Weekly SSRN Tax Article Review And Roundup: Layser Reviews Crawford's Tax Talk And Reproductive Technology

This week, Michelle Layser (Illinois) reviews Bridget Crawford (Pace), Tax Talk and Reproductive Technology, 100 B.U. L. Rev. ___ (2019).

As the U.S. fertility industry explodes, there is plenty of talk about surrogate miscarriages, freezer failures, unwieldy donor family trees, problems with privacy and anonymity, and the physical and emotional tolls of egg and sperm donation. What’s missing from the conversation? According to Professor Bridget Crawford, the answer is “tax talk.” Crawford’s article, which focuses on how egg donors talk about taxes with each other and their fertility clinics, is an empirically grounded exploration into the ways that talking about tax (or failing to do so) reflects and reinforces cultural norms.

The article begins by recounting the facts of a 2015 tax court case called Perez v. Commissioner. In that case, the taxpayer Nichelle Perez had received fees for her “time, effort, inconvenience, pain, and suffering in donating her eggs.” Perez earned her fees. She underwent a series of painful hormone injections that resulted in pain, bruising and burning. She submitted to general anesthesia and an invasive egg removal procedure that left her cramped, bloated, nauseous, fatigued and moody.

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Weekly SSRN Tax Article Review And Roundup

This week, Daniel Hemel (Chicago) reviews a new article by Michael Knoll (Penn), Taxation, Competitiveness, and Inversions: A Response to Kleinbard, 155 Tax Notes 619 (May 1, 2017) 

Do U.S. tax laws place U.S.-domiciled companies at a competitive disadvantage vis-à-vis foreign firms? In an influential 2014 article, Edward Kleinbard (Southern California) argued that the answer is no: “there is no credible evidence,” Kleinbard concluded, “that U.S. firms are at a fundamental international business competitive disadvantage under current law.” Now, Michael Knoll responds to Kleinbard’s article and arrives at a contrasting conclusion: while acknowledging the limits of existing empirical work, Knoll says that “the stronger case would seem to be that U.S.-domiciled corporations are often tax-disadvantaged relative to their non-U.S. rivals.”

Both authors agree that the competitiveness question has important implications for the debate over corporate inversions. Inversion defenders often argue that U.S.-headquartered multinationals must be allowed to shed their U.S. domicile so that they can compete on even terms with foreign firms. In Kleinbard’s view, this narrative is a “fable”: competitiveness concerns cannot justify inversions. Consequently, Kleinbard concludes that the U.S. Treasury and Congress should crack down on inversion transactions. In Knoll’s view, “improving competitiveness remains a strong reason for U.S.-domiciled companies to invert,” and “policies intended to curb inversions that ignore this state of affairs are likely to . . . produce adverse consequences.”

My own view, to lay my cards on the table at the outset, is that Kleinbard and Knoll are both right. 

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Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• David Khanjyan (J.D. 2016, Pepperdine; LL.M. (Tax) 2017, NYU), Student Article, Demanding Corporate Patriotism: A Regulatory Attempt to Curb International Corporate Inversions and Stop Tax Avoidance Schemes, 9 J. Bus. Entrepreneurship & L. 129 (2015)
• Brian Mistler (J.D. 2016, Arizona), Note, Taking Action Against Base Erosion Profit Shifting, 32 Ariz. J. Int'l & Comp. L. 903 (2015)

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Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Brady Cox (J.D. 2016, Pepperdine), Comment, Redefining “Peril”—Abating the Interest on a Tax Deficiency for Good Faith Reliance on IRS Publications, 43 Pepp. L. Rev. 125 (2016)
• Meridith Satz (J.D. 2016, American), Comment, Re-interpreting the Parsonage Exclusion: Constitutional Challenges and the Agency Response in the Wake of Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc. v. Lew, 67 Admin. L. Rev. 751 (2015)

