The Cure Causes New Symptoms: Capital Control Effects of Tax Enforcement, Gold Regulation and Retirement Reform

Beckett G. Cantley, The Cure Causes New Symptoms: Capital Control Effects of Tax Enforcement, Gold Regulation and Retirement Reform, 7 S.C. J.Int’l L. & Bus. 75 (2010). Summary.  This article discusses the potential intended or unintended capital control effect of certain tax and non-tax US policies that cumulatively make investing offshore more burdensome, make investing in gold more precarious, and would radically shift the capital currently flowing into private retirement account investment vehicles into a new US government controlled retirement system at a time when the US government is running a huge deficit. This paper discusses the concepts of international and domestic capital control, the current actions of the government referenced above, and the capital control effect of these government actions.

The U.B.S. Case: the U.S. Attack on Swiss Banking Sovereignty

Beckett G. Cantley, The U.B.S. Case: the U.S. Attack on Swiss Banking Sovereignty. 7 B.Y.U. Int’l L. & Mgmt. Rev. 1 (2011). Summary.  This article’s focus is on dissecting the intricacies and arguments surrounding the U.S. attack on offshore banking in an attempt to curtail, arguably, rampant tax evasion, followed by a detailed look into the development, policy implications, and consequences of the U.S. v. UBS AG case.

The New Section 1202 Tax-Free Business Sale: Congress Rewards Small Businesses that Survived the Great Recession

Beckett G. Cantley, The New Section 1202 Tax-Free Business Sale: Congress Rewards Small Businesses that Survived the Great Recession, 17 Fordham J. Corp. & Fin. L. 1127 (2012). Summary.  This article provides an overview of the IRC Section 1202 tax-free business sale provision, the history behind the development of the IRC amendments, the apparent intent for enacting the provision, the likelihood it will achieve its purposes, the statute’s ambiguities, and some policy implications of creating a tax-free business sale provision.

The Forgotten Taxation Landmine: Application of the Accumulated Earnings Tax to IRC § 831(b) Captive Insurance Companies

Beckett G. Cantley, The Forgotten Taxation Landmine: Application of the Accumulated Earnings Tax to IRC § 831(b) Captive Insurance Companies, 11 Rich. J. Global L. & Bus. 159 (2012.   Summary.  This article discusses: (1) the requirements, benefits, and tax attributes of an IRC § 831(b) captive insurance company (“CIC”); (2) an overview of the Accumulated Earnings Tax (“AET”) and the reasonable needs test which must be met to avoid the AET; and (3) the potential future application of the AET to an IRC § 831(b) CIC and the negative results that could arise if the IRS chooses to do so.  Given that the IRS has yet to announce any policy about applying the AET to combat the growth of this popular tax arrangement, this article seeks to analyze how the IRS may prospectively make use of this tool and how CIC owners and managers should conduct themselves to not run afoul of the IRS.

Steering Into the Storm: Amplification of Captive Insurance Company Compliance Issues in the Offshore Tax Crackdown

Beckett G. Cantley, Steering Into the Storm: Amplification of Captive Insurance Company Compliance Issues in the Offshore Tax Crackdown, 12 Hous. Bus. & Tax L.J. 224 (2012). Summary.  This article provides: (1) a discussion on the compliance issues surrounding the use of CICs; (2) a detailed discussion of the progression of the IRS offshore crackdown; (3) an analysis of the rationales for choosing an offshore jurisdiction for forming a CIC; and (4) a discussion of the IRS crackdown’s potential negative effect on the choice to utilize an offshore IRC § 831(b) CIC.