Monday, September 30, 2013

“Tax Us More!” Say Some Wealthy Pennsylvanians

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Philadelphia’s public schools are in dire financial straits, to the point where closing schools and showing employees to the door won’t solv...
Friday, September 27, 2013

Tax Argument Cleverness Can Be Too Clever

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A recent Tax Court case, Cahill v. Comr. , T.C. Memo 2013-220, illustrates why cleverness alone not only can be insufficient to win the argu...
Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Federal Supervision of State User Fees: Another Example of Its Necessity

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The movement attempting to reduce or eliminate federal taxation and to reduce or eliminate the federal government presents, as one of its ju...
Monday, September 23, 2013

More Proof the Tax Law is Too Complex?

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With the tax law drowning in credits and deductions, it’s no wonder that the IRS has characterized two deductions as credits. On its Credits...
Friday, September 20, 2013

Deductions Require Evidence and a Bit of Care

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A recent Tax Court decision, Linzy v. Comr. , T.C. Memo 2013-219, grabbed my attention for two reasons. One is substantive, the other is pro...
Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Getting Smart About Residential Financing

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Earlier this year, in Getting Smart About Tax Questions , I criticized Marilyn vos Savant, allegedly the world’s smartest woman , about some...
Monday, September 16, 2013

Another Look at Highway Privatization

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Several years ago, in Are Private Tolls More Efficient Than Public Tolls? , I described why it is wrong to put public assets into the hands ...
Friday, September 13, 2013

Polishing Subchapter K: Part XX

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The definition in section 753 of income in respect of a decedent refers only to section 736(a) payments. If section 736 is repealed, section...
Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Polishing Subchapter K: Part XIX

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If section 736 is the most criticized provision in subchapter K, the anti-abuse regulations might be the most criticized regulations under s...
Monday, September 09, 2013

Polishing Subchapter K: Part XVIII

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Section 708 provides that a partnership terminates for federal income tax purposes if “within a 12-month period there is a sale or exchange ...
Friday, September 06, 2013

Polishing Subchapter K: Part XVII

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Section 736 is one of the most frequently criticized provisions in subchapter K. Proposals for its repeal have been in place for decades. It...
Wednesday, September 04, 2013

Polishing Subchapter K: Part XVI

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The provisions in section 724 that retain the character of gain or loss in unrealized receivables, inventory, and depreciated capital assets...
Monday, September 02, 2013

Polishing Subchapter K: Part XV

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Sections 724(a) and (b) and 735(a)(1) and (2) apply to retain the original character of not only the inherent gain or loss in property contr...
Friday, August 30, 2013

Polishing Subchapter K: Part XIV

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Section 735(a)(1) provides that unrealized receivables distributed by a partnership to a partner generate ordinary income when the partner s...
Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Polishing Subchapter K: Part XIII

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One of the most vexing aspects of subchapter K is the complexity of the optional and special basis adjustments under sections 732(d), 734(b)...
Monday, August 26, 2013

Polishing Subchapter K: Part XII

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Section 751 is a subchapter K provision designed to ensure that gain or loss attributable to ordinary income assets in a partnership is char...
Friday, August 23, 2013

Polishing Subchapter K: Part XI

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The extent to which guaranteed payments affect adjusted basis in a partnership interest is unclear. This is yet another question for which t...
Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Polishing Subchapter K: Part X

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Section 704(e)(2), which attempts to apply two assignment of income doctrines to partnerships, is difficult to read, challenging to explain,...
Monday, August 19, 2013

Polishing Subchapter K: Part IX

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In determining whether a partnership exists, it is necessary to identify at least two partners. The question of whether a individual or enti...
Friday, August 16, 2013

Polishing Subchapter K: Part VIII

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One of the more complicated areas of Partnership Taxation is the treatment of contributed property. Sections 704(c) and 737 are challenging,...
Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Polishing Subchapter K: Part VII

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For students who think that tax law is nothing more than a set of rules that they need to memorize, I emphasize that there are numerous situ...
Monday, August 12, 2013

Polishing Subchapter K: Part VI

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The language of section 705, which provides for the computation of a partner’s adjusted basis in a partnership interest, is unwieldy and req...
Friday, August 09, 2013

Polishing Subchapter K: Part V

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For as long as I had been teaching Partnership Taxation, students have asked why section 707(b) exists. The question is not why the substant...
Wednesday, August 07, 2013

Polishing Subchapter K: Part IV

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Under sections 771 through 777, certain partnerships with 100 or more partners are permitted to elect simplified treatment for computing tax...
Monday, August 05, 2013

Polishing Subchapter K: Part III

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The treatment of charitable contributions as not part of a partnership’s taxable income under section 703(a)(2)(C) adds unnecessary complexi...
Friday, August 02, 2013

Polishing Subchapter K: Part II

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Though the debate over the treatment of carried interests has been long, deep, and intense, for me, the solution is easy. To the extent that...
Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Polishing Subchapter K: Part I

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Now that, barring unexpected and extraordinary developments, I am no longer teaching Partnership Taxation, it is an appropriate time to shar...
Monday, July 29, 2013

Tax Law and National Defense: Hush Now!

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When I was a child I was told, and of course I long since saw actual evidence, that during World War II Americans were encouraged to be very...
Friday, July 26, 2013

The Tax Cost of Contract Procrastination

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A recent Tax Court Case, Williams v. Comr. , T.C. Summ. Op. 2013-60, demonstrates yet again why it is important to put things in writing in ...
Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Tax Policy Flaw Just Part of a Bigger Problem

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Readers of MauledAgain know that I am a harsh critic of the foolish claim that reducing tax rates increases revenue. The chief flaw of that ...
Monday, July 22, 2013

Lap Dance Tax?

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A reader sent along an interesting story about the City of Philadelphia’s assessment of a tax against establishments that provide lap dance...
Friday, July 19, 2013

In Tax, As in Much Else, Precision Matters

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A recent Tax Court case, Nye v. Comr. , T.C. Memo 2013-166, illustrates why document drafters need to pay close attention to what they are d...
Wednesday, July 17, 2013

More Proof of How Privatization Harms Taxpayers

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Among the many political decision that I consider foolish, privatization of functions that belong in the public arena is high on the list. P...
Monday, July 15, 2013

An Honor System for Federal Taxes?

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Mike Razar, at American Thinker suggests, surely tongue-in-cheek, that the federal tax system should be reformed by abolishing the IRS and...
Friday, July 12, 2013

How I Ended Up Teaching Tax (and Other Things): Part XII

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One of the questions posed to me, especially by several high school and elementary school classmates, is how the math-and-science guy ended ...
Wednesday, July 10, 2013

How I Ended Up Teaching Tax (and Other Things): Part XI

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Two of the tasks that teachers do, though some don’t list it among their most favorite aspects of teaching, are creating examinations, quizz...
Monday, July 08, 2013

How I Ended Up Teaching Tax (and Other Things): Part X

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In the first class of any of my courses, one of the points I try to get across to my students is that we are teaching them to teach. I expla...
Friday, July 05, 2013

How I Ended Up Teaching Tax (and Other Things): Part IX

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At about the same time that I was engaged in tutoring during my third year in law school, another of my professors with whom I had also beco...