The Tax Lawyer Publishes New Issue

The Tax Lawyer has published Vol. 77, No. 4 (Summer 2024): 

• Hayes Holderness (Richmond), Self-Policing Through Retaliatory Taxation, 77 Tax Law. 715 (2024)
• Adam B. Thimmesch (Nebraska; Google Scholar), A Future for the State Corporate Income Tax, 77 Tax Law. 761 (2024):

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The Tax Lawyer Publishes New Issue

The Tax Lawyer has published Vol. 77, No. 3 (Spring 2024): 

• Bradley T. Borden (Brooklyn; Google Scholar), Douglas L. Longhofer (Central Missouri) & Matthew Rappaport (UC-Berkeley), Tax Flotsam of Partnership Mergers and Divisions, 77 Tax Law. 425 (2024)
• Steven Z. Hodaszy (Robert Morris; Google Scholar), Navigating the Split-Holding-Period Rules for Partnership Interests, 77 Tax Law. 503 (2024)
• Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer (Notre Dame; Google Scholar), Charity Law & Blockchain Technology: Using Old Wineskins for New Wine?, 77 Tax Law. 575 (2024) 
• Stephanie McMahon (Cincinnati), Tax Scholars and the Courts: Applying the APA to Tax Since Mayo, 77 Tax Law. 625 (2024) 

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Thimmesch: A Future For The State Corporate Income Tax

Adam B. Thimmesch (Nebraska; Google Scholar), A Future for the State Corporate Income Tax, 78 Tax Law. __ (2024):

The state corporate income tax is a flawed tax instrument, but calls to eliminate that tax should be reconsidered. To start, a variety of legal and practical limitations on states’ taxing powers prevent states from offsetting the costs of removing that tax and from eliminating other resulting distortions in the market. In addition, both the design of the modern state corporate income tax and the modern economy have undercut states' abilities to drive local economic growth through the reduction or elimination of that tax. 

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ABA Tax Section Virtual Fall Meeting

The ABA Tax Section 2024 Virtual Fall Meeting (program) continues all week. A highlight is the Teaching Taxation program today on Tax Policy and Housing Affordability: 

Tax laws like the mortgage interest deduction, capital gains tax exemptions and the low-income housing tax credit have long been used to subsidize housing markets. These tax-based subsidies sit alongside nontax interventions, such as mortgage guarantees, government loan programs, housing vouchers, and public housing. Nevertheless, many Americans struggle to keep up with rising housing costs, and they are experiencing rent burdens or are unable to afford to buy a home. For this reason and others, President Biden and members of Congress have proposed various tax-based interventions to further subsidize housing markets, including assistance for renters and homebuyers. This panel will (i) provide context on current federal housing policy landscape; (ii) describe recent tax proposals affecting homeowners and renters, (iii) identify legal and practical issues raised by such proposals, and (iv) reflect upon the potential and limitations of the tax-based approach.

• Michelle Layser (San Diego; Google Scholar) (moderator) 
• Michael Santos (RESULTS Education Fund) 
• Deanna Newton (Pepperdine)

Other Tax Profs with speaking roles include: 

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ABA Tax Section Releases 24th Annual Law Student Tax Challenge Problem

The ABA Tax Section has released the J.D. Problem (rules) and LL.M. Problem (rules) for the 24th Annual Law Student Tax Challenge:

An alternative to traditional moot court competitions, the Law Student Tax Challenge (LSTC) is organized by the Section’s Young Lawyers Forum. The LSTC asks two-person teams of students to solve a complex business problem that might arise in everyday tax practice. Teams are initially evaluated on two criteria: a memorandum to a senior partner and a letter to a client explaining the result. Based on the written work product, six teams from the J.D. Division and four teams from the LL.M. Division receive a free trip to the Tax Section’s Midyear Meeting, where each team presents its submission before a panel of judges consisting of the country’s top tax practitioners and government officials, including tax court judges. The competition is a great way for law students to showcase their knowledge in a real-world setting and gain valuable exposure to the tax law community. 

