Local law students question federal tax law

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. -- As some of you already know, I lead a double life.

Reporter by day. Law student by night.

Well, the fall semester will soon come to a close with all the stress and anxiety I felt the first time I wrote a law school exam two and half years ago. It had been, after all, just a 'few' years since the last time I set foot in a classroom :)

I have learned much about torts, civil procedure and contract law.

I can now say that one of the topics I thought would be the most painful, difficult and daunting to learn, ended up being sort of - I don't know if I can say it out loud - fun!

Yes, who doesn't dread the annual rite of passage, a sure sign you haven't made nearly enough money in the previous year - tax time, April 15th, 'pay Uncle Sam Day'...

Anyway, I'm telling you this because I took a class in income tax law this semester. Who knew that delving into the inner workings and seedy underbelly of the Internal Revenue Code could be such an adventure! In fact it was. Did you know that under Section 74, if I won the Nobel Peace Prize and I wanted it to be tax free, I would have to give it away to a qualified charity?

Who knew?

What's been the most fun about income tax law is how practical it is. This is stuff we think about everyday and especially at tax time.

More recently, income tax class has been inspiring.

A few weeks ago, our Professor Jeff Peterson - veritable tax law genius - did what any good professor does. He asked his students to think about something in a different way. What if a particular tax law could be changed? How would we go about trying to change it?

He introduced us to Section 107 of the Internal Revenue Code, which you'll learn about in a moment. The campaign to amend Section 107 has become our end of semester project and I figured I'd use the 'communication power' of my blog to plug the campaign and give you a little insight on what it's like to be a law student.

So here's the pitch for what the committee has dubbed the "Campaign to Amend Section 107", a little project that started in tax class that the committee hopes will go viral:

"A group of astute law students at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota are leading the charge to change a discriminatory and offensive tax law. In general, I.R.C. Section 107 allows a 'minister of the gospel' to live in a home provided by his church tax free. The students are studying income tax law, under the wise direction of their professor Jeff Peterson, who got them thinking. The current language of this tax law is antiquated and non-inclusive and appears to discriminate against certain religions and women. That is simply not acceptable in 2010. The students are hoping to gain enough support to encourage lawmakers to bring their cause to Washington D.C. and perhaps, lobby to change the language of 107. Show your support by commenting on the proposed changes and telling everyone you know!"

The committee even has a facebook page where you can actually read the current language of Section 107 and the proposed changes.

Check it out! Tell your friends! Learn a little about federal tax law!

(Copyright 2010 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)