Current Research
2019
Entrepreneurship Taxation
PUBLICATIONS
2019
Entrepreneurship Taxation
Section 195 of the Internal Revenue Code was enacted in 1980 with the stated purpose of providing a tax incentive to create new businesses, as well as reduce tax controversy and litigation with existing businesses expanding their operations with additional business activities. Several decades and amendments later, there is some tax data suggesting that a material number of new partnership and new C corporation taxpayers are not utilizing section 195, and yet the number of these new businesses created each year number in the hundreds of thousands. The implication is that these taxpayers are making sub-optimal tax decisions and may be increasing their audit risks. Moreover, section 195 unnecessarily created a complex tax regime with additional compliance costs.
My research suggests that a better approach would be to amend section 195 to allow for the full deduction of all eligible start-up and investigatory expenses in the tax year in which business operations begin in order to minimize income distortions.
2017
Using Drone Technology to Teach Entrepreneurship and Leadership Skills in Rural Higher Education Institutions; The Asia Pacific Business & Economics Perspective, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Winter 2017)
Rural Entrepreneurship – Experiential Learning – Drone Technology
Rural regions face significant challenges to economic growth; however, these regions are a necessary component of a diverse state and national economy. Higher-education institutions in rural regions are clearly important partners in regional economies, not only in terms of human development and technology transfer, but also in teaching entrepreneurship; a key component in economic development. Importantly, rural entrepreneurship is distinct from urban entrepreneurship because it cannot be divorced from its rural surroundings; rural communities have a necessary and protective relationship with nature that is symbiotic.
Through collaborative efforts with Business and Engineering colleagues, our research explores the extent to which drone technology can increase the variety of experiential learning activities when teaching rural entrepreneurship. So far our project has positively impacted our business education efforts, and we expect our project to positively impact the economic development of Allegany County.
I contribute to this innovative effort by analyzing FAA drone regulations, and creating experiential learning activities (legal, tax, and business management) to engage a student-run startup using drone technology to positively impact the various stakeholders in Allegany County in the following activities:
- Engineering research;
- Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) outreach;
- Hobby use; and,
- Commercial use (Precision Agriculture; Construction; Inspection; and Photographic industries).
Drones have much to recommend them because of their low physical, and sustainable, positive impact on rural communities while providing significant scalable opportunities that naturally align with rural surroundings.
2012
Equity Swaps and the Withholding Tax: “Potential for Tax Avoidance”; Journal of Taxation and Regulation of Financial Institutions; Vol. 25, No.3
2011
The Withholding Tax Treatment of Total Return Equity Swaps: New Answers, But New Questions, Too; Journal of Taxation and Regulation of Financial Institutions, Vol. 24, No. 5
1999
The Impact of Listing Latin American ADRs on the Risk and Return of the Underlying Shares; Global Finance Journal, Vol. 10, No. 2
Paper presented at the 3rd Annual Conference on Multinational Finance Issues, held in Washington DC between June 20-22,1996