2024-2025 Law Student Tax Challenge: Important Dates

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ABA Tax Section Accepting Nominations for 2025-2027 Public Service Fellowships

The ABA Tax Section is accepting applications for Christine A. Brunswick Public Service Fellowships for 2025-2027:

The application period for the 2025-2027 class of Christine A. Brunswick Public Service Fellows is now open. The deadline for applications is Friday, November 8, 2024.

The ABA Tax Section has operated this fellowship since 2008 with impressive impact on communities throughout the country. In addition to representing low-income taxpayers and completing a public service project, prior fellows have gone on to careers in public interest tax, clerkships, private tax practice, academia, and government and have held leadership positions throughout the Tax Section. The fellowship provides two years of funding to practice public interest tax law at a qualifying host organization and free travel, lodging, and registration to the main Tax Section meetings. To learn more about the opportunity and to access the application materials please see the ABA Tax Section website here.

The ABA Tax Section will be hosting two virtual information sessions regarding this fellowship and the application process:

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Women in Tax Forum Zoom Tea: Lynn Linne

ABA Section on Taxation, Women in Tax Forum Zoom Tea: Lynn Linne (registration):

You're invited to join the next Women in Tax Forum Zoom Tea on Thursday, August 22 at 3:00 pm ET with Lynn Linne. Take a 45-minute tea break with us as we chat on Zoom with leading women tax lawyers from a variety of fields who will share stories of success and struggle as we explore individual paths to professional and personal fulfillment.

Lynn Linne is a shareholder at Fredrikson & Byron in Minneapolis, MN. She represents clients in state and local tax disputes and litigation, including property taxes, sales and use taxes, corporate and franchise taxes, and individual income taxes.

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Women in Tax Forum Zoom Tea: Lori Hellkamp (Jones Day)

ABA Section on Taxation, Women in Tax Forum Zoom Tea: Lynn Linne (registration):

You're invited to join the next Women in Tax Forum Zoom Tea on Thursday, July 25 at 3:30 pm ET with Lori Hellkamp. Take a 60-minute tea break with us as we chat on Zoom with leading women tax lawyers from a variety of fields who will share stories of success and struggle as we explore individual paths to professional and personal fulfillment.

Lori provides creative solutions to complex tax issues by taking a practical approach to problem solving. Her practice spans a broad range of areas, including corporate and international tax, M&A, and tax controversy. Lori's practice has a particular emphasis on international tax planning, counseling, and compliance as well as tax-efficient structuring for cross-border transactions and investments.

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2023 Tax Journal Rankings: Tax Law Review Is #1, Virginia Tax Review Is #2

Washington & Lee has just released the 2023 tax law review rankings of six major tax journals:

• Columbia Journal of Tax Law ("Columbia")
• Elder Law Review ("Illinois")
• Tax Law Review ("NYU")
• Tax Lawyer ("ABA")
• Tax Notes Federal ("Tax Notes")
• Virginia Tax Review ("Virginia")

The rankings are based on citations to articles published in 2019-2023 (methodology):

• Impact Factor (citations/number of articles published)
• Citations in Law Reviews
• Citations in Cases (federal and state courts)
• Combined (weighted combination of the above rankings)
• Currency (how rapidly articles are cited)

	Combined	Impact	Journals	Cases	Currency
1. NYU	10.84	0.80	117	1.43	0
2. Virginia	9.31	0.65	112	1.57	1
3. Columbia	7.98	0.72	45	1.13	0
4. Tax Notes	7.05	0.01	235	0.01	0
5. Illinois	6.17	0.42	78	0.84	1
6. ABA	4.81	0.28	74	0.64	2

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Weisbach and Hickman Debate Tax Exceptionalism

Point | Counterpoint, 43 ABA Tax Times 20-34 (Winter-Spring 2024): 

David A. Weisbach (Chicago; Google Scholar), Point: Does More Procedure Produce Better Guidance?, 43 ABA Tax Times 20 (Winter-Spring 2024): 

In a series of articles, Kristin Hickman has advanced the thesis that the Treasury consistently violates the requirements of administrative law as laid out by the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and interpreted by courts. She argues that the Treasury is not, and should not be, exempt from those rules and, therefore, needs to come into compliance. Other commentators have taken up these views as well (known together under the rubric “anti-tax exceptionalism”), and a number of courts have followed their lead. The stakes are high because, under some versions of anti-tax exceptionalism, many guidance documents may be invalid.