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Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Eric Carlson (J.D. 2016, Syracuse), Note, Unsportsmanlike Conduct: Why the NCAA Should Lose its Tax-Exempt Status if Scholarship Athletes are Considered Employees of Their Universities, 66 Syracuse L. Rev. 157 (2016)
• Alexander Ezenagu (McGill), Carbon Taxation as a Tool for Sustainable Development in Africa: Evaluation of Potentials, Paradoxes and Prospects

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Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Casey Ball (J.D. 2016, Arizona State) & Courtney Moran (J.D. 2016, Arizona State), Penny Lane, Literally: Funding Roads One Vehicle Mile at a Time, 5 Willamette Envtl. L.J. ___ (2016)
• Benjamin Field (George Washington), Why Low-Income Housing Tax Credits are Flowing to Gentrifying Neighborhoods

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Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Christopher Bryant (J.D. 2014, Duke), Note, Without Representation, No Taxation: Free Blacks, Taxes, and Tax Exemptions Between the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, 21 Mich. J. Race & L. 91 (2015)
• Tyler Murray (J.D. 2016, William & Mary), Note, The Eighth Amendment and Tax Evasion: Whether FATCA Non-Compliance Fines and FBAR Penalties Are Excessive, 24 Wm. & Mary Bill Rts. J. 553 (2015)

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Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Jane Song (J.D. 2015, Northwestern), Note, The End of Secret Swiss Accounts?: The Impact of the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) on Switzerland's Status as a Haven for Offshore Accounts, 35 Nw. J. Int'l L. & Bus. 687 (2015)
• Thomas Vanik (J.D. 2015, Cleveland State), Note, Torpedoing A Transaction: Economic Substance Versus Other Tax Doctrines And The Application Of The Strict Liability Penalty, 64 Clev. St. L. Rev. 109 (2015)

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Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Joseph Goldstein (J.D. 2016, Cardozo), Note, Taxing Legalized Marijuana: How Courts Should Treat Drug Tax Statutes in Light of the Fifth Amendment's Self-Incrimination Clause and Executive Non-Enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act, 37 Cardozo L. Rev. 793 (2015).
• Bryce Pfalzgraf, (J.D. 2015, Illinois), Note, Taxing the Keg: An Analysis on the Potential Effects of Changing the Federal Excise Tax on Beer, 2015 U. Ill. L. Rev. 2141

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Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Trevor Crowley (J.D. 2015, BYU), Finishing the Job on Section 356(a)(2): Closing Loopholes and Providing Consistent Treatment to Boot in Tax-Free Reorganizations, 2015 BYU L. Rev. 471
• Willis Krumholz (J.D. 2015, St. Thomas), Student Article, General Electric's Tax Liability: The Case for Corporate Tax Reform, 8 U. St. Thomas J.L. & Pub. Pol'y. 222 (2014)

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Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Cole Barnett (J.D. 2015, Florida) & Chris Weeg (J.D. 2015, Florida), Comment, Intervention in the Tax Court and the Appellate Review of Tax Court Procedural Decisions, 67 Fla. L. Rev. 1483 (2015)
• Catherine Chen (J.D. 2015, NYU), Note, Taxation of Digital Goods and Services, 70 N.Y.U. Ann. Surv. Am. L. 421 (2015)

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Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Joseph Dugan (J.D. 2015, Indiana), Compromising Compliance? The IRS Offer in Compromise Program and Opportunities for Reform:
• Elizabeth McErlean (J.D. 2015, DePaul), Comment, The Real Green Issue Regarding Recreational Marijuana: Federal Tax and Banking Laws in Need of Reform, 64 DePaul L. Rev. 1079 (2015)

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Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• James Flynn (J.D. 2015, Yale), Comment, Kuretski, Interbranch Removal and the Court of Federal Claims: "Agencies in Drag", 125 Yale L.J. 313 (2015)
• Carrie Miller (J.D. 2016, William & Mary), Note, Parting the Dark Money Sea: Exposing Politically Active Tax-Exempt Groups Through FEC-IRS Hybrid Enforcement, 57 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 341 (2015)

