Copyright (c) 2009 All rights reserved. http://works.bepress.com/richard_kovach Recent documents in Richard Kovach en-us Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:41:32 PDT 3600 http://works.bepress.com/richard_kovach/9 http://works.bepress.com/richard_kovach/9 Tue, 05 May 2009 09:08:59 PDT Jerome R. Hellerstein was a professor of law at New York University School of Law who specialized in taxation studies. He also practiced tax law for many years and included among his many accomplishments authorship of a book he hoped would inform the general public about the major federal income tax problems that existed as of 1963, the publication date of Taxes, Loopholes and Morals. Professor Hellerstein was acutely concerned about the federal tax gap of his day. His book refers frequently to tax reform proposals initiated by President John F. Kennedy and also mentions some of the tax issues that confronted President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the early years of Hellerstein's career as a tax professional. Taxes, Loopholes and Morals explores the problems of setting different rates of taxation for capital gains versus ordinary income, allowing entity forms to dictate tax results, and inadequate policing of income underreporting; as well as compliance failures involving a variety of federal tax features including business deductions, assignments of income via gifts, foreign tax allowances, and charitable contribution deductions. Ultimately, Professor Hellerstein's concerns about the integrity of the federal income tax system fell into three categories: Fundamental structural disparities of the Internal Revenue Code that clearly favor some taxpayers over others; tax sheltering devices derived ingeniously from otherwise neutral statutory provisions; and outright cheating and dishonesty resulting from a breakdown in the efficacy of social mores and personal morals. This paper discusses each of these concerns, first as Hellerstein saw them and then in our modern context, with a view toward future progress to reduce the federal income tax gap that now has deep historical roots. Richard Kovach Federal Income Taxation http://works.bepress.com/richard_kovach/8 http://works.bepress.com/richard_kovach/8 Mon, 04 May 2009 14:03:42 PDT Toward the end of every calendar year, tax professionals scan their update materials for information about inflation adjustments that will affect the financial situation of every taxpayer during the next year. In an almost ritualistic fashion, various tax services will first extrapolate key inflation adjustments from economic data for the current year, and then the services will publish confirmation of inflation adjustments that are disclosed by official sources. American taxpayers are unable to project their potential tax liabilities for the coming year until these adjustments come to light, regardless of whether the federal tax laws for the coming year remain relatively stable (which is rarely the case) or change substantially as a result of the newest tax legislation. Richard Kovach Federal Income Taxation http://works.bepress.com/richard_kovach/7 http://works.bepress.com/richard_kovach/7 Mon, 08 Oct 2007 17:30:49 PDT Richard Kovach Retirement Planning - Analysis Self Employed Persons - Finance Small Business - Taxation http://works.bepress.com/richard_kovach/6 http://works.bepress.com/richard_kovach/6 Mon, 08 Oct 2007 17:26:35 PDT Richard Kovach Federal Taxation Administration Gift and Estate Taxation Estate Taxes - Laws, Regulations and Rules Legal Reform - Management http://works.bepress.com/richard_kovach/5 http://works.bepress.com/richard_kovach/5 Mon, 08 Oct 2007 17:22:21 PDT Richard Kovach Federal Taxation Administration 401k Plans - Laws, Regulations and Rules Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 Retirement Planning - Laws, Regulations and Rules Small Business - Officials and Employees Tax Law - Evaluation http://works.bepress.com/richard_kovach/4 http://works.bepress.com/richard_kovach/4 Mon, 08 Oct 2007 17:15:45 PDT Richard Kovach Federal Income Taxation Federal Taxation Administration Pension Funds - Law, Regulations and Rules Pensions - Laws, Regulations and Rules Retirement Income - Laws, Regulations and Rules Tax Reform - Management United States. Department of the Treasury - Management Internal Revenue Code - I.R.C. 401(A)(9) http://works.bepress.com/richard_kovach/3 http://works.bepress.com/richard_kovach/3 Mon, 08 Oct 2007 17:02:17 PDT Richard Kovach Federal Income Taxation Federal Taxation Administration Taxation and Fiscal Policy - Simplification, Income Tax Taxation and Fiscal Policy - Rates (Averaging, Progressivity and Structure) http://works.bepress.com/richard_kovach/2 http://works.bepress.com/richard_kovach/2 Thu, 20 Sep 2007 10:50:52 PDT Richard Kovach Federal Income Taxation Federal Taxation Administration Administrative Procedure - Methods Tax Administration - Laws, Regulations and Rules http://works.bepress.com/richard_kovach/1 http://works.bepress.com/richard_kovach/1 Thu, 20 Sep 2007 09:32:08 PDT Recently, the Boston College Law Review published a symposium issue containing twelve articles on federal income taxation issues pertaining to rates, progressivity, and budget processes. These articles are well written, copiously researched, and representative of contemporary legal scholarship. For the most part, these articles variously support the idea that our federal taxation system is insufficiently progressive. Often this body of work attributes deleterious social effects to insufficient progressivity caused by tax cuts legislated in 2001 and 2003. Some of the symposium writing advocates for increased federal taxation on wealthy taxpayers without structural limitations beyond those that might be necessary to avoid unwanted effects that higher taxation might have on economic behavior. Effectively, most of the symposium scholarship seeks a direct political solution to the perceived problem of not taxing the wealthy as heavily as practicable. Unlike the commentaries of flat tax proponents, this article will not attempt to dispel the notion of progressive taxation. Rather, this article will first question whether professors who write about tax policy can as a group reach unbiased conclusions about progressivity policy. Next, this article will address a few progressivity concepts that fuel taxation debates. Finally, this commentary will outline some ideas for structuring the federal income taxation system in ways that reduce political rancor and potentially create reasonable acceptance by tax producers, tax beneficiaries, and their respective advocates. Richard Kovach Federal Income Taxation Tax Policy - Political Aspects Tax Reform - Evaluation