Others, including me [Against Anti-Tax Exceptionalism, 77 Tax L. Rev. __ (2023)], have disputed the merits of these claims. On the positive front, I argued that the Treasury substantially complies with the requirements of administrative law. On the normative front, I argued that administrative law is flexible and should be applied to the particular circumstances of each agency.

The details of these debates are available in the relevant articles. Many of the doctrinal issues are before the courts, or soon will be, and we will likely see resolution of some of the issues. ...

In sum, I do not see the case for channeling more tax guidance through the notice and comment process. It will not lead to improved information flows, at least compared to other methods, and it will not lead to increased democratic accountability. Increased scrutiny of preambles is not only not a promising direction for improving the tax administrative process, it is in fact positively dangerous to the effectiveness of that process. Tax administration needs improvement. The additional funds provided to the IRS in recent years, if well spent, is likely to help. I do not think, however, that more attention to the niceties of the Administrative Procedure Act is a good method for pursuing those improvements.

Kristin Hickman (Minnesota; Google Scholar), Counterpoint: Tax Exceptionalism from Notice-and-Comment Rulemaking Procedures Is Bad Policy and Bad Law, 43 ABA Tax Times 25 (Winter-Spring 2024): 

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ABA Tax Section Interview With Tax Prof Anthony Infanti

Jeremiah Coder, People in Tax: Interview with Anthony Infanti, 43 ABA Tax Times 6 (Winter-Spring 2024): 

Editor’s Note: Anthony “Tony” Infanti is a professor of law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. Professor Infanti teaches a variety of tax courses at Pitt Law, including Federal Income Tax, Corporate Tax, and International Tax. He is a prolific author, with scholarly work focusing on comparative tax law, critical tax theory, and the intersections between these two fields of study. He received degrees from New York University (LL.M. Taxation), University of California Berkeley (J.D.), and Drew University (B.A.), and is an elected member of the American Law Institute, the American College of Tax Counsel, and the American Bar Foundation.

ATT: Professor Infanti, it’s great to be talking to you about your career. What got you interested in tax in the first place?

PI: Rather than following the more typical path of coming into law school with an interest in tax or developing an interest after taking a few tax courses, you might say that tax found me. Although tax was always on my list of courses to take, I never actually managed to work it into my schedule during law school. After law school and clerking, I began work in the corporate department at a law firm in New York.

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Women in Tax Forum Zoom Tea: Silya Shaw

ABA Section on Taxation, Women in Tax Forum Zoom Tea: Silya Shaw (registration):

You're invited to join the next Women in Tax Forum Zoom Tea on Thursday, June 13 at 3:00 pm ET. Grab your favorite cup of tea or coffee and take a 45-minute break as we chat with Silya. We will talk with Silya about her journey as a tax law professional, the aspects of her career that bring her joy, and advice she has for other women in tax.

Silya Shaw is currently the Deputy Executive Director at Legal Aid of Western Missouri, where she works on projects related to client access and business process improvement. She joined Legal Aid in 2014 as the Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic Director, and in the last ten years has represented hundreds of taxpayers in disputes with the Internal Revenue Service and state departments of revenue. She also handles real estate and probate matters for low-income Missourians. Silya holds a B.A. in Legal Studies (Park University), a M.A. in International Relations (American University), and a J.D. (University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law). Silya spends every spare moment working on her most important visionary projects, her three young children.

