Taxation Law Books

First, note that the rapid change of telecommunications technology and regulations makes it virtually impossible to keep a book fully up-to-date. Brock's book brings us up to 1994, and there have been significant changes since then. This immediately noticeable shortcoming is true with every book in this field, so we will not address it further.

Brock paints a very readable and generally clear idea of telecommunications regulation, starting with a few chapters on theory. The philosophical underpinnings of regulation are of some interest, but we know that regulators do not study philosophy before making decisions. The concept that the U.S. system is set up so that there are many "regulators" often acting at cross purposes is an amazing one, given the incredible success of telecommunications in the U.S. The idea that such a successful system could appear so chaotic is worth noting, and Brock is the first author I have seen that praises the current system.

Brock's presentation of history to about 1980 is just wonderful. You will gain a real feeling for why the U.S. system operates the way it does.

Information after 1980 is not presented as clearly. In part, I think this is because Brock personally remembers what happened then, and has difficulty editing out the less significant events of that period.

Overall, the reader is advised to develop a timeline of events to reduce confusion. Brock should include one, but does not.

Brock also addresses in a very limited fashion how things should work with data traffic greater than voice traffic. It was easier to get away with that in 1994 when data traffic was still much less than voice traffic, but impossible to avoid seven years later in 2001.

With all that said, there is no book that presents this information more clearly. It just needs some editing of events from 1980 to 1994, an update into the 21st century, a timeline, and more consideration of regulations for data traffic.

This is an excellent book, it introduces the economists in topics that they are usually treated by philosophers and to the philosophers in topics that they are usually treated by economists. With an interesting proposal of the equality of opportunities, it uses the instrumental one intensively mathematical.

Since nobody's reviewed this much at all (I only read the TaxAnalyst's review of this book before I even thought of purchasing this) I guess I might as well be the first one on Amazon to review this.

First off just going to state that I'm currently a Master's-Tax, CFA level II candidate that has passed the US CPA exam so I do have some knowledge of this topic, as well as valuation, accounting practices, etc. No real-life experience, however. Basically going to give my perspective on the most of the book I have read so far (otherwise I'll probably forget to review, as I'll be busy after the end of Spring Break). I'm also assuming if you're even here you have some understanding of tax law--without it, this book can be a rather slow read.

First, the bad. While the book itself is quite small--approx. 320 pages, less than full-size hard-cover--and therefore terse, there are times when the points that transfer pricing rules in the various countries are unclear, perhaps unfair, etc. are reiterated way too much. It also talks about documentation to a good degree (a big requirement, as anyone who has any small understanding of T/P would know). However, as a student I expected much more with regard to this and perhaps some prime examples. It basically went on with the fact that the documentations requirements for, say, the US are not only high, but very hazy and therefore leaves companies vulnerable to the IRC Sec. 6662 penalties for TP adjustments. Considering that the book is on TP AND intangibles, I guess the lack of any available real-life examples should not be surprising. (If the book had at least given one descriptive example, even if theoretical, I would have gladly given 5 stars for this review.) Another odd thing was that intangible valuation for taxation purposes was not really per se discussed. As many would call this an art form, I'll refrain from commenting on this, and perhaps the author was just being smart in not discussing it either, as the valuation for such items are often delegated to independent third party valuation houses anyway. Just as an aside though, my understanding is that there are some fairly useful US cases on such intagible valuation/taxation if one looks for it, so it's not so bad.

As for the outline of the book, the first third of the book basically concerns itself with transfer pricing methodologies, the second third documentation requirements/penalties, and the last third mostly on APAs (I guess this part would be important mainly for practitioners with Fortune 500 size clients. The use of APAs, while growing, is only something very specialized practitioners will run into or consider.)

I felt that the recommendations near the end of certain issues were somewhat helpful. The book discusses the merits/shortfalls about global formulary apportionment as a solution to the "arms-length standard" and brings up a concise, and as far as I know, correct, understanding of the formulary apportionment used by the states in the US. I thought this was a nice touch, as reading the Code and pertinent regulations would not lead me to a discussion of such a possible, long-run alternative for the "arms-length standard." There were also occasionally requirements of different countries brought up as well (such as Japan) when they coincided with, for example, the OECD regulations/guidelines. That was a nice touch as well.