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Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Pareesa Ashabi (J.D. 2016, San Francisco), Comment, The Struggle Over Internet Sales and Use Tax: Why the Marketplace Fairness Act Could Be the Hero for Wall Street, Main Street, and the Fifty States, 49 U.S.F. L. Rev. 543 (2015)
• Nicholas Carson (J.D. 2015, Northwestern), Note, Easier Easements: A New Path for Conservation Easement Deduction Valuation, 109 Nw. U. L. Rev. 739 (2015)

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Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Sarah Doucett (J.D. 2015, Suffolk), Note, "Fat Taxing" Our Way to a Healthier World, 38 Suffolk Transnat'l L. Rev. 387 (2015)
• Bryce Langford (J.D. 2016, Kansas), Comment, The Minister's Housing Allowance: Should It Stand, and If Not, Can Its Challengers Show Standing?, 63 U. Kan. L. Rev. 1129 (2015)

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Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Peter Nigra (J.D. 2014, Pittsburgh), Note, Taxation Despite Representation: Judicial Legislation And The Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act, 75 U. Pitt. L. Rev. 409 (2014)
• Sarah Oyer (J.D. 2015, San Diego), Comment, Unregulated Tax Return Preparers: Not Loving the Penalties, 52 San Diego L. Rev. 233 (2015)

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Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Andrew Fischer (J.D. 2015, George Washington), Note, A Comprehensive Approach to Stateless Income, 83 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1028 (2015)
• Eric Rubin (J.D. 2015, Washington University), Note, Knowing an “Educational Institution” When You See One: Applying the Commerciality Approach to Tax Exemptions for Universities Under § 501(c)(3), 92 Wash. U. L. Rev. 1055 (2015)

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Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• John Coleman Hamlett (J.D. 2016, Washington University), Note, The Declining Allure of Being 'American' and the Rise of Corporate Tax Inversions: A Critical Analysis of Regulatory Efforts to Curtail the Inversion Trend, 93 Wash. U. L. Rev. ___ (2016)
• Blake Harrison (J.D. 2015, Michigan), Note, Expanding the Renewable Energy Industry Through Tax Subsidies Using the Structure and Rationale of Traditional Energy Tax Subsidies, 48 U. Mich. J.L. Reform 845 (2015)

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Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Laura Mezher (J.D. 2014, Cincinnati), Comment, Treasures and Taxes—Why the Treasure Trove Regulation Should be Repealed, 83 U. Cin. L. Rev. 949 (2015)
• Sarah Osborne (J.D. 2015, Cumberland), Comment, Carried Away: Sun Capital, Politics, and the Potential for a New Spin on "Trade or Business" in Private Equity, 45 Cumb. L. Rev. 595 (2015)

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Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Richard Bailey (J.D. 2015, St. Louis), Note, A Step in the Right Direction: How Sun Capital's Trade or Business Decision Could Promote Common Sense and Fair Treatment Under the Tax Code, 34 St. Louis U. Pub. L. Rev. 465 (2015)
• Gerald Byrnes (J.D. 2015, UC-Hastings), Note, Consumption by Destination: The Practical Aspects of Adopting the Destination Principle, 66 Hastings L.J. 1443 (2015)

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Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• John Baber (J.D. 2014, Baltimore), Thank You Sir, May I Have Another: The Issue of the Unsustainability of Low Income Housing Tax Credits and Proposed Solutions, 4 U. Balt. J. Land & Dev. 39 (2014)
• Ricky Hutchens (J.D. 2015, Vanderbilt), Note, Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures: States Lead Misguided Offensive to Enforce Sales Tax Against Online Retailers, 68 Vand. L. Rev. 575 (2015)

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Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Natalia Caruso (J.D. 2014, William & Mary), Note, Walking on Thin Ice: Does the Revenue Procedure 2013-13 Signify the Demise of Leveraged Spin-Offs?, 6 Wm. & Mary Bus. L. Rev. 687 (2015)
• Skylar Ludwick (J.D. 2016, Maryland), Casenote, Gore Enterprise Holdings, Inc. v. Comptroller of the Treasury: A Missed Opportunity to Remedy Maryland’s Disconnected Taxation Policy and Inimical Corporate Atmosphere, 74 Md. L. Rev. 1031 (2015)