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ABA Tax Section 2024 May Meeting

The ABA Tax Section held its 2024 May Tax Meeting (program) last Thursday-Saturday. A highlight was Friday's Teaching Taxation program on Taxing Litigation Finance:

Third-party litigation funding has rapidly grown in recent years. Policy discussion on the proper tax treatment of the parties involved, however, has fallen by the wayside. The problem is acute in classifying litigation financing contracts as nonrecourse loans, immediate sales, or variable prepaid forward contracts, all of which have a discrete impact on the parties’ timing and character of income. Nonetheless, tax authorities have chosen to remain silent on this topic, except for an unhelpful IRS memorandum released in 2015. The U.S. Tax Court’s 2020 decision in Novoselsky v. Commissioner (T.C. Memo. 2020-68, May 28, 2020), the first modern reported case to directly address the tax treatment of a litigation finance contract, has not resolved taxpayer uncertainty. This panel will examine various tax issues in consumer and commercial litigation finance, including preferred tax position by the beneficiaries (lawyers and litigants) and the funders, and the character and timing of income. The panel will also discuss the Novoselsky case, the use of forward contracts, potential compliance issues, and the areas of uncertainty.

• Young Ran (Christine) Kim (Cardozo; Google Scholar) (moderator)
• Mark Leeds (Mayer Brown, New York)
• Eric Schuller (The Alliance for Responsible Consumer Legal Funding)
• Matthew Stevens (EY, Washington, D.C.)
• Mohamed Sweify (Hinshaw & Culbertson, New York)

Other Tax Profs with speaking roles included:

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Avi-Yonah & Shanan: Rethinking Taxing Excess Profits

Reuven S. Avi-Yonah (Michigan; Google Scholar) & Tamir Shanan (Haim Striks Faculty of Law, College of Management, Israel; Google Scholar), Rethinking Taxing Excess Profits, 77 Tax Law. 269 (2024):

This article discusses the application of excess profit taxes (EPTs, also referred to as windfall taxes) that have gained renewed interest and popularity over the past several years. The revival of these windfall taxes gained renewed interest following the COVID-19 outbreak, which led to a sharp price increase in corporate revenues of medical equipment and within pharmaceutical industries. However, the revival of such taxes was also used following the recent rise in energy prices mainly in Europe, leading to a sharp increase in corporate revenues of energy corporations and the recent surge in borrowing interest rates that was not accompanied by a corresponding increase in lenders’ interest rates which, in turn, led to a sharp increase in the corporate revenues of the banking sector.

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The Tax Lawyer Publishes New Issue

The Tax Lawyer has published Vol. 77, No. 2 (Winter 2024):

• Ellen P. Aprill (Loyola-L.A.; Google Scholar), Administrative Law Meets Section 501(c)(3) Charitable Purpose, 77 Tax Law. 213 (2024) 
• Reuven Avi-Yonah (Michigan; Google Scholar) & Tamir Shanan (Haim Striks; Google Scholar), Rethinking Taxing Excess Profits, 77 Tax Law. 269 (2024) 
• Philip G. Cohen (Pace), Blocked Income & 3M Company & Subsidiaries v. Commissioner - Round One - The Chevron Step One Argument, 77 Tax Law. 301 (2024) 

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Moore v. United States And The Original Public Meaning Of 'Taxes On Incomes'

Jonathan Grossberg (Thomson Reuters), Kerry Inger (Auburn; Google Scholar) & Carneil Wilson (Dentons Sirote, Birmingham, AL), Moore v. United States and The Original Public Meaning of "Taxes on Incomes", 43 ABA Tax Times __ (2024):

The concept of a “tax on income” at the time of the adoption of the Sixteenth Amendment is best understood not from a selective dictionary definition that ignores the lack of reference to realization even when that term (or related terms) is defined in the same dictionary nor from a careful selection of phrases from a treatise but rather from a full public understanding of the term as used by those who professionally studied or practiced taxation. In particular, the misguided reliance on Macomber as establishing a universal realization requirement for all taxable income fails to read either the case or related cases accurately. 

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ABA Journal: Nina Olson Has Devoted Her Career To Protecting Taxpayer Rights

ABA Journal, Nina Olson Has Devoted Her Career to Protecting Taxpayer Rights:

Nina Olson has been a staunch advocate for taxpayers for more than 30 years.

