Christmas Gifts for that Special Tax Person

Any of the three books I published in 2009 would make a great Christmas gift for that special tax person:

Tax Stories (Foundation Press, 2d ed. 2009): 

This book explores the historical contexts of seminal federal income tax cases and the role they continue to play in our current tax law. Each of the chapters sets forth the social, factual, and legal background of the case.

• Introduction: Tax Archaeology, by Paul L. Caron (Cincinnati)
• Ch. 1:  The Story of Glenshaw Glass: Toward a Modern Concept of Gross Income, by Joseph Dodge (Florida State)
• Ch. 2:  The Story of Muprhy: A New Front in the War on the Income Tax, by Paul L. Caron (Cincinnati)
• Ch. 3:  The Story of Eisner v. Macomber: The Continuing Role of “Realization” in Tax Law and Policy, by Marjorie E. Kornhauser (Arizona State)
• Ch. 4:  The Story of Kirby Lumber: The Many Faces of Discharge of Indebtedness Income, by Deborah H. Schenk (NYU)
• Ch. 5:  The Story of Davis: Transfers of Property Pursuant to Divorce, by Karen B. Brown (George Washington)
• Ch. 6:  The Story of Welch v. Helvering: The Use (and Misuse) of the 'Ordinary and Necessary' Test for the Deductibility of Business Expenses, by Joel S. Newman (Wake Forest)
• Ch. 7:  The Story of INDOPCO: What Went Wrong in the Capitalization v. Deduction Debate?, by Joseph Bankman (Stanford)
• Ch. 8:  The Story of Crane: How a Widow’s Misfortune Led to Tax Shelters, by George K. Yin (Virginia)
• Ch. 9:  The Story of Schlude: The Origins of the Tax/Financial Accounting GA(A)P, by Russell K. Osgood (Grinnell College)
• Ch. 10:  The Story of Earl: How Echoes (and Metaphors) from the Past Continue to Shape the Assignment of Income Doctrine, by Patricia A. Cain (Santa Clara)
• Ch. 11:  The Story of Knetsch: Judicial Doctrines Combating Tax Avoidance, by Daniel N. Shaviro (NYU)

Federal Wealth Transfer Taxation: Cases and Materials (Foundation Press, 6th ed. 2009):

The Sixth Edition continues the comprehensive, yet flexible, presentation of prior editions. It explores both the technical and policy issues associated with wealth transfer taxation. It is adaptable for use in a single course covering basic wealth transfer taxation or a sequence of courses dealing with wealth transfer taxation at either the J.D. level or LL.M. level, while presenting selected in-depth coverage of advanced issues. Within each section, the book moves from the straightforward to the more complex rules associated with the topic so that each professor can decide the level of complexity he or she wishes to reach in the course. The Sixth Edition thoroughly integrates all relevant amendments to the Code enacted through January 1, 2009. This casebook is unrivaled in scope and depth of analysis and in its flexibility for use in different courses using any teaching technique.

Federal Wealth Transfer Taxation: Study Problems (Foundation Press, 6th ed. 2010):

This problem set is designed to accompany our casebook, Federal Wealth Transfer Taxation (6th ed. 2009), although the problems can be used with any other casebook in the field. The problems are organized to correspond with the chapter and section headings of our casebook, and we have included with the problems corresponding page numbers of the casebook to simplify cross-referencing. There are over 275 problems that cover each chapter of the casebook (other than certain introductory chapters of Part One).

We have found the problems enormously helpful in teaching the Estate and Gift Tax course. Our casebook, like other casebooks in the field, contains an enormous amount of technical detail. We have designed the problems to help the students master the important material in each chapter. In our experience, the problems help focus classroom discussion and provide a helpful roadmap of the course to students.

