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Chapter 1

Chapter 1. Understanding and Working With the Federal Tax Law. Competing Objectives Result in a Complex Law Structure. Revenue Needs Economic Considerations Social Considerations Equity (Fairness) Considerations Political Considerations. Economic Considerations (slide 1 of 2).

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Chapter 1

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  1. Chapter 1 Understanding and Working With the Federal Tax Law

  2. Competing Objectives Result in a Complex Law Structure • Revenue Needs • Economic Considerations • Social Considerations • Equity (Fairness) Considerations • Political Considerations

  3. Economic Considerations(slide 1 of 2) • Control the economy (e.g., favorable depreciation deductions for purchase of business property) • Encourage certain activities (e.g., research and development deductions and credits)

  4. Economic Considerations(slide 2 of 2) • Encourage certain industries (e.g., agriculture and natural resources incentives) • Encourage small business (e.g., ordinary loss deduction on stock in small business)

  5. Social Considerations(slide 1 of 2) • Tax-free medical coverage provided by employers to encourage health insurance • Deferred tax treatment of certain retirement funds to encourage saving for retirement

  6. Social Considerations(slide 2 of 2) • Deduction for charitable contributions to encourage funding of socially desirable programs by private individuals and companies • Disallowed deductions for expenditures against public policy (e.g., illegal bribes, kickbacks)

  7. Equity Considerations(slide 1 of 4) • Alleviate the effect of double taxation: • Deduction for state and local taxes • Credit or deduction for certain foreign taxes • Deduction for dividends received by corporations to prevent triple taxation

  8. Equity Considerations(slide 2 of 4) • Wherewithal to Pay concept • Defers taxation when a taxpayer’s economic position has not changed • e.g., Exchange of assets might result in gain but no cash, so some tax may be deferred

  9. Equity Considerations(slide 3 of 4) • Annual accounting periods • In some cases, e.g., start-up businesses, a revenue-generating cycle may be greater than the 12 month maximum tax reporting period. • To accommodate this, net operating loss rules allow losses from one year to be used in another year. This minimizes the adverse impact of arbitrary reporting periods.

  10. Equity Considerations(slide 4 of 4) • Inflation adjustments are included in tax rate schedules. If earnings increase solely by cost-of living amounts, taxes will not be imposed at higher rates on the increase.

  11. Political Considerations • Special interest legislation • Response to public opinion (political expediency) • State and local influences

  12. Agencies Influencing Tax Law(slide 1 of 4) • Internal Revenue Service (IRS) • Works to get Congress to “close loopholes” • Publishes “statutory regulations” authorized by Congress and given force of law • Publishes other regulations which outline the IRS’ position on certain issues

  13. Agencies Influencing Tax Law(slide 2 of 4) • Aids to IRS in collecting revenue: • Tax Return Audits • Information reporting (W-2s and 1099s) • Withholding • Interest and penalty assessments

  14. Agencies Influencing Tax Law(slide 3 of 4) • Courts • Judicial concepts • Substance over form • Arm’s length • Continuity of interest • Business purpose

  15. Agencies Influencing Tax Law(slide 4 of 4) • Courts • Judicial rulings • Some rulings highlight undesirable aspects of present law, which may lead Congress to adopt a change in law

  16. Statutory Sources of Tax Law • Internal Revenue Code • Codification of the Federal tax law provisions in a logical sequence • Have had three codes: • 1939, 1954, 1986

  17. Legislative Process For Tax Bills

  18. Joint Conference Committee Process

  19. Arrangement of the Code • Subtitle A—Income Taxes • Chapter 1. Normal Taxes and Surtaxes • Subchapter A. Determination of Tax Liability • Part I. Tax on Individuals Sections 1 to 5 (Various Titles) • Part II. Tax on Corporations Sections 11 to 12 (Various Titles)

  20. § 2(a)(1)(A) § = Abbreviation for “Section” 2 = Section number (a) = Subsection (1) = Paragraph designation (A) = Subparagraph designation Example Code Citation

  21. Administrative Sources of Tax Law • Treasury Department Regulations • Revenue Rulings • Revenue Procedures, and • Various other administrative pronouncements

