ABA Tax Section Mid-Year Meeting Kicks Off Today In Los Angeles

This week's ABA Tax Section Midyear Tax Meeting (program) kicks off today. Some highlights include: 

Plenary Keynote: Glamorizing Tax Avoidance: How Hollywood Royalty Made Tax Dodging a Socially Acceptable Sport (Wednesday):

The 1950’s ushered in a new era in Hollywood: filming abroad for tax advantages. The mid-century advent of widespread tax dodging by movie stars and directors helped drive Americans’ love affair with tax avoidance by popularizing it and making it socially acceptable. Join Professors Steve Bank and Katie Pratt as we gather at the foot of the Hollywood Hills to discuss how tax dodging as a popular phenomenon began in Hollywood and prompted a Congressional reaction that erected a system of tax preferences that continues to shape tax legislation today.

• Steve Bank (UCLA) 
• Katie Pratt (Loyola-L.A.; Google Scholar) 

Tax Technologies & Access to Justice – What Can the Latest and Greatest Technologies Do to Assist Unrepresented and Low-Income Taxpayers? (Wednesday):

This panel will focus on tax technologies (including AI) and the power of such technologies to aid unrepresented and low income taxpayers. Panelists from the LITC community and the Taxpayer Advocate Service will discuss how the latest and greatest technologies can be used to assist and educate taxpayers and their legal counsel. Panelists will also discuss ways the IRS can continue employing tax technologies in furtherance of its mission to “[p]rovide America’s taxpayers top quality service.”

• Don Crawford (Baker McKenzie) (moderator) 
• Erin Collins (Taxpayer Advocate Service) 
• Annette Nellen (San Jose State; Google Scholar) 
• Amy Spivey (UC-San Francisco) 

Other Tax Profs with speaking roles include:

• 2017 Redux: Tax Policy Basics Through the Lens of TCJA: Adam M. Katz (Seton Hall) & Roberta Mann (Oregon) 
• Cross-Functional Current Developments – Part II: Adam M. Katz (Seton Hall) 
• Does One Bad Apple Spoil the Barrel?: Jill Horwitz (UCLA) 
• Enemies of the State: Khaled Abou El Fadl (UCLA), Ellen Aprill (UCLA; Google Scholar) & Shirin Sinnar (Stanford; Google Scholar)
• Making Sense of Math Error Notices: Caleb Smith (Minnesota) 

Pictured above: ABA Teaching Taxation Committee organized a group dinner on Thursday, February 20. 

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