For that hard to please tax person, check out the six books in the LexisNexis Graduate Tax Series, for which I serve as Series Editor:

• Civil Tax Procedure (2d ed. 2007), by David Richardson (Florida), Jerome Borison (Denver), and Steve Johnson (UNLV)
• Employee Benefits Law: Qualification Rules and ERISA Requirements (2006), by Kathryn Kennedy (John Marshall) & Paul Shultz (Director, Employee Plans Rulings & Agreement, IRS)
• Federal Tax Accounting (2006), by Michael Lang (Chapman), Elliot Manning (Miami) & Steven Willis (Florida)
• Partnership Taxation (2d ed. 2008), by Richard Lipton (Baker & McKenzie, Chicago), Paul Carman (Chapman & Cutler, Chicago), Charles Fassler (Greenebaum, Doll & McDonald, Louisville) & Walter Schwidetzky (Baltimore)
• Tax Crimes, by Steve Johnson (UNLV), Scott Schumacher (Washington), Larry Campagna (Adjunct Professor, Houston) & John Townsend (Adjunct Professor, Houston).
• United States International Taxation (2008), by Allison Christians (Wisconsin), Samuel Donaldson (Washington) &  Philip Postlewaite (Northwestern)

For others on your Christmas gift list, check out the thirty books in the Foundation Press Law Stories Series, for which I serve as Series Editor:

• Administrative Law Stories (2006), edited by Peter L. Strauss (Columbia)
• Antitrust Stories (2007), edited by Eleanor M. Fox (NYU) & Daniel A. Crane (Cardozo)
• Bankruptcy Law Stories (2007), edited by Robert Rasmussen (Dean, USC)
• Business Tax Stories (2005), edited by Steven A. Bank (UCLA) & Kirk J. Stark (UCLA) 
• Civil Procedure Stories (2d ed. 2008), edited by Kevin M. Clermont (Cornell)
• Civil Rights Stories (2008), edited by Myriam Gilles (Cardozo) & Risa Goluboff (Virginia)
• Constitutional Law Stories (2d ed. 2009), edited by Michael C. Dorf (Cornell)
• Contracts Stories (2006), edited by Douglas G. Baird (Chicago)
• Corporate Law Stories (2009), edited by J. Mark Ramseyer (Harvard)
• Criminal Procedure Stories (2006), edited by Carol S. Steiker (Harvard)
• Death Penalty Stories (2009), edited by John H. Blum (Cornell) & Jordan M. Steiker (Texas)
• Education Law Stories (2008), edited by Michael A. Olivas (Houston) & Ronna Greff Schneider (Cincinnati)
• Employment Discrimination Stories (2006), edited by Joel William Friedman (Tulane)
• Employment Law Stories (2007), edited by Samuel Estreicher (NYU) & Gillian Lester (UC-Berkeley)
• Environmental Law Stories (2005), edited by Richard J. Lazarus (Georgetown) & Oliver A. Houck (Tulane)
• Evidence Stories (2006), edited by Richard O. Lempert (Michigan)
• Family Law Stories (2008), edited by Carol Sanger (Columbia)
• Federal Courts Stories (2009), edited by Vicki C. Jackson (Georgetown) & Judith Resnik (Yale)
• Human Rights Advocacy Stories (2008), edited by Deena R. Hurwitz (Virginia) & Margaret L. Satterthwaite (NYU), with Doug Ford (Virginia)
• Immigration Stories (2005), edited by David A. Martin (Virginia) & Peter H. Schuck (Yale)
• Intellectual Property Stories (2005), edited by Jane C. Ginsburg (Columbia) & Rochelle Cooper Dreyfuss (NYU)
• International Law Stories (2007), edited by John Noyes (California Western), Mark Janis (Connecticut) & Laura Dickinson (Connecticut)
• Labor Law Stories (2005), edited by Laura J. Cooper (Minnesota) & Catherine L. Fisk (UC-Irvine)
• Legal Ethics Stories (2005), edited by Deborah L. Rhode (Stanford) & David Luban (Georgetown)
• Presidential Power Stories (2008), edited by Christopher H. Schroeder (Duke) & Curtis A. Bradley (Duke)
• Property Stories (2d ed. 2009), edited by Gerald Korngold (New York Law School) & Andrew P. Morriss (Illinois)
• Race Law Stories (2008), edited by Rachel F. Moran (UC-Irvine) & Devon Carbado (UCLA)
• Tax Stories (2d ed. 2009), edited by Paul L. Caron (Cincinnati)
• Torts Stories (2003), edited by Robert L. Rabin (Stanford) & Stephen D. Sugarman (UC-Berkeley)
• Trial Stories (2008), edited by Michael E. Tigar (American) & Angela J. Davis (American)