Introduction to the Tax Simplification Symposium

[Excerpt] Ours is a voluntary tax system. That is, we rely, in large measure, upon the honesty of the citizens to report and pay the correct amount of tax. However, as another April 15 has come and gone, we realize that this reliance casts an increasingly larger and larger burden upon the citizens, even amidst some of the largest tax cuts in history. Why? In 2000, 71 million Americans paid an estimated $14.7 billion to paid tax preparers.1 The most prevalent reason is that most Americans are afraid to have errors on their return. Despite the fact that the Internal Revenue Service publishes detailed instructions, preparing a tax return is a frightening (and time-consuming) prospect for millions. The IRS estimates that, on average, it takes over 13 hours to prepare just the two page 1040 form, and an additional five and a half hours to prepare Schedule A.

A National Tax Bar: An End to the Attorney-Accountant Tax Turf War

Although current case law is divided regarding when an accountant is practicing law, this Article will explore different approaches to this problem. Specifically, Part II of this Article explores which entities control the regulation of the legal profession. Next, Part III examines the impact of the state courts on the issue of unauthorized legal practice. Part IV touches on the related issue of privilege and the treatment of attorney-client privilege in the context of tax practice. Further, Part V considers whether tax practice should be considered the practice of law, and Part VI of this Article examines the legal profession\u27s obligation to regulate the practice of law. Finally, Part VII proposes new educational requirements and the establishment of a tax bar to assure the public of some minimum standard of education and competency in the area of taxation

Justice Scalia\u27s Tax Jurisprudence

Justice Scalia is an outspoken conservative acclaimed for his remarkable intellect and scholarship, and is noted for his adherence to the principle of judicial restraint. He pursues what he insists is an originalist path that relies on the Constitution\u27s actual text in decision-making. He works hard to try to maintain constitutional interpretation that does not change from case to case. So what happens when an originalist --concerned that Congress writes imprecise legislation and then leaves its interpretation and application in the hands of administrative agencies or, worse yet, the courts-is forced to deal with tax issues? This article takes a look at whether Scalia has been successful in trying to construct a coherent theory of constitutional interpretation that does not change from case to case, when those cases involve tax issues

On the volatility of volatility

The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) Volatility Index, VIX, is calculated based on prices of out-of-the-money put and call options on the S&P 500 index (SPX). Sometimes called the "investor fear gauge," the VIX is a measure of the implied volatility of the SPX, and is observed to be correlated with the 30-day realized volatility of the SPX. Changes in the VIX are observed to be negatively correlated with changes in the SPX. However, no significant correlation between changes in the VIX and changes in the 30-day realized volatility of the SPX are observed. We investigate whether this indicates a mispricing of options following large VIX moves, and examine the relation to excess returns from variance swaps.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures, LaTe

Editorial

Editorial by Stephen Black

An Historical and Archaeological Assessment of the Proposed San Antonio Botanical Center

During late July and early August, 1976, the Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas at San Antonio conducted an archaeological and historical assessment of the proposed San Antonio Botanical Center. The project was authorized by the City of San Antonio Department of Parks and Recreation, Ronald Darner, Director. The archaeological and historical investigations at the proposed Botanical Center were carried out under the terms of Permit for Archaeological Investigation, No. 122, issued by the Texas Antiquities Committee

CYBERDAMAGES

CYBERDAMAGE