Tax Lawyers At the Movies

This post probably would have been à propos April 15, but it's still interesting. From Paul Caron's Tax Prof blog, here are "Tax Movies," courtesy of guest blogger Robert G. Nassau at Syracuse Law.

In addition to the films mentioned, I'd suggest such goodies as Catch Me If You Can (2002) (the story of impersonator Frank Abagnale, Jr.), Jean de Florette (1986), Stranger Than Fiction (2006) (an IRS auditor can suddenly hear someone narrating his life), The Main Event (1979) (tax shelter), The Widow's Might (2009) (a widow fights back against property taxes), and Billy Bathgate (1991) (tax evasion). Check out www.imdb.com for additional films on taxes and their effect on life, the universe, and everything.

Tax and Shakespeare

Ellen P. Aprill, Loyola Law School (Los Angeles, has published "A Tax Lawyer's Interpretation of Shakespeare," at 13 ABA Section of Taxation News Quarterly 13 (Fall 2009). Here is the abstract.

Shakespeare has been quoted and invoked in numerous contexts, but, inexplicably, the insights his immortal words bring to tax law have been ignored. This short and lighthearted piece begins to fill that gap. Expanding on my remarks in accepting the 2009 Dana Latham Memorial Award from the Los Angeles County Bar Association Taxation Section, I discuss quotations from Shakespeare’s plays that illuminate important tax doctrines.

Download the paper from SSRN at the link.

Aprill. What an auspicious name for a tax professor.