Repeat as Necessary: Historical IRS Policy Weapons to Combat Conduit Captive Insurance Company Deductible Purchases of Life Insurance

Beckett G. Cantley, Repeat as Necessary: Historical IRS Policy Weapons to Combat Conduit Captive Insurance Company Deductible Purchases of Life Insurance, 13 U.C. Davis Bus. L.J. 1 (2012). Summary.  This article argues that the IRS is likely to view an arrangement where a small business owner funds a CIC for the primary purpose of obtaining deductions on owner-insider life insurance premium payments as similarly abusive to prior listed transactions involving IRC § 419 plans, IRC § 412(e)(3) plans, and IRC § 831(b) PORCs, as well as in violation of its historical tax enforcement policies against discriminatory insider tax benefits, and improper uses of key man life insurance.  The article states that the IRS should view the use of an entity as a direct conduit for achieving an impermissible tax-deductible premium payment in the same manner as it would the taxpayer taking the deduction directly.  This article discusses (1) the history of IRS enforcement and tax policy in combating improper tax uses of life insurance, and (2) evaluates the likely success of applying these historical arguments to establish that insider life insurance premiums are not deductible, nor should any tax-deducted funds be used to purchase such policies.

Environmental Protection or Mineral Theft: Potential Application of the Fifth Amendment Takings Clause to U.S. Termination of Unpatented Mining Claims

Beckett G. Cantley, Environmental Protection or Mineral Theft: Potential Application of the Fifth Amendment Takings Clause to U.S. Termination of Unpatented Mining Claims, Wash. & Lee 4 J. Energy Climate & Env’t 203 (2013). Summary.  This article discusses how the invalidation and withdrawal of an otherwise valid unpatented mining claim may constitute a compensable 5th Amendment taking by the federal government. The article provides some background on federal mining claims, and discusses: (1) the process of locating and maintaining an unpatented claim; (2) the process and requirements of claim patenting; (3) the relative benefits of patenting; (4) the federal land withdrawal power under the Antiquities Act; and, most importantly, (5) 5th Amendment takings issues, including: (a) the effect of increased regulatory compliance costs, in general; (b) the effect of federal land withdrawals of otherwise valid unpatented mining claims; (c) procedures for litigating mining claim contests; and (d) a former unpatented claimholder’s standing to sue or intervene in a mining claim contest.

Environmental Preservation and the Fifth Amendment: The Use and Limits of Conservation Easements by Regulatory Taking and Eminent Domain

Becket G. Cantley, Environmental Preservation and the Fifth Amendment: The Use and Limits of Conservation Easements by Regulatory Taking and Eminent Domain, Hastings West-Northwest Journal of Environmental Law & Policy, Vol. 20, No. 215 (2014). Summary.  Successful preservation of environmentally and historically significant property requires the utilization of various innovative land conservation strategies. The government has three alternative land conservation strategies, including (1) using the police power to issue environmental and land use regulations; (2) the use of the eminent domain power over environmentally sensitive lands; and (3) the use of conservation easement programs.

Current Tax Issues with Captive Insurance Companies

Beckett G. Cantley & F. Hale Stewart, Current Tax Issues with Captive Insurance Companies, The Business Lawyer (ABA Business Law Section), January 2014 (online edition). Summary: In this article published with the American Bar Association, Prof. Cantley and F. Hale Stewart provide an overview of several current IRS compliance issues with captive insurance companies. Current Tax Issues with Captive Insurance Companies | Business Law Section

Risks Posed by the IRS Offshore Crackdown and Recent Case Law to International IRC 831(b) Captive Insurance Companies

Beckett G. Cantley & Bruce G. Luna, Captive Insurance Company Premium Loan Backs: Proper Investment or Improper Return of Capital?, Captive Visions Magazine (March 2014). Summary: This article by Profs. Cantley and Luna discusses the risks inherent in a captive insurance company (CIC) loaning paid-in premiums back to the joint owners of the CIC and insured business. CIC Premium Loan Backs Proper Investment or Improper Return of Capital?