In conclusion therefore I found that the book, even though published in 2005, was still quite helpful in giving me more detail about the "logic" and pitfalls of transfer pricing rules in the US and OECD. The writing style is to the point, and leaves a lot of the rules to the footnotes and concentrates on the effect of these rules, somewhat similar to the writing style of Bittker & Eustice (which I like, by the way.) Hard to say if its worth the $150+ retail, considering that it is relatively short for such a tax topic. But at the same time I felt its a lot better than the repetition I often find in large tax books such as those published by Hellerstein. This is the kind of book one reads to get a better understanding, but probably does not really refer to afterwards for said topic. Overall I can definitely discuss this topic much much better now but I'm sure engaging this in the real-world will still be a rough ride. I personally didn't mind shelling out the dough for such analysis.

Hope this helps.

The U.S. Income Tax is a great way to introduce yourself to tax policy in the united states. It does a great job at showing the issues of why the system must be reformed. Also it show how political tax reform gets inside congress, and how this causes reform to stall. In the end it shows several diffrent, and inovative, ideas for tax reform. One of the key strengths of this book is it takes a totally non-partisan look at tax reform. Something that is rather difficult to do.

The problems with this book come in being way to verbose. It could have easily been shortened.

Overall a great book for anyone intersted in knowing more about tax policy!

I purchased this book to understand some aspects of secured transactions and related matters of the Uniform Commercial Code. While I am no lawyer, I have some knowledge of law as a banker. I found this book to be useful and well designed. The coverage is quite broad in scope and deep in time as well. Stone explains the impact of each provision in terms of the latest UCC revision as well as previous versions. He also provides several examples and the text is very well cross referenced with UCC provisions and related cases. The language too is simple without being condescending. I don't know about professional lawyers or law students but as a manager with some knowledge of the law, I found the book helpful in answering my questions. At the very least, it helped me build up some basic knowledge and better prepared me for the ensuing legal consultations.

The Text provides a good treatment of federal taxation. But it was a bit over done instead of getting to the point. Good preparation fot the CPA exam.

I bought this book because of the great reviews, because I was looking for something new, and because of the emphasis from some reviews here on Amazon on the World War II sections.

But overall, this book is first and foremost about life in american suburbia - the very powerful World War II chapters occupy at best 20-25% of the book, and don't kick in until about half way through. So much of the remainder of the book reverted to why people have a hard time making deep friendships or building satisfactory family relationships in typical, affluent american neighborhoods. Some parts here were very touching, particularly the one about the Hickey's, but others seemed forced, particularly the Liv-Renny relationship. The sequence of events towards the end strains credulity, and I found the "happy" ending dissatisfying.'

I dont usually identify with books in set in america suburbia. In this case, I came out somewhat satisfied. At the very least, I finished the book (in two days), which is already saying something given that I was unable to do so when I tried books by Richard Ford and Tim Obrien which also had great reviews. But it will take another book to make me a fan of this genre.

Ah, the unreliable narrator. Lee has an excellent command of the English language, as always present in his novels. This element is always an interesting juxtaposition in the lives of his characters--as it is often assumed that immigrants would be clumsy and ignorant when speaking in a non-native language (which is also a reference to one of his other works, Native-Speaker).

Doc, who is called Doc by all the towns residents, is not a doctor at all, one of many ironic details of his life. He is excellent proof that inaction and not making active choices are in fact action and active choices. A man with a weak heart, literally and metaphorically, Doc Hata misrepsents himself his whole life, or lets others believe things about him that aren't quite true, nor are they false.

A work of slippery truths, examples of how memory is distorted and frail, liminal spaces, and unexpected twists, this novel provides an excellent literary and thought-provoking journey.

A Gesture Life. The very title of this novel intrigued me. What exactly would that look/feel/sound like? Then I pulled the book from the shelf and was no less satisfied but all the more compelled by its cover---at once dreamy, theatrical, beautiful in some classic way...

Now that I have finished this book I can say "Yes, I certainly know what Chang-rae Lee means by A Gesture Life. This work is phenomenal in ways that lull the reader into a sense of "All is right with the world", only to have that world up-ended by layers-deep revelations...some coming in cumulative fashion, others coming at you so fast you've no time to 'duck' [or even consider the possibility]. Then again, there are those illuminations that you believe you understand, only to find they stretch and grow larger, and at times, to the point of inconceiveablity.

