Vol. 24 No. 1 - Fall 2004

From the Chair

Taxation

From the Chair

Kenneth W. Gideon

As this column goes to press, over 1,300 of us will be gathering in Boston for our second joint CLE Meeting with the Real Property, Probate & Trust Law Section (“RPPT”). We want to hear from members about their reaction to the new fall meeting format (Boston will be our third) and our joint meeting programs with RPPT. ...

Points to Remember

Taxation

Is That an Employee Benefit Plan or a Tax Shelter

David Pratt

In a Special Report published in the NewsQuarterly last year, Alvin D. Lurie discussed a report prepared by the TE/GE Abusive Tax Shelters Involving Tax-Exempt and Government Entities Project Group and made it clear that employee benefits practitioners, whether specialists or dabblers, need to follow these developments. ...

Taxation

Top Overlooked Real Estate Tax Benefits

Alexander Drapatsky

For years, experts have been warning of a real estate bubble that is threatening to burst. Many investors may find these warnings interesting, but apparently they do not suffice to quell the desire to invest, and real estate prices have continued to climb. According to the National Association of Realtors, between the second quarters of 2003 and 2004...

Taxation

New U.S.-Japan Income Tax Treaty

Nancy M. Beckner

On November 6, 2003, the U.S. and Japan signed a new income tax treaty, and a Protocol, Notes and Understanding of Negotiators. The Treaty entered into force on March 30, 2004, and will generally be effective January 1, 2005, although there is a July 1, 2004 effective date for withholding taxes. This Point will highlight some of the more innovative provisions of the Treaty. ...

Point & Counterpoint: Should Collection Due Process Be Repealed?

Taxation

Point: CDP Should Be Repealed

Bryan Camp

CDP has been with us now for about six years. CDP attempts to insert adversarial judicial review into what had been mostly a unilateral process by the Service to collect unpaid tax liabilities. I object to that insertion. Not only was it a bad idea in theory, but in practice it adds little value to the collection process and imposes costs on both taxpayers and the government. I advocate its repeal. ...

Taxation

Counterpoint: Fix CDP, but Do Not Repeal It

Leslie Book

CDP provides important protections to taxpayers. CDP is also consistent with the broader progression in American legal culture toward placing limits on absolute governmental discretion. Rather than repeal CDP, Congress should make legislative changes, and the Service should improve its administration of CDP...

Interview

Taxation

Eugene Steuerle

Jasper L. Cummings, Jr. and Alan J.J. Swirski

Dr. C. Eugene Steuerle, one of the country’s preeminent tax economists, recently published a new book, Contemporary U.S.Tax Policy (Urban Institute Press, 2004), in which he surveys the history of the income tax in the postwar era, mainly since 1980, and predicts future trends. ...

Report

Taxation

A Summary of the Report of the Task Force on Judicial Deference

Irving Salem, Ellen Aprill, and Linda Galler

In United States v. Mead, 533 U.S. 218 (2001), the Supreme Court emphasized the great variety of ways in which our nation’s laws invest administrative agencies with discretion to give meaning to the Acts of Congress. The Report of the Task Force on Judicial Deference (“Report”) viewed Mead as an invitation to consider...

Spotlight on Committees

Taxation

Corporate Tax

Philip B. Wright

The focus of the Corporate Tax Committee (the “Committee”) is on developments arising under subchapter C of the Code with an emphasis on improving this area of the tax law and on educating tax lawyers with respect to it. The issues addressed by the Committee affect both public and private companies and are affected by ongoing economic conditions. ...

News Briefs

Taxation

News Briefs

ABA Section of Taxation

Tax Section news and announcements.

Tax Bites

Taxation

A Deck of Cards

Dan Olincy

In addition to being a singer (“High Noon”), Tex Ritter was also an attorney. Abridged and updated from a 1984 essay, this offering has its genesis in Ritter’s 1948 recording of “A Deck of Cards.” ...

American Bar Association TM American Bar Association

Vol. 24 No. 1 - Fall 2004

NewsQuarterly, Vol. 24 No. 1

From the Chair

From the Chair

Points to Remember

Is That an Employee Benefit Plan or a Tax Shelter

Top Overlooked Real Estate Tax Benefits

New U.S.-Japan Income Tax Treaty

Point & Counterpoint: Should Collection Due Process Be Repealed?

Point: CDP Should Be Repealed

Counterpoint: Fix CDP, but Do Not Repeal It

Interview

Eugene Steuerle

Report

A Summary of the Report of the Task Force on Judicial Deference

Spotlight on Committees

Corporate Tax

News Briefs

News Briefs

Tax Bites

A Deck of Cards