Tax Chats

How many pages are in the tax code? Jeff and Scott Chat about tax code complexity

Recorded on April 15, Jeff and Scott Chat about tax code complexity. Why is the tax code so complex? Is it because life is complex? Because we have chosen to hone the tax code to achieve certain social goals? Jeff and Scott chat about it all in light of Scott not being able to complete his tax code until the very last moment.

Tax Deductions for Charitable Giving: A Chat with Nic Duquette

Scott and Jeff chat with Nic Duquette, Professor of Public Policy at the University of Southern California. We discuss charitable giving, tax deductions related to charitable giving, tax exempt organizations, and the like. Listener submitted correction: "there is no longer an above-the-line charitable deduction for cash contributions for tax years after 2021 (it was a temporary Covid-era provision as Scott had thought in asking the question). It was first enacted in the CARES Act for tax ye...

Cordell Hull, Father of the Income Tax: A Chat with Tracey Roberts

Jeff and Scott chat with Samford University law professor Tracey Roberts about Cordell Hull. Hull was a senator, secretary of state, and, won the Nobel Prize for his role in creating the United Nations. However, he also had a substantial role in creating the income tax, which Tracey, Jeff and Scott discuss.  This episode is based on Professor Roberts article, "A Man for His Era and for Ours: Cordell Hull, Father of the Federal Income Tax", published in the Cumberland Law Review. Get CPE for...

"The Power to Destroy": A Chat with Clyde Ray about McCulloch V Maryland

Jeff and Scott chat with Clyde Ray, a political scientist and author of the book John Marshall's Constitutionalism, about the Supreme Court case McCulloch v Maryland, which hinged on whether a state could tax a federal bank.  In this case, John Marshall teaches us that "the power to tax involves the power to destroy."

Scoring the Wyden-Smith Tax Deal: A Chat with Alexander Arnon

Jeff and Scott chat with  Alexander Arnon. Alex serves as the Director of Business Tax and Economic Analysis at the Penn Wharton Budget Model, and he explains  the Wyden-Smith tax deal, including the extension of the business tax components of the TCJA, the expansion of the child tax credit, and the Employee Retention Credit. Alex talks about the background on the deal, as well as how Penn Wharton provided their revenue estimate. Get CPE for listening to Tax Chats! Free CPE courses are avai...

Testifying about Taxes: A Chat about Congressional Testimony with Douglas Holtz-Eakin

Jeff and Scott chat with Douglas Holtz-Eakin, the President of the American Action Forum, former director of the CBO,  and former chief economic policy adviser to Senator John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign. Doug has also testified before Congress more than anyone else that did not do so as a requirement of their job. Jeff and Scott discuss the purpose of Congressional testimony, who is asked to do it, and some of Doug's experiences testifying. Get CPE for listening to Tax Chats! Free ...

The Trend in Income Inequality: A Chat with Wojciech Kopczuk

Jeff and Scott chat with Wojciech Kopczuk, professor of Economics at Columbia University, an editor at the Journal of Public Economics, and IgNobel Prize Winner, about the trends in income inequality. The long-standing received wisdom is that income inequality is high, and growing higher. A recent paper published in the Journal of Political Economy by Gerry Auten and David Splinter call into question that finding. Jeff, Scott and Wojciech talk about the difficulties in measuring income inequ...

Taxing Americans Abroad: A Chat with Laura Snyder

Jeff and Scott chat with Laura Snyder, an advocate for an improved tax system for Americans living abroad.  Laura is currently the  President of Stop Extraterritorial American Taxation, (SEAT) and is also an American living abroad. They talk about the different types of Americans living abroad, and how their lives are complicated by the American tax system. Get CPE for listening to Tax Chats! Free CPE courses are available approximately one week after episodes are published. Visit https://e...

Re-release: Martin Luther King Jr.'s Tax Perjury Trial: A conversation with Edgar Dyer

This episode originally aired on January 15, 2022. Martin Luther King Jr. is the only person to have ever been tried for perjury with regards to state income taxes in Alabama. Jeff and Scott interview Edgar Dyer about the tax perjury trial of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1960. Eddie wrote an article entitled "A Triumph of Justice in Alabama: The 1960 Perjury Trial of Martin Luther King, Jr." Fred Grey, Martin Luther King's attorney, said of the trial, "No one would have predicted that an all-...