Lee's writing is on par with the finest I've ever had the experience to read. It is breathtaking in its poetic beauty, haunting in its relentlessness, transcendental in its offering of this amazing life of Doc Hata, its main character. I am left struck with so many new awarenesses, and simple relief for the realizations brought to light within the pages of this book. I often imagined HOW Lee kept himself composed to write many parts within it. Lee's ability to empathize and lend grace to unspeakable circumstances is immeasurable.

Remarkable, astounding, honest work. I am grateful to know this author's work and will now seek out everything else he has to share with us.

Bravo, Bravo, Bravo.

child's play, that's the impression one gets upon reading chang-rae lee's gesture life, child's play in the sense that the author is at home in english as no other writer currently wielding this thing we've assigned our globe's lingua franca. maybe i exaggerate a little, but there is no denying the talent, the effortless grace with which chang-rae lee can evoke an image, intercalate a dialogue with a telling descriptive detail, and sustain a narrative without resorting to gimmicks or fancy word play. mastery of diction, syntax, narrative structure and style, they're all there for the aspiring novelist to envy and admire and the casual reader to blissfully ignore as the story and the plot is as equally elegant, profound and compelling. buy the book or steal it if you must, just get the darn thing and read. you'll be doing yourself a favor.

Franklin Hata (or "Doc Hata," as he is known to the residents of Bedley Run) is a friendly and polite, if reserved and serene, septuagenarian who is considered by his neighbors as a stalwart member of the community. Of Korean birth, he was adopted and raised by a family in Japan and entered the Japanese Army during Second World War before emigrating to the United States. In spite of his efforts to immerse himself first in his Japanese homeland and then in American suburbia, he never becomes fully part of either culture.

The conflicted protaganist of "A Gesture Life" is also a reluctant narrator of his own life. Having spent seven decades building a facade of decorum, he hides failures and misfortunes from the reader, revealing them glacially as he accounts for the loneliness in his old age, as well as for his ultimate inability to fill roles others expect of him--and he expects of himself.

Hata's story revolves around the presence of five women, and he sheds his secretiveness as he introduces and portrays each of them. Foremost is his adopted Korean daughter, Sunny, who as a youth gradually rebelled against his propriety and his remoteness and who scorns the dreams he has envisioned for her future. Repulsed and even embarrassed by his artificiality, she tells him spitefully, "You make a whole life out of gestures and politeness."

Hata also becomes close (or as close as his politesse will allow) to three women in the community: a neighbor with whom he has a brief affair, a realtor who wants to put his immaculately kept home on the market, and the mother of a terminally ill son who, along with her husband, buys Hata's medical supplies shop when he retires.

But a central conceit of the novel is a lesser-known aspect of the Pacific war. We gradually realize that Hata's relationship with his daughter is an unsuccessful attempt at redemption for his involvement, as a medical officer in the Japanese army, with the Korean "comfort women" who were enticed to volunteer for service and then forced to be prostitutes--and particularly for one of the women, Kkutaeh, who suffers horrendously on his watch.

Lee's novel is notable for its dichotomy: Hata's quiet mien and the seemingly calm first-person narrative conflict sharply with the tragedies and the strife he witnesses and reluctantly recalls. "A Gesture Life" is a study of a man so concerned with always doing the right thing that he inevitably does the wrong one. It is only when he confronts his past that he truly finds redemption.

When George Washington was president, taxes were few. Since then, times have really gotten expensive. The 20th century especially was an arms race between the governments in the United States and its citizens to determine who would control the citizens' income. Government was on the offense and the citizens were on the defense. The citizens lost to date. Taxes went from less than 5 percent of income to 40 percent over that time. Most would agree that we cannot afford another century like that one.

This book nicely lays out the history of taxes that take more income and waste a lot of time and effort in the process. The author looks at sales taxes, withholding taxes at work, the marriage penalty in the income tax, whether the housing deduction for interest and taxes is a good thing or not, the problems with taxes on domestic help, property taxes and school support, the social security system, and estate taxes.

She doesn't like much of what she sees, and is concerned that reform could simply lead to adding new types of taxes (like a national sales tax while keeping all of the old taxes).

The newer the tax or tax idea, it seems like the worse it is working.

Her solutions are basically principles to be followed in reforming taxes. I doubt if they will be followed anytime soon. Recent polls show that most Americans are concerned about paying off the national debt and fixing social security before doing anything about cutting taxes.

Although most of her observations were good ones, I was a little doubtful about her automatic focus on the high income people being taken to the cleaners unfairly. There was not as much attention paid to benefits that lower income people may be receiving.