  22. Regulations (slide 1 of 4) • Issued by U.S. Treasury Department • Provide general interpretations and guidance in applying the Code

  23. Regulations (slide 2 of 4) • Issued as: • Proposed: preview of final regulations • Do not have force and effect of law • Temporary: issued when guidance needed quickly • Same authoritative value as final regulations • Final: • Force and effect of law

  24. Regulations (slide 3 of 4) • Example of Regulation citation: • Reg. § 1.2 • Refers to Regulations under Code § 2 • Subparts may be added for further identification • The numbering patterns of these subparts often have no correlation with the Code subsections

  25. Regulations (slide 4 of 4) • Example of Proposed Regulation citation: Prop. Reg. § 1.2 • Example of Temporary Regulation citation: Temp. Reg. § 1.482–7T(b)(4)

  26. Revenue Rulings (slide 1 of 2) • Officially issued by National Office of IRS • Provide specific interpretations and guidance in applying the Code • Less legal force than Regulations • Issued in IRB and accumulated in the Cumulative Bulletins

  27. Revenue Rulings (slide 2 of 2) • Example of Temporary Revenue Ruling citation • Rev.Rul. 2009–19, I.R.B. No. 28, 111 • Explanation: Revenue Ruling Number 19, appearing on page 111 of the 28th weekly issue of the Internal Revenue Bulletin for 2009 • Example of Permanent Revenue Ruling citation • Rev.Rul. 2009–19, 2009–2 C.B. 111 • Explanation: Revenue Ruling Number 19, appearing on page 111 of Volume 2 of the Cumulative Bulletin for 2009

  28. Revenue Procedures (slide 1 of 2) • Concerned with the internal procedures of IRS • Issued similar to Revenue Rulings • Issued in IRB and accumulated in the Cumulative Bulletins

  29. Revenue Procedures (slide 2 of 2) • Example of Revenue Procedure citation • Rev. Proc. 92-29, 1992-1 CB 748 • 29th Rev. Procedure in 1992 found in volume 1 of Cumulative Bulletin on page 748

  30. Letter Rulings (slide 1 of 2) • Provide guidance to taxpayer on how a transaction will be taxed before proceeding with it • Issued for a fee upon a taxpayer’s request • Describe how the IRS will treat a proposed transaction • Apply only to the taxpayer who asks for and obtains the ruling • Post-1984 letter rulings may be substantial authority for purposes of the accuracy-related penalty • Limited to restricted, preannounced areas of taxation

  31. Letter Rulings (slide 2 of 2) • Example of Letter Ruling citation • Ltr.Rul. 200916013 • 13th ruling issued in the 16th week of 2009

  32. Other Administrative Pronouncements (slide 1 of 3) • Treasury Decisions-issued by Treasury Dept. to: • Promulgate new or amend existing Regulations • Announce position of the Government on selected court decisions • Published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin • Then transferred to the Cumulative Bulletin

  33. Other Administrative Pronouncements (slide 2 of 3) • Determination Letters • Issued by Area Director at taxpayer’s request • Usually involve completed transactions • Not published • Made known only to party making the request

  34. Other Administrative Pronouncements (slide 3 of 3) • General Counsel Memoranda • Technical Advice Memoranda • Field Service Advice

  35. Federal Judicial System FIGURE 1.1

  36. Judicial Sources (slide 1 of 2) • There are four courts of original jurisdiction (trial courts) • U.S. Tax Court: Regular • U.S. Tax Court: Small Cases Division • Federal District Court • U.S. Court of Federal Claims

  37. Judicial Sources (slide 2 of 2) U.S. Court of IssueU.S. Tax CourtU.S. District CourtFederal Claims Number of judges 19* Varies 16 per court Payment of deficiency No Yes Yes before trial Jury trial No Yes No Types of disputes Tax cases only Most criminal and Claims against the civil issues United States Jurisdiction Nationwide Location of Taxpayer Nationwide IRS acquiescence policy Yes Yes Yes Appeal route U.S. Court of U.S. Court of U.S. Court of Appeals Appeals Appeals for the Federal Court . *There are also 14 special trial judges and 9 senior judges. CONCEPT SUMMARY 1.1

