on its web site: Edward A. Morse (Creighton), Whistleblowers and Tax Enforcement: Using Inside Information to Close the ?Tax Gap,? 24 Akron Tax J. 1 (2009) Steven J. Arsenault (College of Charleston, School of Business & Economics), Surviving a...

Rifkin: A Primer on the "Tax Gap"and Methodologies for Reducing It

Posted on June 23, 2009
Dave Rifkin (Adjunct Professor, Georgetown; Attorney-Adviser, U.S. Tax Court) has published A Primer on the "Tax Gap" and Methodologies for Reducing It, 27 QLR 375 (2009). Here is part of the Introduction: This Article describes the scope and causes of the tax gap and examines various methodologies available to reduce...

Ira Bloom Receives Service Excellence Award

Posted on June 23, 2009
Tax Prof Ira Bloom, Justice David Josiah Brewer Distinguished Professor of Law, received the Albany Law School 2009 Award for Excellence in Service. From the Albany press release: He has provided pro bono services for the past 10 years for the New York State Breast Cancer Support and Education Network,...

How Tax Law Caused the Washington Metro Train Wreck

Posted on June 23, 2009
Sarah Lawsky (George Washington), The Washington Metro Crash and Tax: [T]he National Transportation Safety Board repeatedly recommended that Metro (more formally known as the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, or WMATA) retrofit or replace these older cars, but Metro refused...

NY Times: DOJ to Drop UBS Case; DOJ: No We're Not

Posted on June 23, 2009
New York Times: Settlement Anticipated in UBS Case, by Lynnley Browning: The Justice Department may drop a closely watched legal case aimed at forcing the Swiss bank UBS to divulge the names of 52,000 wealthy American clients suspected of offshore tax evasion, a United States official briefed on the matter...

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