Monday, February 2, 2015
Mon, 02 Feb 2015
Dave Thompson
Liberty University School of Law Professor Timothy Todd was acknowledged in a U.S. Tax Court opinion after submitting an amicus brief in a case regarding the taxation of egg donor income.
Professor Todd, who is both a lawyer and certified public accountant, teaches taxation and transactional law courses at Liberty University School of Law.
Todd wrote in support of the government in Perez v. Commissioner, arguing that income earned by egg donors is taxable compensation, rather than a tax-free payment for damages.
The opinion was filed late last month, and acknowledged Todd and two others for filing their briefs filed as friends of the court.
Professor Todd has received increased attention in the national media, particularly for the Perez case, and has been quoted in Bloomberg, Bloomberg BNA Daily Tax Report, Accounting Today, and Tax Analysts.
Todd said that the Tax Court got it right, arguing it would be a dangerous precedent, if one who consented to being paid for a painful procedure then claimed they could exclude that income because of the pain the procedure caused.
“Could a boxer then argue that a portion of his fighting proceeds are excluded because they are getting beaten up in the ring?” he said in an interview with Bloomberg BNA. “Surely not, you agreed to it, you consented to it.”
Todd said he’s grateful for the attention this is garnering for the law school, and hopes to grow the school’s reputation for its tax and business programs.
"This is just one example of how we’re striving for excellence in tax law,” Todd said.