Friday, January 25, 2008

Time to end the 'talent tax' in Silicon Valley

http://www.pacificresearch.org/publications/id.1202/pub_detail.asp

"President Bush wants to make the American work force globally competitive, but new government rules may soon push the best and brightest of Silicon Valley out of the country. Unless the U.S. wants to add talented professionals as a new national export, Congress should revoke the tax disaster known as Section 409A."

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Has Congress Stopped Executives from Raiding the Bank? A Critical Analysis of I.R.C. §409A

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1010983

"This paper focuses on how §409A began largely as a reaction to the sizeable distributions to Enron executives from their nonqualified deferred compensation accounts shortly before Enron's collapse. The paper discusses how §409A represents a major shift in nonqualified deferred compensation planning but does little to remedy the exact problem at Enron that gave rise to §409A."

Tax Rules Governing Deferred Compensation, 409A, Focused on the Least Important Policy Considerations and Ignore the Most Important

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=969058

"The tax rules governing deferred compensation, codified at section 409A, are harsh and complex. The rules are focused on the least important policy considerations and overlook the most important. Professors Halperin and Yale suggest a different approach, one that would make the law simpler, fairer, and more effective."

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Controlling Executive Compensation Through the Tax Code

http://lawdev.wlu.edu/deptimages/Law%20Review/64-3Polsky.pdf

Executive Compensation Reform and the Limits of Tax Policy

http://www.urban.org/publications/311113.html

"But the legislation misses the mark for effective reform. It does little to address the long-standing improper tax subsidy for certain deferred compensation arrangements. Compounding matters, the legislation follows previous misguided efforts to regulate corporate governance through the tax code, almost certainly leaving shareholders worse off for the effort. In short, Congress not only let slip away an opportunity for meaningful tax policy reform, but it also took a large step backward on corporate-governance policy."

Regulation is Blocking Way for US Enterprise

http://search.ft.com/ftArticle?queryText=409A&y=6&aje=true&x=13&id=070604007100&ct=0

"The US has long enjoyed multiple and largely uncongested exit avenues, a big factor in its entrepreneurial vibrancy. Now some in its technology communities fear those avenues are narrowing, perhaps closing."