Predicting Tax-Related Court Cases with Artificial Intelligence: A Chat with BlueJ CEO Benjamin Alarie

For the second time, Jeff and Scott chat with Benjamin Alarie, a law professor at the University of Toronto, and, the founder and CEO of BlueJ.  They talk about one of BlueJ's products which predicts tax court case outcomes, and also discuss the future of AI and taxes generally. Get CPE for listening to Tax Chats! Free CPE courses are available approximately one week after episodes are published. Visit https://earmarkcpe.com/ to download the free app. Go to the Tax Chats channel, register f...

Tax Tune - A Way to Pay Taxes (re-release)

A Way to Pay Taxes (to the tune of Away in the Manger) Re-release (originally released Christmas, 2021) Lyrics by Jeff Hoopes, Sung by Stacey Hoopes Oh Joseph and Mary They were there for a task They came to the city To pay their tax But as they remitted  The tax on their worth Oh Mary, a virgin She had to give birth  They went to the city By Caesa­r’s decree As taxes touched Joseph They affect you and me When we give birth and when we die How much we work And what car we buy   For every...

Taxes at the Hoopes House

Jeff and Scott talk about two taxes levied at the Hoopes household, the "floor tax", and the "toilet tax."  These two taxes demonstrate how the tax system can be used as either a carrot or a stick, and the benefit of each approach, and the importance of administrative costs (which made the toilet tax impractical). We also discus how, and whether, taxes can be used to solve social problems.  Scott vows to do better in taxing the subjects of his kingdom. 

Marketing and Soda Taxes: A chat with Kristopher Keller

Jeff and  Scott talk with UNC Marketing professor Kristopher Keller about his work on the effect of marketing on soda taxes (joint work with  Jonne Guyt and Rajdeep Grewal). After passing a soda tax, a tax on sugared beverages meant to discourage their consumption, stores can change their marketing of soda. Kristopher, with coauthors, show that stores actually decrease the amount of marketing they do, which contributes to some of the  decline in soda consumption which has been documented to ...

Simplfying Tax Filing Across Countries: A Chat with Benjamin Angel

Jeff and Scott chat with  Benjamin Angel, the Director for Direct Taxation, Tax Coordination, Economic Analysis and Evaluation at the European Commission. The EC has recently proposed rules that would enable smaller business that have operations across EU countries to have a simplified tax filing process,  reducing compliance costs and making the tax filing process easier.  These rules will allow companies to calculate their tax base according to a common set of rules (not a different base f...

SALT Cap Workaround: A Chat with TaxOps' Stacey Roberts and Meredith Smith

Jeff and Scott chat with two state and local tax experts, Stacey Roberts and Meredith Smith,  about the state and local tax deduction cap put in by Congress  in 2017, and ways states are allowing their residents to get around it. Get CPE for listening to Tax Chats! Free CPE courses are available approximately one week after episodes are published. Visit https://earmarkcpe.com/ to download the free app. Go to the Tax Chats channel, register for the course, take a short quiz, and earn your CP...

Empirically Addressing Repurchase Allegations: A Chat with Nick Guest

In this episode, Jeff and Scott chat with Nick Guest, Assistant Professor of Accounting at Cornell University's SC Johnson  College of Business about a recent study he conducted related to stock repurchases, available published here or in working paper version here.

Generative AI and Taxes: A Chat with BlueJ CEO Benjamin Alarie

Jeff and Scott chat with Benjamin Alarie, a law professor at the University of Toronto, and, the founder and CEO of BlueJ.  They talk about one of BlueJ's products, Ask BlueJ, which is a generative AI system that allows users to ask it technical tax questions, and, get answers. They discuss how responses are quickly improving, how this AI is different from ChatGPT, and, the future of generative AI for tax research. Get CPE for listening to Tax Chats! Free CPE courses are available approxim...

A proposal to (partially) avoid the coming fiscal cliff: Chatting with Natasha Sarin.

