Show Me the Numbers...Please

Abstract

Professor Willis responds to a Letter to the Editor published in Tax Notes on Oct. 8, 2001, and expands on his special report of Oct. 1, 2001.

He again argues that the historic Schlude doctrine should be overruled. To prove the thesis, he uses examples from two prior Tax Notes articles, concluding that the pro-Schlude analysis is flawed.

Primarily, the article counters the claim that overruling Schlude for recipients would necessitate treating payors similarly. Intuitively, that proposition seems valid; however, it does not stand scrutiny.

After demonstrating that the issues involve quantifiable factors, Willis challenges the pro-Schlude lobby to produce similar calculations supporting their theory.

Further, to defeat the earlier claim that the ideal (imputed interest) method of accounting for prepaid services is too complex, Professor Willis publishes an anti-Schlude calculator in JavaScript, which will compute the necessary deferrals and imputed interest.

Finally, he suggests that some tax law (code and regulations) be written in computer code rather than traditional English.