Taxation & Estate Planning

Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads

Posted on July 27, 2008
This week's list of the Top 5 Recent Tax Paper Downloads is the same as last week's list: 1. [273 Downloads] Tax Shelters and Statutory Interpretation: A Much Needed Purposive Approach, by Shannon Weeks McCormack (UC-Davis) [blogged here] 2. [267...

Tax Foundation: More Tax Nonsense From McCain

Posted on July 27, 2008
From the Tax Foundation's Tax Policy Blog: This morning on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos, John McCain was interviewed by Stephanopoulos. And during a discussion on energy, McCain mentions his gas tax holiday proposal as a way to relieve....

Tax Violations

Posted on July 26, 2008
Jarrett Jacinto & James Fitzmaurice have published Tax Violations, 45 Am. Crim. L. Rev. 995 (2008). Here is the Introduction: This Article outlines the elements, defenses, and sentencing consequences of various criminal tax violations under I.R.C. §§ 7201, 7202, 7203,...

Senate Passes Housing Tax Relief Bill

Posted on July 26, 2008
The Senate today passed, by a 72-13 vote, the housing stimulus bill (H.R. 3221, The American Housing Rescue & Foreclosure Prevention Act). The House on Thursday had approved the measure by a 272-152 vote after President Bush earlier in the...

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Student Notes in ABA Tax Lawyer

Posted on July 26, 2008
There are four student notes in the latest issue of the ABA Tax Lawyer: Jonathan M. Burke, Note, A Critical Analysis of Glass v. Commissioner: Why Size Should Matter for Conservation Easements, 61 Tax Law. 599 (2008) Andrew Golodny, Note,...

More on the McCain and Obama Tax Plans

Posted on July 25, 2008
Angry Bear: Goolsbee Hammers McCain on Fiscal Policy While Holtz-Eakin Ducks The Atlantic: McCain And Obama On Taxes: Take 2 Economists for Obama: McCain Still Lying or Ignorant About the Effect of Tax Cuts Report from the Duel of Economic...

John Gimigliano, Former Senior Tax Counsel on House Ways & Means Committee, Join KPMG

Posted on July 25, 2008
John Gimigliano (J.D. Cincinnati; LL.M. (Tax) Georgetown), former senior tax counsel of the House Ways and Means Committee and staff director of the Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures, has joined KPMG as the principal in charge of its newly formed...

Farewell, San Diego!

Posted on July 25, 2008
This is a bittersweet day for me, as I leave San Diego after seven weeks to return home to Cincinnati. This was my fifth summer teaching at the University of San Diego School of Law, and I have had a...

Prof Randy Pausch Dies at 47

Posted on July 25, 2008
Last fall, I blogged the incredibly moving last lecture of Randy Pausch, a 47-year old computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University and father of three pre-school children who died today of pancreatic cancer. See Associated Press and New York...

Senate Continues Hearing Today on Tax Haven Banks and U. S. Tax Compliance

Posted on July 25, 2008
The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations continues its hearing today on Tax Haven Banks and U. S. Tax Compliance. The scheduled witnesses are Steven Greenfield (New York) and Peter S. Lowy (Beverly Hill). Statements of Chair Carl Levin and Ranking...

ABA Tax Section Submits Comment Letters

Posted on July 25, 2008
The ABA Tax Section has submitted comment letters on: Proposed Regulations Relating to Extensions of the Time Under § 2642(g)(1) Instructions for the Redesigned Form 990 for Tax-Exempt Organizations Notice 2007-88: Proposed Procedural Changes for Obtaining the Commissioner?s Consent to...

Millar: Jurisdictional Reach of VAT

Posted on July 25, 2008
Rebecca Millar (University of Sydney Law School) has posted Jurisdictional Reach of VAT, in VAT in Africa 175-214 (R. Krever, ed., Pretoria University Law Press 2008), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This paper examines the jurisdictional reach of VATs,...

Jenn: The Case for Tax Credits

Posted on July 25, 2008
Brian H. Jenn (Skadden, Washington, D.C.) has published The Case for Tax Credits, 61 Tax Law. 549 (2008). Here is the Conclusion: Over the last few decades, Congress has increasingly relied on tax credits as an alternative to deductions and...

Deans React to Call for U.S. News Rankings Boycott

Posted on July 25, 2008
Following up on Case Dean Gary Simson's call to boycott the U.S. News rankings (blogged here and here): National Law Journal: Deans Say Call to Boycott Law School Rankings a Good Idea ? But Only in Theory, by Leigh Jones:...

Tax Analysts Hosts Conference Today on Tax Shelters and Penalties: Reasonable Cause, Opinion Letters, and Other Issues

Posted on July 25, 2008
Tax Analysts hosts a conference today on Tax Shelters and Penalties: Reasonable Cause, Opinion Letters, and Other Issues: Dennis Donohue (Chief Senior Litigation Counsel, Tax Division, Department of Justice) N. Jerold Cohen (Partner, Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan) Lee Sheppard (Contributing...

