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Agenda

Thursday, May 2, 2013

8:00 a.m.

Continental Breakfast 

8:15 a.m.

Welcome

John Charles Boger, Dean and Wade Edwards Distinguished Professor of Law

8:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.

Recent Federal Income Tax Developments

Martin J. McMahon, Jr., Stephen C. O'Connell Professor of Law, Fredric G. Levin College of Law, University of Florida and Daniel L. Simmons, Professor of Law, University of California, Davis

This session will provide an examination of the legislation, court opinions, and regulations and rulings of the past year.

10:30 a.m. – 10:40 a.m.

Break

10:40 a.m. – 11:50 p.m.

The IRS Whistleblowing Program

Bryan C. Skarlatos, Kostelanetz & Fink, LLP

This presentation will discuss the IRS Whistleblowing Program, which provides rewards for the provision of information to the IRS that leads to the recovery of unpaid taxes, interest, and penalties. The whistleblower program has received significant recent attention because of statutory changes that made awards non-discretionary under certain conditions and because of the high-profile whistleblower award of $104 million to former UBS banker Bradley Birkenfeld in September 2012. This presentation will explain the IRS whistleblowing process from the filing of the claim to the determination of an award, with an emphasis on recently proposed regulations that would govern the program when and if finalized.

11:50 p.m. – 12:35 p.m.

Lunch (provided)

12:35 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.

Capturing the Value of a Company's Efficient Tax Structure Upon Sale: Often Overlooked and Underemphasized Tax Considerations in U.S. M&A and IPO Transactions

Warren P. Kean, K&L Gates

This program will focus on the effect that a company's tax structure may have on its sales price and after-tax return. It will compare two models: (1) the exclusion of all federal and state income taxes on the sale of qualified small business stock and (2) the increased use of earnout arrangements to capture the benefit of an acquired company's efficient tax structure to the buyer, including "UP-C" (so-called "supercharged IPOs") or "Exchangeable LLC" structures.

1:45 p.m. – 2:50 p.m.

The Application of the Self-Employment Tax and the New 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax to Owners of Pass-Through Entities

C. Wells Hall, III, Mayer Brown, LLP

A discussion and analysis of the application of the self-employment tax and the new 3.8% tax on “net investment income" to pass-through entities (S corporations, partnerships, and LLCs) and their owners, including the proposed Section 1411 regulations issued on November 30, 2012, effective for tax years beginning after December 31, 2012.

2:55 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Changing the Tax Classification of an Entity

Peter J. Genz, King & Spalding, LLP

An examination of tax consequences of elective tax classification changes; cross-species mergers; state law entity conversions; illustrative case studies.

4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Ethical Tax Practice*

Deborah L. Hildebran-Bachofen, Manning Fulton & Skinner, PA and Maria M. Lynch, Lynch & Eatman, LLP

Presenters will focus on recent disciplinary proceedings against both practitioners and firms. The session will also include a discussion of proposed amendments to Circular 230.

*The School of Law is greatly appreciative of the Judge Marshall T. Spears, Sr. Lecture, which was established in 1981 by E.F. Spears to support professional Continuing Legal Education.

Friday, May 3, 2013

8:30 a.m.

Continental Breakfast

9:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.

Taxation of Litigation Recoveries, Payments, and Expenses

Brant J. Hellwig, Professor of Law, Washington& Lee University School of Law and Gregg D. Polsky, Willie Person Mangum Professor of Law, UNC School of Law

This presentation will address the tax issues stemming from the process and conclusion of litigation: whether litigation recoveries are taxable or tax-free for income tax purposes, whether recoveries are wages for employment tax purposes, whether recoveries are characterized as ordinary income or capital gains, how settlements should be allocated among different claims, the deductibility of legal fees and other litigation costs paid by plaintiffs and defendants, reporting requirements for defendants when amounts are paid to plaintiffs and/or their lawyers, whether amounts paid by defendants may be deducted as opposed to capitalized, the disallowance of deductions for the payments of “fines or penalties,” the tax treatment of structured settlements and structured attorney’s fee arrangements, and how tax issues may affect settlement negotiations.

10:20 a.m. – 11:50 p.m.

The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012: Permanency at Last? **    

Sanford J. Schlesinger, Schlesinger Gannon & Lazetera LLP

The speaker will discuss the gift tax, estate tax and generation-skipping transfer tax provisions of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 and how those provisions affect estate planning and the administration of decedents’ estates in 2013 and thereafter. Session will include the examination of the administration’s proposals regarding short term grantor retained annuity trusts, valuation discounts and grantor trusts, which were omitted from the Act, and the estate planning techniques that continue to be viable on account of those omissions. In addition, the speaker will discuss recent IRS developments and case law developments regarding various aspects of estates and trusts.  

11:50 a.m. – 12:35 p.m.

Lunch (provided)

12:35 p.m. – 1:50 p.m.

Operations and Functions of the Multistate Tax Commission: A National Perspective on State Taxation

Joe B. Huddleston, Executive Director, Multistate Tax Commission

An open and free wheeling discussion on important state tax issues, dealing with both litigation across the country and national legislation impacting state tax.

1:55 p.m. – 3:10 p.m.

Update on Compensation: Qualified Plans, Nonqualified Plans and Health Care

Elizabeth E. Drigotas, Deloitte Tax, LLP

This session will review some of the developments in the compensation area over the last year, including a look at some of the guidance related to implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the revised revenue procedure for correction of qualified plans, and updates in the nonqualified compensation area. 

3:15 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Selected Issues for Charities and Other Not-for-Profits

J. William Gray, Jr., Hunton & Williams, LLP

This session will highlight recent developments affecting tax-exempt organizations and their directors, officers and donors. Topics will include tax and governance concerns affecting choice of entity, new rules for single-member LLCs and Type III supporting organizations, charitable gift substantiation, heightened fiduciary duty concerns for directors and officers, uses of endowments and other restricted funds, and revised information reporting requirements.

*The School of Law is greatly appreciative of the Judge Marshall T. Spears, Sr. Lecture, which was established in 1981 by E.F. Spears to support professional Continuing Legal Education.

**The School of Law is greatly appreciative of the Marvin K. and Florence T. Blount Lecture, which was established in 1973 by Marvin (J.D., 1916) and Florence Blount to promote greater professional and public awareness of estate planning and tax issues.

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UNC School of Law | Van Hecke-Wettach Hall | 160 Ridge Road, CB #3380 | Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3380 | 919.962.5106


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