If you spend time thinking about how to keep your tax bill down, there's not much new in this book. If you are new to all of the ways that government helps you spend your money, this is a good introduction to the subject.

The book is well written and pleasant to read. The only drawback I found was that it was a little depressing to be reminded of how much I actually pay to all of the various governments. Every year, I find April 15 more and more depressing.

I just don't understand how it's considered "greedy" for me to want to keep all of the money I have worked to earn -- but it's somehow NOT greedy and/or lazy and/or selfish for someone to want the government to provide his health care (or pay him when he is unemployed) with money that has simply been confiscated from some other person who performed the work to earn that money. Can somebody explain that to me, please?

This book has so many historical distortions, simplistic arguments, and blind-passion its tough to know where to start. So I'll confine my review to some of the obvious problems she either ignores or skates over...

To begin with, Shlaes completely ignores the international picture. Amazingly, America is the LEAST taxed developed nation in the world, yet has the largest military forces (bigger than the next 10 nations COMBINED), the largest road network, the largest criminal justice system, the largest education system, the largest number of public funded colleges, the largest (combined) police force, the largest number of professional fire-fighters and so on and so on. All these huge organisations cost huge amounts of money; a simple yet devastating fact Shales prefers to ignore. Instead she talks of waste and corruption. Well, those are probably inevitable, given the mind-blowing size and complexity of the organisations the US has.

Then there's the whining and angry (although passive and prosperous) American middle class, provided with free education, subsidised housing (tax cuts for home buyers), subsidised gasoline, subsidised roads, and so on. In fact this class has some claim to be the most subsidised group in the country.

Shales may well be aware of the major paradoxes I've outlined above; how else to explain her hopelessly weak suggestions (worthy of a High School debate) on reforming and and streamlining the system?

Ultimately, like every other commentator and politician, Shales cannot escape the contradiction that American citizens have grown to demand and expect the best from their government, yet (unlike any other aspect of national and private life) they expect the best to be provided for almost nothing, as if by magic, by a mysterious entity called "Washington."

Without a major rethink of American citizen's expectations and the country's world role, any talk of significant tax cuts will remain limited to misty-eyed dreamers like Shales and her followers.

Equalization tax policies directly forcing tax payers redistribute educational monies equally on education. Equalization does not work. It's a socialistic virus starting in Wilmington, Delaware and moved to Maine in 1970 and eventually hit Texas. The most important question facing tax payers is can equality of education spending buy equal performance? The truth suggests the more money pumped into a school has no direct correlation in producing better students. Equalization did not improve test scores. Force distribution of wealth never works.

The Vermont Supreme Court declared local tax policy paying for local school funding as unconstitutional. The court ruled it is not alright to spend more money for one student than another. The racial discrimination protection provided in Brown verse the Board of Education was wrongly applied to economic equality for education. It is wrong because education equality is not a constitutional protected right. The old system made available local taxes paying for ¾ of the cost of school. Money was collected locally and sent to the state and $5,000 returned for each student. Forced equal spending was supported by the Democrats and opposed by the Republicans with Governor Howard Dean supporting equalization.

In 1997, Vermont passed Act 60 generating tax policy effecting 251 towns, splitting the town into two groups: receiving towns (receivers of tax benefits) and senders (receivers of tax cuts). The impact was immediately felt; Dorset received a double property tax portion, Montpelier exposed $680 million dollars in property tax to change, Stratton and Winhall were hit the hardest with a seven fold increase in property tax.

In Serrano verses Priest the court ruled that parts of California must spend about the same amount per pupil. The court case ended local property tax and started plans to force richer neighborhoods to support poorer neighborhoods. Proposition 13 was a defensive measure by citizens too put a tax cap against rising property taxes and set off a national tax cutting effort leading to the Tax Reform Act of 1986 by Ronald Reagan.

Serrano went against traditional school funding structure. Historically, most State Constitutions defined school funding to be provided by local taxes. Here is an excerpt: "A school or schools shall be established in each town by the legislature, for the convenient instruction of youth, with such salaries to the masters to be paid by the town, making proper use of school lands in each town, thereby to enable them to instruct youth a low price." Bottom line, local taxes spent locally is acceptable. It is acceptable because the individual can see what their money has bought and if people don't like what they see, a tax cut will occur. The PTA attempts to reconnect parents to the value added for their child's education. In 1990, $30 million in charitable gifts were funneled through the PTA. If reconnection fails forced tax equalization will have devastating impact on the public system. If money can't buy performance and if complex qualification terms for school monies drive administers into a rat maze, parent will start to examine methods to take back control. Small towns will replace public schools with private schools. Towns are competing for families through their schools, parks, and safety assurances. People will pay money, if they believe their children are getting a desired quality of education, if they don't get the expected education value, they will move to towns were they can get a quality education. People vote with their feet, the Tiebout theory advocated by Charles Tiebout, in 1950.