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Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Julie Jee Eun Ahn (J.D. 2014, North Carolina), Comment, The HEART Act of 2008: To Deter Expatriation, But Why More Expatriation?, 40 N.C. J. Int'l L. & Com. Reg. 1021 (2015)
• Victoria Barry (J.D. 2015, Pennsylvania), Comment, Parsing Marriage Penalties: The Irrationality of Tax and Government Benefit Marriage Penalty Jurisprudence, 17 U. Pa. J. Const. L. 1183 (2015)

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Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Jared Knight (J.D. 2015, Iowa), Note, Is Tax Increment Financing Racist? The Racially Disparate Impact in Chicago's TIF Spending, 101 Iowa L. Rev. ___ (2016)
• Andrew Kummer (J.D. 2015, Brooklyn), Pro-Business but Anti-Economy? Why Ireland's Staunch Protection of its Corporate Tax Regime is Preventing a Celtic Phoenix from Rising from the Ashes of the Celtic Tiger, 9 Brook. J. Corp. Fin. & Com. L. 284 (2014)

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Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Taylor Denson (J.D. 2015, Houston), Comment, Goodbye, Uncle Sam? How the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act Is Causing a Drastic Increase in the Number of Americans Renouncing Their Citizenship, 52 Hous. L. Rev. 967 (2015)
• Joshua Simmons (J.D. 2015, Georgetown), Linking Customs Valuation and Transfer Pricing in the U.S. And Beyond

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Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Mark DeLuca (J.D. 2015, Arizona State), Comment, It's Not Always Sunny in Private Equity: Analysis and Impact of the First Circuit's Sun Capital Decision, 46 Ariz. St. L.J. 1441 (2014)
• Trisha Farrow (J.D. 2015, Arizona State), Comment, The Not-So-Simple Estate Plan of Breaking Bad's Walter White, 46 Ariz. St. L.J. 955 (2014)

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Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Brian Kimball (J.D. 2015, Santa Clara), Comment, Hybrid Business Organizations: Reconciling Fiduciary Duty, Profit, and Social Purpose, 54 Santa Clara L. Rev. 931 (2014)
• Ann Kossachev (J.D. 2015, George Mason), Worldwide Taxation and FATCA: A Constitutional Conundrum or the Final Piece of the Tax Evasion Puzzle?, 25 Geo. Mason U. Civ. Rts. L.J. 217 (2015)

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Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Jeffrey Anand (J.D. 2015, Hofstra), Note, Virtual Economies Virtually Unregulated: How Clear Taxpayer Guidance Can Mitigate Tax Compliance Risks, 43 Hofstra L. Rev. 253 (2014)
• Chris Capurso (J.D. 2015, William & Mary), Note, Burgers, Doughnuts, and Expatriations: An Analysis of the Tax Inversion Epidemic and a Solution Presented Through the Lens of the Burger King-Tim Hortons Merger, 7 Wm. & Mary Bus. L. Rev. ___ (2016)

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Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

Conor Clarke (J.D. 2015, Yale) & Edward Fox (J.D. 2015, Yale), Note, Perceptions of Tax Expenditures and Direct Spending: A Survey Experiment, 124 Yale L.J. 1252 (2015):

This paper presents the results of an original survey experiment on whether the public prefers “tax expenditures” to “direct outlays” — that is, whether members of the public are more likely to support government spending that takes the form of a tax credit rather than a check or cash. Using a survey that spans a wide variety of policy areas — and with important variations in wording and information — we show that the public strongly prefers tax expenditures even when the “economic substance” of the proposed policies is identical. We also show that the public views tax expenditures as less costly than equivalent direct outlays. These results support a longstanding but largely unstudied hypothesis that tax expenditures “hide” the costs of government spending, and have implications for why tax expenditures have continued to grow in size and complexity.

Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Jeffrey Kraft (J.D. 2015, Indiana), Note, Changing Tides: Tax Haven Reform and the Changing Views on Transnational Capital Flow Regulation and the Role of States in a Globalized World, 21 Ind. J. Global Legal Stud. 599 (2014)
• Austin Lomax (J.D. 2015, Washington & Lee), Five-Star Exclusion: Modern Silicon Valley Companies Are Pushing the Limits of Section 119 by Providing Tax-Free Meals to Employees, 71 Wash. & Lee L. Rev. 2077 (2014)

Weekly Student Tax Notes Roundup

• Benjamin Newell (J.D. 2015, Georgia),  Note, Saving the Next Superman: An Alternative Approach to the Taxation of Copyright Termination Rights, 21 J. Intell. Prop. L. 379 (2014)
• Michael Sala (J.D. 2015, UConn), Breaking Down BEPS: Strategies, Reforms, and Planning Responses, 47 Conn. L. Rev. 573 (2014)

Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Sean Deneault (J.D. 2014, Indiana), Note, Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act: A Step in the Wrong Direction, 24 Ind. Int'l & Comp. L. Rev. 729 (2014)
• Jonathan Mills (J.D. 2014, Cumberland), Comment, When a Return Is Not a Return: The Importance of a Timely Filed Income Tax Return for Discharge in a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, 44 Cumb. L. Rev. 461 (2014)

Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Lindsay Kreppel (J.D. 2014, Duquesne), Will the Catholic Church's Tax Exempt Status be Threatened Under the Public Policy Limitation of Section 501(c)(3) If Same-sex Marriage Becomes Public Policy?, 16 Duq. Bus. L.J. 241 (2014)
• Joel Meister (J.D. 2014, George Washington), Sunny Dispositions: Modernizing Investment Tax Credit Recapture Rules for Solar Energy Project Finance after the Stimulus, 5 Geo. Wash. J. Energy & Envtl. L. 15 (2014)

Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Cole Barnett (J.D. 2015, Florida), Comment, United States v. Woods and the Future of the Tax Blue Book as a Means of Penalty Avoidance and Statutory Interpretation, 66 Fla. L. Rev. 1791 (2014)
• Heath C. DeJean (J.D. 2015, LSU), Comment, High-Stakes Word Search: Ensuring Fair and Effective IRS Centralization in Tax Exemption, 75 La. L. Rev. 259 (2014)

Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Nika  Antonikova (LL.M. (Tax) 2015, NYU), Real Taxes on Virtual Currencies: What Does the IRS Say?, 34 Va. Tax Rev. ___ (2015)
• Brennan Black (J.D. 2016, Mississippi), Closing the Open Door: Using 'True Economic Realities' to Determine the Tax Deductibility of False Claims Act Settlements

Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Luca L. C. Hickman (J.D. 2014, Ave Maria), Note, Selling Our Soul for Tax Breaks: Electioneering, Lobbying and the Substantial Burden Factor Under RFRA, 12 Ave Maria L. Rev. 393 (2014)
• Robert D. "Bodie" Stewart (J.D. 2014, Georgetown), Note, Missing the Mark on Mark-to-Market: The Arguments Against the Camp Plan to Require Mark-to-Market Accounting for Non-traded Speculative Derivatives, 45 Geo. J. Int'l L. 1323 (2014)

Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Nicholas Carey (J.D. 2014, Rutgers), Note, Taxing E-commerce: An Abundance of Constraints, 40 Rutgers Computer & Tech. L.J. 156 (2014)
• Christian Schmed (J.D. 2014, Villanova), Comment, Official Timeout on the Field: Critics Have Thrown a Red Flag and are Challenging the NFL's Tax-Exempt Status, Calling for It to Be Revoked, 21 Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports L.J. 577 (2014)

Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Haniya Mir (J.D. 2015, Duke), Note, Windsor and Its Discontents: State Income Tax Implications for Same-Sex Couples, 64 Duke L.J. 53 (2014)
• David Sessions (J.D. 2014, George Washington), Note, Reining in Tax-delinquent Contractors: How to Increase the Effectiveness of the Federal Acquisition Regulation and the Contracting Tax Accountability Act, 43 Pub. Cont. L.J. 737 (2014)

Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Ryan Leagre (J.D. 2014, Indiana-Indianapolis), Note, Community-based Tax Credits: Tax Credits That Reduce Consumer-driven Pollution by Encouraging Collective Action, 47 Ind. L. Rev. 791 (2014)
• Edward Lowe (J.D. 2015, UConn), Mashantucket Pequot Tribe v. Town of Ledyard: The Preemption of State Taxes Under Bracker, the Indian Trader Statutes, and the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, 47 Conn. L. Rev. 197 (2014)

Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Heather V. Graham (J.D. 2014, Pace), Comment, Moving Beyond Marriage: A Proposed Unit of Presumed Economic Interdependence for Joint Filing Purposes in Bankruptcy and in Tax, 34 Pace L. Rev. 419 (2014)
• Dillon Nichols (J.D. 2015, Kentucky), Note, Staring at the Sun: How Property Tax Incentives and Third Party Ownership Can Stimulate the Residential Solar Energy Market, 6 Ky. J. Equine, Agric. & Nat. Resources L. 401 (2014)

Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• David Libonn (J.D. 2014, Washington U.), Note, From Cautionary Example to "City on a Hill": Revitalizing Saint Louis May Require an Innovative Regional Taxation Model, 91 Wash. U. L. Rev. 1035 (2014)
• Ariel Stevenson (J.D. 2014, Yale), Note, Improving the U.S. Guest Worker System Through Tax and Social Welfare Reform, 17 Harv. Latino L. Rev. 147 (2014)

Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Joseph Cooch (J.D. 2013, Hamline), Note, When Everything Matters, Nothing Matters: Minnesota's Unprincipled Approach for Determining Domicile in Tax Disputes, and a Path Forward, 37 Hamline L. Rev. 229 (2014)
• Sarah Pickering (J.D. 2014, Boston University), Note, Our House: Crowdfunding Affordable Homes With Tax Credit Investment Partnerships, 33 Rev. Banking & Fin. L. 937 (2014)

Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Eric Dietz (J.D. 2013, Hamline), The Tax Code's Crowdfunding Dilemma: The Temptation of Kickstarter Creators to Use the Gift Exclusion Under Section 102(a), 37 Hamline L. Rev. 293 (2014)
• Samantha Goewey (J.D. 2014, Seton Hall), Taxing the Gold: The Tax Treatment of Olympians, 24 Seton Hall J. Sports & Ent. L. 179 (2014)

Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• John Bulloch (J.D. 2014, UNLV), Note, Income or Liability: How Casinos' Classification of Outstanding Chips Determine Taxability, 5 UNLV Gaming L.J. 121 (2014)
• Riley Lovendale (J.D. 2014, Boston College), Tax vs. Penalty, Round Two: Interpreting the ACA’s Assessable Payment as a Tax for Federal Award Cost Allowances, 55 B.C. L. Rev. 947 (2014)

Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

Conor Clarke (J.D. 2015, Yale) & Edward Fox (J.D. 2015, Yale), Note, Perceptions of Tax Expenditures and Direct Spending: A Survey Experiment, 124 Yale L.J. ___ (2015):

This paper presents the results of an original survey experiment on whether the public prefers “tax expenditures” to “direct outlays” — that is, whether members of the public are more likely to support government spending that takes the form of a tax credit rather than a check or cash. Using a survey that spans a wide variety of policy areas — and with important variations in wording and information — we show that the public strongly prefers tax expenditures even when the “economic substance” of the proposed policies is identical. We also show that the public views tax expenditures as less costly than equivalent direct outlays. These results support a longstanding but largely unstudied hypothesis that tax expenditures “hide” the costs of government spending, and have implications for why tax expenditures have continued to grow in size and complexity.

Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Elizabeth Bolka (J.D. 2014, Indiana), Note, The Medical Device Excise Tax: An Unfair Burden, 89 Ind. L.J. 1691 (2014)
• Meredith Cipriano (J.D. 2015, Baltimore), Comment, The Illegal Immigrant Tax: Evaluating State Remittance Taxes Under the Dormant Commerce Clause and the Equal Protection Clause, 43 U. Balt. L. Rev. 255 (2014)

Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Zachary J. Buxton (J.D. 2014, St. Louis), Comment, Community Benefit 501(r)edux: An Analysis of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's Limitations Under Community Benefit Reform, 7 St. Louis U. J. Health L. & Pol'y 449 (2014)
• Tyler J. Kassner (J.D. 2014, UC-Hastings), Note, Bringing Dark Money Into the Light: 501(c)(4) Organizations, Gift Tax, and Disclosure, 10 Hastings Bus. L.J. 471 (2014)

Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

Christopher Weeg (J.D. 2015, Florida), Starting with the [Tax] Man in the Mirror: Asking the IRS to Change its Ways of Valuing Postmortem Publicity Rights (Second Place, 2014 Federal Bar Association’s Donald C. Alexander Tax Law Writing Competition):

Legal issues often arise at the intersection between a new legal right and an existing legal framework. In the estate tax world, the relatively new right of publicity clashed with the well-settled statutory language defining the value of a gross estate. In 1994, the court in Estate of Andrews v. United States, addressed the “issue of first impression” of the value of an author’s name as part of her estate for federal tax purposes. Andrews’ ruling demonstrated that publicity rights are (1) includible in a decedent’s gross estate and (2) valued based on a hypothetical sales transaction between a buyer and a seller.

Even after Andrews, the inclusion and valuation of these descendible rights for federal estate tax, as well as the liquidity issues they pose to cash-strapped estates, have continued to be debated by highly regarded scholars and practitioners. Mitchell M. Gans, Bridget J. Crawford, and Jonathan G. Blattmachr advocated for a legislative solution to this problem [Postmortem Rights of Publicity: The Federal Estate Tax Consequences of New State-Law Property Rights, 117 Yale L.J. Pocket Part 203 (2008)]. They proposed a modification to state law, whereby a decedent’s publicity rights automatically pass to a designated statutory heir and, thus, are excluded from the gross estate.6 In response to the proposal, Joshua C. Tate argued that the publicity rights, through the supposed restriction on testamentary control by automatic vesting in the statutory heir, are nonetheless includible in a decedent’s estate because the celebrity enjoyed a property interest in them at the date of death [Marilyn Monroe’s Legacy: Taxation of Postmortem Publicity Rights, 118 Yale L.J. Pocket Part 38 (2008)]. Following Tate’s article, Gans, Crawford, and Blattmachr defended their position that post-death control is a requirement for estate tax inclusion [The Estate Tax Fundamentals of Celebrity and Control, 118 Yale L.J. Pocket Part 50 (2008)]. Tate replied that, in effect, their proposal was an estate tax free lunch for celebrities and, thus, did not serve the broader policy justifications and normative goals of the federal estate tax [Immortal Fame: Publicity Rights, Taxation, and the Power of Testation, 44 Ga. L. Rev. 1 (2009)].

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Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Bryanna Frazier (J.D. 2014, Tulane), Resource Capital Fund III v. Commissioner: Partners or the Partnership -- Who Is the Relevant Entity Under the Avoidance of Double Taxation Convention Between the United States and Australia?, 22 Tul. J. Int'l & Comp. L. 377 (2014)
• Christopher Richard (J.D. 2014, Alabama), Note, Balancing Liberty and Healthcare Access: Sebelius on Taxing Inactivity, 5 Ala. C.R. & C.L. L. Rev. 141-153 (2013)

Weekly Student Tax Note Roundup

• Blake Currey (J.D. 2014, San Diego), Comment, A Shrouded Remedy: Increasing Transparency in the IRS Advance Pricing and Mutual Agreement Program by Releasing Redacted Advance Pricing Agreements and Increasing Administrative Disclosures, 50 San Diego L. Rev. 1005 (2013)
• Dale Sevin (J.D. 2014, Arizona State), Note, Capturing Tax Revenue on Internet Sales: Abandoning the Streamlined Agreement for Origin Sourcing, 56 Ariz. L. Rev. 249 (2014)