Tax Law

Stanford Law Grad Gets Home Detention for Unpaid Taxes on Escort Earnings

Stanford law graduate Cristina Warthen has been sentenced to one year of home detention and ordered to pay $243,000 for failing to pay taxes on money earned running an escort service. U.S. District Judge James Ware also sentenced Warthen to three years of probation and said she could not continue…

Sep 29, 2009 1:35 PM CDT

Would the Supreme Court Strike Down Mandatory Health Insurance?

Would the U.S. Supreme Court uphold a mandatory health insurance plan? The issue is being debated on blogs and in op-eds, with some big differences of opinion emerging. A proposal to require health insurance for every American is “profoundly unconstitutional,” according to a Wall Street Journal opinion column by two…

Sep 24, 2009 5:59 PM CDT

Did ‘Fancy Pants’ Financing Backfire on New York Law School?

At one time, only nonprofit hospitals were allowed to float tax-exempt bonds, which they used to build new facilities. A 1986 amendment to the tax code changed that, extending the benefit to all nonprofits. New York Law School was among the nonprofits that took advantage of that law, the New…

Sep 24, 2009 12:31 PM CDT

US Tax Probe ‘May Spread Like Wildfire’ After UBS Settlement

As a Sept. 23 deadline looms for tax-evaders to obtain lesser penalties by disclosing offshore accounts to the Internal Revenue Service, one observer predicts that a federal probe of foreign banks may expand exponentially following a $780 million settlement by UBS AG. After the Swiss bank’s agreement to disclose information…

Sep 18, 2009 5:23 PM CDT

Harvard Law Donor Faced $100M Tax Probe at Time of Suicide, Source Says

Some 800 people attended the funeral of Finn Caspersen in Morristown, N.J., yesterday, alternately laughing and crying as the 67-year-old philanthropist and heir to the Beneficial Corp. fortune was remembered for his many good works. Among them, the Harvard Law School graduate pledged $30 million to his alma mater last…

Sep 16, 2009 7:13 PM CDT

NY Tax Lawyer’s $100K in Deductions for Prostitutes Disallowed

A New York tax lawyer has lost a bid to deduct more than $100,000 in payments for prostitutes and pornography. The federal Tax Court denied the deductions, claimed by lawyer William Halby as medical expenses for sex therapy. TaxProf Blog reported on yesterday’s ruling, first noted by Tax Update Blog.…

Sep 15, 2009 12:08 PM CDT

Law Prof Charged with Tax Evasion, Claims Severe ADD, Prosecutors Say

An associate law professor at Hamline University who apparently practiced tax law while in private practice has been accused of tax evasion. Prosecutors claim law professor Robin Magee, an expert in criminal law, didn’t file her state tax returns for 2004 through 2006 until this year, never filed for 2007,…

Sep 10, 2009 12:42 PM CDT

Client Sues Bryan Cave for $10M, Says Prenup Silent on Capital Gains Tax

A prominent Missouri businessman has sued Bryan Cave for malpractice in St. Louis County Circuit Court, contending that the firm and partner Lawrence Brody botched his prenuptial agreement by failing to address the issue of capital gains tax. Since a substantial portion of Donald Bryant’s assets were in a high-profile…

Sep 9, 2009 9:14 PM CDT

Calif. Court Among the Employers Citing Headaches from Cell Phone Tax Law

A law requiring taxation of personal phone calls made on employer-provided cell phones has caused a big administrative headache for one California court. IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman has called for repeal of the 1989 law, and the IRS is calling for comments, the Wall Street Journal reports. The law requires…

Sep 2, 2009 3:50 PM CDT

Accused of Acting as ‘De Facto G-Man,’ Lawyer Says Ex-Client Is in Dreamland

Attorney David Blythewood was supposed to be defending Nassau County Legislator Roger Corbin in a criminal tax evasion case. But “Mr. Bythewood’s representation of Roger Corbin throughout the entirety of this case has been so far beneath the standard of effective assistance of counsel as to render Mr. Bythewood a…

Aug 25, 2009 7:14 PM CDT

Ex-UBS Banker Gets 40 Months in Swiss Bank Account Case

A former employee of a major Swiss bank was sentenced to a 40-month prison term by a federal judge in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., today. Prosecutors had recommended a 30-month term for Bradley Birkenfeld, 44, citing his cooperation in helping the government pursue some $20 billion in American taxpayer assets that…

Aug 21, 2009 7:25 PM CDT

Swiss Attorney Charged in UBS Case; US Lawyers Could Be Targeted, Too

An attorney and a banker from Switzerland were indicted today in a federal case in Florida for allegedly helping wealthy Americans evade taxes by putting assets in secret Swiss bank accounts. And, as a criminal probe continues, United States lawyers and bankers could face charges for misadvising clients, too, reports…

Aug 20, 2009 8:44 PM CDT

ACC President Says Tax Ruling ‘Eviscerates the Work-Product Doctrine’

Some corporate lawyers are worried about the reach of a recent federal appeals court decision allowing the Internal Revenue Service to access documents analyzing possible tax liabilities. The en banc ruling by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based in Boston allows the IRS to access tax-accrual documents that…

Aug 20, 2009 4:21 PM CDT

UBS Will Disclose Names of Nearly 4,500 Suspected Tax Evaders

Swiss bank UBS is expected to disclose the names and account information for more than 4,450 Americans suspected of trying to evade taxes with secret offshore accounts. The Internal Revenue Service revealed the numbers as the settlement was finalized today, according to the New York Times and the Washington Post.…

Aug 19, 2009 3:27 PM CDT

Banker Pointed Feds to 150 UBS Clients Now Under Investigation, Filing Says

More than 150 Americans with accounts at UBS AG are being investigated by federal authorities for potential tax fraud after a former employee of the Swiss bank helped point the finger at them, a government filing in a criminal case says. It recommends a 30-month prison term for the employee,…

Aug 18, 2009 5:00 PM CDT