16th Annual Critical Tax Theory Conference Kicks Off Today at UC-Hastings

The 16th Annual Critical Tax Theory Conference kicks off today at UC-Hastings:

Critical tax scholars ask why the tax laws are the way they are and what impact tax laws have on historically disempowered groups, such as people of color; women; lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered individuals; low-income and poor individuals; the disabled; and nontraditional families. Critical tax scholarship shares the following goals: (1) to uncover bias in the tax laws; (2) to explore and expose how the tax laws both reflect and construct social meaning; and (3) to educate nontax scholars and lawyers about the interconnectedness of taxation, social justice, and progressive political movements. However, as articulated at the original conference in 1995 to the present, the content of the Critical Tax Theory Conference has not been narrow – the topics discussed have been wide-ranging and have included more conventional tax topics as well.

Keynote Address: Joe Bankman (Stanford), Using the "Smart Return" to Reduce Tax Evasion

Panel #1: Incubator Papers

• Leo Martinez (UC-Hastings) (moderator)
• Adam Chodorow (Arizona State), Regulation of Gifts to Legislators and Their Staff
• Charlotte Crane (Northwestern), What is an Income Tax? Reflections on the Issues Raised by PPL.
• Nancy Staudt (USC), Planning and Penalties

Panel #2: Complete Papers

• Darien Shanske (UC-Hastings) (moderator)
• Sonia Dhaliwal (Myerson University), Maureen Donnelly (Brock University) & Jonathan Farrar (Myerson University), Procedural, Interpersonal and Informational Tax Fairness: A Content Analysis of Canadian Tax Jurisprudence
• Lily Kahng (Seattle University), Path Dependence in Tax Subsidies for Home Sales: From Leave It to Beaver to Flip This House
• Theodore P. Seto (Loyola-L.A.), Four Principles of Optimal Tax System Design

Panel #3: Complete Papers

• Lily Kahng (Seattle) (moderator)
• Joel Newman (Wake Forest), Deductions on a Higher Plane
• Susie Morse (UC-Hastings), Startup Limited: Tax Planning and Initial Incorporation

Panel #4: Papers in Progress

• Susie Morse (UC-Hastings), Martin Hearson (London School of Economics), Converging or Diverging Policies? Developing Countries and the Social Nature of International Tax
• Nan Kaufman (St. Louis), The Foreign Tax Credit: Rules in Search of Principles

Panel #5: Incubator Papers

• Roberta Mann (Oregon) (moderator)
• Andrew Blair-Stanek (Maryland), Modifying IP Law to Combat Tax Avoidance by Multinational Corporations
• Goldburn P. Maynard Jr. (Washington University), Tension within the Estate Tax Debate
• Katherine Pratt (Loyola-L.A.), Reconsidering the Equity Norm in Tax Policy  

Prior Critical Tax Theory Conferences:

• 2012 Critical Tax Theory Conference (Seton Hall)
• 2011 Critical Tax Theory Conference (Santa Clara)
• 2010 Critical Tax Theory Conference (St. Louis)
• 2009 Critical Tax Theory Conference (Indiana-Bloomington)
• 2008 Critical Tax Theory Conference (Florida State)
• 2007 Critical Tax Theory Conference (UCLA)
• 2005 Critical Tax Theory Conference (Seattle)
• 2004 Critical Tax Theory Conference (Rutgers-Newark)