Jeff and Scott discussed a new tax proposal with Natasha Sarin, an economist and lawyer at Yale Law School and Yale School of Management. Natasha, in collaboration with Kim Clausing, developed a plan aimed at increasing tax revenue. This plan  also anticipaties several tax provisions expiring in 2025. The proposal, "The Coming Fiscal Cliff: A Blueprint for Tax Reform in 2025," includes the following proposals, among others: Raising the corporate tax rate. Overhauling the current internati...

Advocating for the Taxpayer: Chatting with former National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olsen

Nina Olsen was the National Taxpayer Advocate for the United States, a position overseeing the IRS which was created by Congress and described in the Internal Revenue Code. The National Taxpayer Advocate is responsible for overseeing more than 2,000 employees of the office of the National Taxpayer Advocate.  We discuss the responsibilities of the taxpayer advocate, the creation of the Office of National Taxpayer Advocate, and, the types of work the taxpayer advocate has been engaged in in th...

Chatting about the Whiskey Rebellion with Brady Crytzer

In this episode, we chat with author and historian Brady Crytzer, who recently published "The Whiskey Rebellion: A Distilled History of an American Crisis ". Brady also hosts "Dispatches: The Podcast of the Journal of the American Revolution" Get CPE for listening to Tax Chats! Free CPE courses are available approximately one week after episodes are published. Visit https://earmarkcpe.com/ to download the free app. Go to the Tax Chats channel, register for the course, take a short quiz, an...

Did Vivek Grow Up Rich? Jeff and Scott take a look at Vivek Ramaswamy's tax returns

Jeff was recently asked to opine on whether Republican GOP candidate for president Vivek Ramaswamy grew up with a lot of money. Scott and Jeff dive into Vivek's tax returns for evidence. Get CPE for listening to Tax Chats! Free CPE courses are available approximately one week after episodes are published. Visit https://earmarkcpe.com/ to download the free app. Go to the Tax Chats channel, register for the course, take a short quiz, and earn your CPE certificate. 

How the Treasury Solved Korea's IRA Electric Vehicle Problem: A chat with Chad Bown

The  Inflation Reduction Act extended the provision of  tax incentives for electric vehicles, but, added stipulations that these EVs be produced in North America.  Manufacturers outside of North America, including Korean auto manufacturers, had a problem--would they miss out on these subidies that their customers had previously been getting? Trade economist Chad Bown tells the story about how the US Treasury, by regulation, appears to have solved Korea's problem by regulation. Get CPE for l...

How the Treasury Solved Korea's IRA Electric Vehicle Problem: A chat with Chad Brown

The  Inflation Reduction Act extended the provision of  tax incentives for electric vehicles, but, added stipulations that these EVs be produced in North America.  Manufacturers outside of North America, including Korean auto manufacturers, had a problem--would they miss out on these subidies that their customers had previously been getting? Trade economist Chad Brown tells the story about how the US Treasury, by regulation, appears to have solved Korea's problem by regulation. Get CPE for ...

Moore v USA. A Chat with Jake Brooks

Scott and Jeff Discuss the upcoming Supreme Court case, Moore v. USA, with Jake Brooks, a professor of law at Fordham University. Jake explains that Mr. and Mrs. Moore held shares in an Indian corporation , and, as  a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, faced some $15,000 in taxes. They claim that this tax is unconstitutional, and, the case has implications for many features of our current tax code,  for the TCJA in general, as well as the hopes some  have of taxing unrealized capit...

Happy(?) Birthday, IRA!!!

In honor of the first birthday of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Jeff and Scott discuss the major provisions of the IRA, and references the episodes they have recorded about these provisions. They discuss the green incentives and their changing estimated cost, and, the three major way the IRA was intended to pay for those  incentives--a tax on adjusted financial statement income (which celebrated its first CAMT-iversary),  increasing the budget at the IRS,  and an excise tax on share rep...

Like Kind Exchanges with Eric Tellekamp

The tax law allows taxpayers to trade one piece of property for another piece of property and not recognize any taxable gain. These exchanges are called like kind exchanges, and, in this episode, we chat about them with Eric Tellekamp, a managing director at BDO.

