Friday, June 29, 2007

Structuring the Basic Tax Course: Part IX

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Although not every instance of debt cancellation is a serendipity, many are, and thus I deal with this issue as the last of those in the “Se...
Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Structuring the Basic Tax Course: Part VIII

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There are a variety of interesting tax issues implicit in the tax treatment of scholarships. I include them in the “Serendipities” batch eve...
Monday, June 25, 2007

Structuring the Basic Tax Course: Part VII

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Continuing with serendipitous transactions, I devote about half of a 50-minute class to the tax consequences of receiving a prize or award. ...
Saturday, June 23, 2007

Structuring the Basic Tax Course: Part VI

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After using the gross income exclusion applicable to gifts to introduce the students to the notion that a simple rule doesn’t necessarily an...
Thursday, June 21, 2007

Structuring the Basic Tax Course: Part V

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Surely there’s no one right way to sequence the various income exclusion and inclusion provisions in the Code, or those that one selects to ...
Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Structuring the Basic Tax Course: Part IV

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When it is time to turn to analysis of substantive federal income tax law, almost every teacher, if not all of us, begins with gross income....
Sunday, June 17, 2007

Structuring the Basic Tax Course: Part III

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It is difficult for students to appreciate the context in which cases, rulings, and other tax law sources are developed without understandin...
Friday, June 15, 2007

Structuring the Basic Tax Course: Part II

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One of the important questions faced by someone teaching the basic tax course is how to introduce students to the many sources of tax law. M...
Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Structuring the Basic Tax Course: Part I

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Today I begin a series describing how and why I have structured the basic tax course that I teach in the way that I do. This is Part I becau...
Monday, June 11, 2007

A Glimpse Into Law Student Attitudes

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A recent Law School Survey of Student Engagement turned up some interesting data. When asked if they had participated in a clinical or pro ...
Friday, June 08, 2007

An Unconstitutional Tax Assessment System

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The headline, County Judge Rules Pa. Assessment Law Unconstitutional is enough to get any tax practitioner's or tax law professor's...
Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Of What Value Are Opinions?

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Paul Caron's highlighting of Scott Jaschik's article in Inside Higher Ed, "Could RateMyProfessors.com Be Right?" enticed...
Monday, June 04, 2007

Business Tax "Breaks" Funded by Students?

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When I teach the depreciation and asset expensing deductions in the basic federal income tax course, I purposefully do more than discuss the...
Thursday, May 31, 2007

It's Nice to Get Attention

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OK, I confess. It's nice to get attention. More particularly, it's nice to see my work getting attention. So here's an incomplet...
Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Tax Ideas Without Details: Useful?

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Senator Clinton gave a speech today. It's a long one, but surely I am not one to criticize on that score. She covered a wide swath of ...
Monday, May 28, 2007

Memorial Day: How Important are Taxes Really?

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The other day as I was reading an article about the Ardennes Offensive, or as it is also known, the Battle of the Bulge, my attention turned...
Friday, May 25, 2007

Taxing the Internet: Reprise

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Three years ago, in Taxing the Internet , I reacted to a series of proposals to "tax the Internet." Explaining that taxing the Int...
Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Turnpike Cash Grab Heats Up

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About three months ago, in Selling Off Government Revenue Streams: Good Idea or Bad? , I explored the wisdom of proposals to have Pennsylvan...
Monday, May 21, 2007

No Deductions for Medical Marijuana Distribution Expenses

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A recent case highlights the inconsistent boundaries that the tax laws draw between different types of illegal activity. It's no wonder ...
Friday, May 18, 2007

Taxes and School Funding

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Last Friday, in A Perplexing Tax Vote Decision , I looked at the local school district income tax proposal and noted, "It will be inter...
Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Getting to Know You, from Taxgirl

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A 17-question virtual interview of yours truly has been posted by Lawmummy on the Taxgirl Blog . It was nice to have an opportunity to share...
Monday, May 14, 2007

A Downside to Electronic Tax Filing

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Today brings another increase in postage rates. This development can be seen as yet another reason to endorse and use electronic tax filing....
Friday, May 11, 2007

A Perplexing Tax Vote Decision

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Along with the usual nominee selection decisions, next Tuesday's primary election also contains a tax question for voters living in some...
Wednesday, May 09, 2007

When Your Client is a Dog

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A former student, helping me prove what I tell my classes, namely, "we don't need to make up hypotheticals," sent along this s...
Monday, May 07, 2007

Cutting Off One's Tax Nose to Spite One's Ex-Spouse's Face

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It is a fascinating scenario. It begins as do millions of similar tales. A couple is getting divorced. The wife seeks a settlement that incl...