ABA Tax Section May Meeting Kicks Off Today In Washington, D.C.

This week's ABA Tax Section 2023 May Tax Meeting (program) kicks off today. A highlight is the Teaching Taxation program on Friday on Taxing the Metaverse:

The buzz surrounding the Metaverse—a digital space featuring virtual reality, augmented reality, and other advanced internet technology—has been growing steadily for the past couple of years, but the tax implications of this novel ecosystem remain fuzzy to most tax scholars. Such uncertainty is concerning, given the potential and momentum of this emerging technology. Although the Metaverse evolved from online video games focused only on user consumption, it now allows users to produce income and accumulate wealth entirely within the Metaverse. Current law seems to defer taxation of such until a realization or cash-out event. This panel will examine the tax implications of various economic activity in the Metaverse, such as self-created virtual assets (like NFTs), loot drops, intra-Metaverse exchanges, inter-Metaverse exchanges, and cash-for-virtual goods exchanges. Furthermore, this panel will discuss whether Metaverse taxation should be deferred until cash-out or immediate taxation, such as mark-to market, is possible. Finally, the panel will explore potential compliance issues posed by Metaverse activity.

• Young Ran (Christine) Kim (Cardozo; Google Scholar) (moderator)
• Eric Chason (William & Mary) 
• David Gamage (Indiana-Maurer; Google Scholar) 
• Omri Marian (UC-Irvine; Google Scholar)
• Caitlin Tharp (Steptoe & Johnson, Washington, D.C.) 

Other Tax Profs with speaking roles include:

• AI and Tax Administration – Where Do We Go From Here?: Abdi Aidid (Toronto), Joshua Blank (UC-Irvine; Google Scholar) 
• Are You on Record? Don’t Fall Trap to the Record Rule: Bryan Camp (Texas Tech; Google Scholar), Christine Speidel (Villanova; Google Scholar) 
• Breaking Down the Tax Gap to Identify Needed Solutions: Roberta Mann (Oregon) 
• ChatGPT and Tax: Abdi Aidid (Toronto), Mindy Herzfeld (Florida)
• ITIN Challenges: Effective Advocacy on a Changing Terrain: Samantha Galvin (Loyola-Chicago), Jacqueline Lainez-Flanagan (District of Columbia) 
• Navigating the Income Tax Consequences of Gambling: Bryan Camp (Texas Tech; Google Scholar)
• The Prisoner’s Tax Dilemma: Amy Spivey (UC-San Francisco) 
• Rise of the Tax Machines: Evaluating the IRS’s AI and Data Analytics Program in Light of the Stanford Study: Abdi Aidid (Toronto), Jeremy Bearer-Friend (George Washington; Google Scholar)
• Toward a Racially Neutral Tax System: Alice Thomas (Howard)
• Who Gets What, When and How? Targeted Allocations, Carried Interests, Clawbacks and Fee Waivers in Private Funds: Brant Hellwig (NYU)