The Property Tax Administrator: A Chat with Jenny Williams

Jeff and Scott chat with Jenny Williams, Tax Administrator with Chatham County, North Carolina. We discuss the ins and outs of property tax collection, including garnishing wages, repossessing assets, and foreclosing on real property. We talk about how the county manages to collect over 95% of property taxes owed. We bust a few myths about property taxes in the process. 

Filing for Freedom: A Chat with James Freeman

We chat with  James Freeman about Filing for Freedom, a non-profit organization that helps military personal comply with the tax law by aiding in the tax return filing process. 

Taxes and the American Revolution: A Chat with Benjamin Carp

Historian Ben Carp talks with us about the role of taxes in the American revolution. Among many other things, we discuss whether taxes were the only grievance the colonists had against Britain, how heavily the colonies were taxed relative to the English in England, and, most importantly, how much of a party was the Boston tea party. Ben is the author of several books, including, relevant to our discussion today, "Defiance of the Patriots: The Boston Tea Party & the Making of America" an...

Transferable tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act. A Chat with Gary Hecimovich

Scott and Jeff chat with Gary Hecimovich about the transferability of tax credits in the post-IRA world, including the markets for tax credits, and how non-profits can now take advantage of the new green energy incentives provided in the Inflation Reduction Act.

Tax Robots: A Chat about Tax Automation with Kelly Necessary

Jeff and Scott Chat with Kelly Necessary, a Partner at FORVIS, a large public accounting firm.  We chat with Kelly about the role of automating routine tax tasks that historically have been very time consuming. We also talk about whether opening envelopes can be mechanized. 

Tax Research Then and Now: Chatting about 30 Years of Tax Research with Joel Slemrod

Scott and Jeff chat with Joel Slemrod, Professor of Economics at the University of Michigan about tax research over the past 30 years.

Chatting about the Pink Tax with Sarah Moshary

In this episode, Scott and Jeff chat with Berkeley Professor of Marketing Sarah Moshary about the Pink Tax. Sarah and co-authors have written a paper that systematically examines the issue. 

Chatting about the Global Tax Landscape with Marna Ricker, EY Global Vice Chair -- Tax

In this episode, Marna Ricker, Global Vice Chair -- Tax at EY joins us from the Milken Institute Global Conference 2003 to discuss the global tax landscape. We get Marna's perspective on the OECD's Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project, the TCJA, and how AI might affect the world of tax practice.

Rich People Who Want to Tax the Rich? A Chat with Morris Pearl.

We chat with Morris Pearl, Chairman of the Board of Patriotic Millionaires, an organization of millionaires who, among other policy objectives, are advocating to alter the tax system so that the rich pay more in tax.

A Taxing Dilemma: A Revenue Riddle with Brian Riedl

Excise Taxes on Firearm Suppressors: A Chat with Silencer Central CEO Brandon Maddox.

We chat with Silencer Central CEO Brandon Maddox about the excise tax stamp on firearm suppressors, which is a $200 federal tax introduced as part of the 1934 National Firearms Act., which is part of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC § 5801 – 5872). We discuss the origins of the tax, its purpose, and how it is implemented today. We discuss the formation of so-called "gun trusts" as legal entities to purchase suppressors. 

Paying Taxes with Cash? Jay Zagorsky Did.

Scott and Jeff chat with Jay Zagorsky from the Questrom School of Business at Boston University about his experience trying to pay his tax bill with cash. We discuss the complexities of paying with cash, and the costs that might be incurred if one does not have access to the traditional banking system. Jay wrote about his article here: Can you pay your taxes with cash? One economist did | Fortune

An NFT for Drinking Coffee at Starbucks? Chatting with Garrett Brodeur about NFTs and Rewards Programs.

Starbucks is piloting a reward program called Odyssey in which members get rewarded with NFTs. We discuss the possible tax consequences to Starbucks and its customers. We also discuss the issues surrounding taxation of NFTs in general.

Chatting about Adam Smith's Tax Maxims.

In "The Wealth of Nations",  Book V, Chapter ii, Adam Smith lays out some fundamental principles of taxation. We discuss some of those principles, and describe how they are still being applied today.

Bias at the BBC? A Chat with Andrew Dilnot about the BBC's coverage of tax-related news.