Senate Holds Hearing Today on The Cayman Islands and Offshore Tax Issues

Posted on July 24, 2008
The Senate Finance Committee holds a hearing today on The Cayman Islands and Offshore Tax Issues. From the hearing announcement: Investigators from the GAO will report to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee on their investigation of a fivestory Cayman Islands...

House Passes Housing Tax Bill

Posted on July 24, 2008
The House of Representatives yesterday voted 272-152 to approve the housing stimulus bill (H.R. 3221, The American Housing Rescue & Foreclosure Prevention Act) after President Bush earlier in the day dropped his veto threat and urged Republicans to support the...

U.S. News Responds to Case Dean's Call to "Just Say No" to Rankings

Posted on July 24, 2008
Robert Morse, Director of Data Research at U.S. News & World Report, responds to the forthcoming National Law Journal op-ed by Gary J. Simson, Dean at Case Western (which fell ten places in the U.S. News overall rankings last year...

A Special Day for Tax Profs

Posted on July 24, 2008
July 24 is indeed an important day for Tax Profs: Sarah Lawsky (George Washington) waxes eloquently on her receipt of the new CCH 2008-2009 Federal Income Tax Code and Regulations Selected Sections book: It's purple! It's not that I love...

Field: Checking In on "Check-the-Box"

Posted on July 24, 2008
Heather M. Field (UC-Hastings) has posted Checking In on "Check-the-Box" on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Eleven years ago, new regulations dramatically changed the manner in which the federal income tax system determines how business entities are taxed...

Time Magazine on Northwestern's Two-Year J.D.

Posted on July 24, 2008
Time Magazine: Fast-Tracking Law School, by Kristina Dell. For more, see Brian Leiter (Chicago) and Larry Ribstein (Illinois). See prior TaxProf Blog coverage here, here, here, and here.

Rifkin: An Overview of the "Tax Gap"

Posted on July 24, 2008
Dave Rifkin (Attorney-Advisor to Tax Court Judge Juan F. Vasquez; Adjunct Professor, Georgetown) has posted An Overview of the "Tax Gap" on SSRN. Here is the abstract: When taxpayers underreport their income, understate their income, or fail to file their...

Burnett: International Tax Arbitration

Posted on July 24, 2008
Chloe Burnett (University of Sydney) has posted International Tax Arbitration, 36 Australian Tax Rev. 173 (2007), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Cross-border tax disputes are usually channelled through the "mutual agreement procedure", an informal negotiation between the tax authorities...

Senate Holds Hearing Today on Tax and Financing Aspects of Highway Public-Private Partnerships

Posted on July 24, 2008
The Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure of the Senate Finance Committee holds a hearing today on Tax and Financing Aspects of Highway Public-Private Partnerships. Here are the witnesses scheduled to testify: Edward D. Kleinbard (Chief of Staff, Joint...

An Inconvenient Tax

Posted on July 24, 2008
Life Is My Movie Entertainment Co. is at work on a documentary film, An Inconvenient Tax. Here is the synopsis: Ask any of the millions of tax paying Americans on April 15th if the current tax system has problems and...

Berg: Judicial Deference to Tax Regulations

Posted on July 24, 2008
Mark E. Berg (Feingold & Alpert, New York,) has published Judicial Deference to Tax Regulations: A Reconsideration in Light of National Cable, Swallows Holding, and Other Developments, 61 Tax Law. 481 (2008). Here is part of the Conclusion: Although (or...

Knauer Posts Tax Papers on SSRN

Posted on July 23, 2008
Nancy J. Knauer (Temple) has posted two tax papers on SSRN: How Charitable Organizations Influence Federal Tax Policy: "Rent-Seeking" Charities or Virtuous Politicians?, 1996 Wis. L. Rev. 971 Reinventing Government: The Promise of Institutional Choice and Government Created Charitable Corporations,...

Former Cravath Tax Lawyer Sues AmEx for Ratting Him Out in Teenage Rape and Prostitution Case

Posted on July 23, 2008
I previously blogged (links below) the sordid tale of James Colliton, a former tax lawyer at Cravath who pled guilty to statutory rape and patronizing a prostitute. Mr. Colliton has sued American Express for $4 million in damages for divulging...

WSJ: Wealthy Americans' Income Soars, Average Tax Rate Plummets

Posted on July 23, 2008
Wall Street Journal: Richest Americans See Their Income Share Grow, by Jesse Drucker: In a new sign of increasing inequality in the U.S., the richest 1% of Americans in 2006 garnered the highest share of the nation's adjusted gross income...

Founder of "Girls Gone Wild" Pleads Not Guilty to Tax Evasion Charges, Says "IRS Gone Wild"

Posted on July 23, 2008
Joe Francis, founder of the Girls Gone Wild video series, pleaded not guilty to two counts of federal tax evasion, saying he was a victim by the IRS's whistleblower program. From Web CPA: "Girls Gone Wild" Founder Fights Tax Charges:...

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