As the title says this is silly, political posturing by
someone who has hers and doesn't particularly care if people
are out of work. Maybe she doesn't care if you're on the dole.

This is a very good guide to helping a small business owner realize the American dream (working for yourself, not collecting welfare). The author states several times throughout the book when the advise of an attorney or CPA is recommended. The language is easy to read and understand and not filled with his industry jargon. He even states the obvious in some instances (a speeding ticket in the company vehicle is not a tax write-off, for example). I was able to fill out the necessary forms to start my business in a short amount of time and can refer to the book for a review of the tax forms required for my business. I highly recommend this book.

I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO FULLY UTILIZE ALL OF THE INFORMATION IN THIS BOOK, ONLY BECAUSE IT ALL DOESN'T APPLY TO ME, BUT THE INFORMATION THAT DOES APPLY TO ME HAS BEEN VERY HELPFUL. THIS IS A GOOD INVESTMENT FOR ALL.

This is a book for rookies. If you are starting out in business this may have some value. It really is nothing more than a list with little paragraph information reference the list. Areas where further information would be of value are concise and a reference made to an IRS document. It could be condensed to about 5 pages in length.

I've done small business consulting and this is one of the few books I keep in my library. For the small business owner or individual this book hits the basics and will keep you categorizing correctly so that your tax person has correct information. It is a GREAT place to start.

This book didn't hold my attention very long. I figured instead of learning all this stuff I'd keep good records and take the information to an accountant.

This book was not informative at all. There was no insight into the legal aspects of the music business. I was extremely disappointed in the content. This book was all about entertainment law in California. It did not give an overview of business law or business law practices. The title is quite misleading! Please do not waste your money on this book. I will give you mine if you'd like to have it. I will probably donate it to the library. I am sure that you will feel the same way that I do once you purchase this book...disappointed! Find another book to purchase that will live up it its name. This one did not!!

When my Entertainment Law professor told his partners that he was going to start practicing Entertainment Law they weren't quite sure exactly what it was he was doing. They called it "Voo Doo Law", and honestly, it's not entirely untrue.

As in any business, agreements are necessary to hold parties accountable, define rights and responsibilities, and to give all parties terms they can reasonably rely on so that business can move forward. The Music Business is no different, but it has its own peculiar quirks, traditions, and problems.

This book takes all kinds of agreements between the many parties required to make a profitable, creative musical endeavor. The Author goes through band incorporation agreements, management contracts, recording and publishing agreements and explains them in ways that will benefit everyone from the aspiring 'band manager' to the experienced attorney looking to get a grasp on a new field of law.

Mr. Schulenberg examines every area of music contracts and gives plenty of demonstrations of contract language benefiting the Artist or the parties with whom the Artist is dealing.

This book also does an excellent job of addressing copyright and trademark law applicable to the music industry and giving thoughtful examination of how the digital download phenomenon is affecting the business in general.

Many people get al excited when they first try to get into the music business only to get shot down by the many intricate twists and turns involving all the legal aspects of running a record label. Mountains of forms and paperwork with no understanding slowly stack up on the producer's desk with no end in site. The situation is a cry for help and that help comes in the form of information, information obtained by reading this very interesting book that details all that is involved with law aspects of this kind.

This book was so boring but it is necessary and I'm glad it exists. You do need a lawyer to absorb it or at least when you're negotiating your own contract. Reading it made me feel smarter and more boring. I could have done without the cheesy quotes. The other thing that gets me is that I have been offered contracts that look nothing like what's in this book by the same people that are on the "Billboard" chair committees etc. so it makes me wonder if what is published here is truly "industry standard".

This is (for the most part), clearly written in a straightforward manner, but you'll waste a lot of time if you don't already have a foundation.

Prerequisites:

1. "Everything You Need To Know About The Music Business" (Donald Passman)
2. "Music Law: How to Run Your Band's Business" (Richard Stim)