Scott and Jeff chat with Sir Andrew Dilnot, currently serving of Warden of Nuffield College, Oxford, about his experience evaluating bias in the BBC's coverage of tax-related topics. We discuss the complications reporters face when covering complex economic issues. We review the findings of his recent report entitled "Review of the impartiality of BBC coverage of taxation, public spending, government borrowing and debt."

Can ChatGPT Host Tax Chats? ChatGPT Interviews to Replace an Ailing Scott

Jeff asks ChatGPT a series of tax-related questions, and Scott evaluates the answers.

Remembering When The Corporate Tax was Accidentally Cancelled. A Chat with Jim Wetzler.

We chat with James Wetzler about the time a legislative mistake accidentally abolished the corporate tax in 1975. This leads to other discussions, including when the New York State Tax Authorities tried to impose sales tax on a kids lemonade stand, the dilemma that arose when the tax authorities seized pornographic videos from a delinquent taxpayer, and the strange situation where an IRS auditor uncovered evidence of a murder. Near the end, we also briefly discuss the deterrent effect of th...

Racial Disparity in Tax Audits? A Chat with Evelyn Smith and Hadi Elzayn about their study "Measuring and Mitigating Racial Disparities in Tax Audits"

Scott and Jeff chat with Evelyn Smith and Hadi Elzayn, two of the seven coauthors on a recent working paper entitled "Measuring and Mitigating Racial Disparities in Tax Audits." We ask them details about the paper. We find that the unconditional audit disparity between (estimated) black tax payers and (estimated) non-black taxpayers  is about 5%. We ask about the conditional disparity. The authors explain that conditional on some factors the disparity remains. We discuss what constitutes an...

Chatting about President Biden's 2023 State of the Union Address

President Biden gave the State of the Union address last night. Scott and Jeff talk about the tax components of the address. They discuss large corporations which pay little in tax, billionaires who pay little in tax, and taxing share repurchases., and "apples and elephants comparisons."   Also, Jeff explains why it is impossible for pretty much any taxpayer, let alone those making under $400K a year, to pay a penny more in taxes under any of President Biden's current or former tax proposal...

Tax Disclosure: A Chat with Ryan Gurule of the Fact Coalition

In this episode, Scott and Jeff speak with Ryan Gurule of the FACT Coalition about the types of things companies disclose about taxes in their public filings. We talk about what is good and not so good, and we discuss some of the possible changes that might be made. We recorded this episode on November 1, 2022. Later in the year, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) announce an update to its "Improvements to Tax Disclosures" project. The proposals are well aligned with what we dis...

Tax Credit Markets: A Chat with Bryen Alperin

Scott and Jeff chat with Bryen Alperin about tax credit markets. It is often the case that a company that might earn a tax credit can't use it because it has insufficient income. This creates an opportunity for multilateral tax planning, wherein institutions with large tax bills partner with entities that generate tax credits to take take advantage of tax savings.

Re-release: Martin Luther King Jr.'s Tax Perjury Trial: A Chat with Edgar Dyer

This episode originally aired on January 15, 2022. Martin Luther King Jr. is the only person to have ever been tried for perjury with regards to state income taxes in Alabama. Jeff and Scott interview Edgar Dyer about the tax perjury trial of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1960. Eddie wrote an article entitled "A Triumph of Justice in Alabama: The 1960 Perjury Trial of Martin Luther King, Jr." Fred Grey, Martin Luther King's attorney, said of the trial, "No one would have predicted that an all-...

Bury your NFT in a Graveyard for Tax Savings: A Chat with David Kemmerer, CEO of Coinledger.

Scott and Jeff chat with David Kemmerer, Co-Founder and CEO of CoinLedger. Our conversation focuses, in part, on the NFT Loss Harvestooor, which is a tool designed to allow investors to dispose of NFTs such that they can claim the tax deduction. The NFT Graveyard is the final resting place of NFTs that were once worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, but are now worth essentially nothing.

Attacking Taxing Sovereignty? A Chat with Leopoldo Parada about the OECD's Inclusive Framework

Scott and Jeff chat with Leopoldo Parada, professor of law at University of Leeds about the inequities that Pillar II of the OECD's Inclusive Framework impose on developing countries.