  38. Appeals Process • Appeals from District Court or Tax Court go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for circuit where taxpayer resides • Appeals from Court of Federal Claims is to Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit • Appeal to the Supreme Court is by Writ of Certiorari • Only granted for those cases it desires to hear

  39. Courts’ Weights as Precedents • From high to low • Supreme Court • Circuit Court of Appeals • Tax Court (Regular), U.S. Court of Federal Claims, & U.S. District Courts • Decisions of Small Cases Division of Tax Court have no precedential value and cannot be appealed

  40. Tax Court (slide 1 of 2) • Issues three types of decisions: Regular, Memorandum, and summary decisions • Regular decisions involve novel issues not previously resolved by the court • Regular decisions are published by U.S. govt, e.g., • Summary opinions • Issued in small tax cases and may not be used as precedent in any other case

  41. Tax Court (slide 2 of 2) • Tax Court Memorandum decisions • Memorandum decisions deal with situations necessitating only the application of already established principles of law • Memorandum decisions are published by CCH and by RIA (formerly by P-H)

  42. Examples Of District Court Decision Citations Turner v. U.S., 2004–1 USTC ¶60,478 (D.Ct. Tex., 2004) (CCH citation) Turner v. U.S., 93 AFTR 2d 2004–686 (D.Ct. Tex., 2004) (RIA citation) Turner v. U.S., 306 F.Supp.2d 668 (D.Ct. Tex., 2004)(West citation) 42

  43. Supreme Court Decisions • Examples of citations • U.S. v. The Donruss Co., (USSC, 1969) • 69-1 USTC ¶9167 (CCH citation) • 23 AFTR2d 69-418 (RIA citation) • 89 S. CT 501 (West citation) • 393 U.S. 297 (U.S. Government citation) • 21 L.Ed.2d 495 (Lawyer's Co-operative Publishing Co. citation)

  44. Tax Treaties • The U.S. signs tax treaties with foreign countries to: • Render mutual assistance in tax enforcement • Avoid double taxation • Neither a tax law nor a tax treaty takes general precedence • When there is a direct conflict, the most recent item will take precedence

  45. Tax Research (slide 1 of 2) • A crucial part of the research process is the ability to locate appropriate sources of the tax law • Both electronic and paper-based research tools are available to aid in this search • Unless the problem is simple (e.g., the Code Section is known, and there is a Regulation on point), the research process should begin with a tax service

  46. Tax Research (slide 2 of 2) • Computerized tax research tools have replaced paper resources in most tax practices • There are two chief ways to conduct tax research using computer resources: • Online and CD-ROM subscription services and • Online free Internet sites

  47. Tax Services • A partial list of the available commercial tax services includes: • Standard Federal Tax Reporter, CCH • Tax Research NetWork, CCH Internet service • United States Tax Reporter, RIA • RIA Checkpoint, RIA • ATX/Kleinrock Tax Expert, CCH/Wolters Kluwer Business services • Tax Management Portfolios, BNA • Mertens Law of Federal Income Taxation, West Group • Westlaw services (including access to Tax Management Portfolios) • TaxCenter, LexisNexis • Federal Research Library, Tax Analysts

  48. Tax Research Process FIGURE 1.3

  49. Tax Research • Tax research is the method by which an interested party determines the best solution to a tax situation • Tax research involves: • Identifying and refining the problem • Locating the appropriate tax law sources • Assessing the validity of the tax law sources • Arriving at the solution or at alternative solutions with due consideration given to nontax factors

  50. Assessing the Validity of Tax Law Sources (slide 1 of 4) • When assessing the validity of a Regulation, the following observations should be noted: • In a challenge, the burden of proof is on the taxpayer to show that the Regulation is wrong • However, a court may invalidate a Regulation that varies from the language of the statute and has no support in the Committee Reports • If the taxpayer loses the challenge, the negligence penalty may be imposed • This accuracy-related provision deals with the ‘‘intentional disregard of rules and regulations’’ on the part of the taxpayer

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