In her latest of several significant endeavors, she founded and serves as executive director of the Center for Taxpayer Rights, a nonprofit corporation in Washington, D.C., that advances taxpayer rights in the United States and internationally.

As part of her work, she promotes pro bono representation for low-income taxpayers who are involved in disputes with the Internal Revenue Service. She calls for systemic change by submitting amicus curiae briefs in federal and state tax cases and by educating government officials and the public about tax procedure and taxpayer rights.

Olson, a longtime member of the ABA Section of Taxation and past chair of its Low Income Taxpayers Committee, also works closely with her colleagues to implement initiatives that help taxpayers in need.

The Inmate Tax Assistance Project, a collaboration between the Tax Section and Center for Taxpayer Rights, assists incarcerated and recently released taxpayers who are eligible for stimulus payments. Olson says they still want pro bono volunteers for this phase and for later representation, which could include handling audits or Tax Court proceedings.

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Women in Tax Forum Zoom Tea: Colleen O'Neill

ABA Section on Taxation, Women in Tax Forum Zoom Tea: Colleen O'Neill (registration): 

You're invited to join the next Women in Tax Forum Zoom Tea on Tuesday, March 26 at 3:00 pm ET. Grab your favorite cup of tea or coffee and take a 45-minute break with the Women in Tax Forum as we chat with Colleen O'Neill. We will talk with Colleen about her journey as a tax law professional, the aspects of her career that bring her joy, and advice she has for other women in tax.

Colleen O'Neill is a 28-year veteran of EY and the Director of EY's National Tax Department International Tax and Transaction Services practice. She leads a group of world class professionals who advise on global taxation of cross-border transactions, including financing, acquisition, disposition, reorganization, integration, repatriation, supply chain and foreign tax credit matters.

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Tax Flotsam Of Partnership Mergers And Divisions

Bradley T. Borden (Brooklyn; Google Scholar), Douglas L. Longhofer (Central Missouri) & Matthew Rappaport (UC-Berkeley), Tax Flotsam of Partnership Mergers and Divisions, 78 Tax Law. ___ (2024):

Partnership mergers and divisions occur regularly as the ownership of partnerships changes through various types of transactions. This article reviews the general rules governing partnerships mergers and divisions, and then it proceeds to examine numerous other tax issues that arise and should be accounted for as part of any merger or division transaction, including determining the holding periods of partnership assets and interests in partnerships, section 704(c), the anti-mixing bowl rules, possible application of the disguise-sale rules, recapture considerations, effects of changes in partners’ shares of partnership liabilities, accounting for section 751 hot assets, issues that arise if property is qualified-opportunity-zone property, matters related to the BBA audit rules, and potential gift and estate tax consequences. The article will make a significant desk reference for anyone advising entities taxed as partnerships or their members.

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Holderness: Self-Policing Through Retaliatory Taxation

Hayes Holderness (Richmond), Self-Policing Through Retaliatory Taxation, 77 Tax Law. ___ (2024):

A fundamental goal of the U.S. Constitution is to create a shared national economy that citizens of any state may access. Burdensome state regulation or taxation of interstate commerce threatens that goal. Recently, the Supreme Court has loosened the restrictions of the dormant Commerce Clause doctrine on the states’ authority to tax interstate commerce. As a result, states have modified their taxes to adapt to the changing world, many times through the expansion of the reach of the taxes. Some states have adopted tax policies that sister states believe inappropriately burden the national marketplace, making it difficult for citizens of those sister states to engage in interstate commerce. With the federal judiciary stepping out of the role of regulator of state taxation of interstate commerce and Congress seemingly unwilling to exercise its Commerce Clause authority in this context, the states have begun to take matters into their own hands. Without federal action, the states will continue to do so.

A surprising action that states have recently taken is retaliatory taxation, an old practice that concerned even the Founders.

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Winners Of The 23rd Annual Law Student Tax Challenge

ABA Tax Section, Winners Of The 23rd Annual Law Student Tax Challenge:

J.D. Division 

1st Place: 
Natalie Romano-Nuesch and Victor Ficarra (right)
Temple

2nd Place: 
Emmanuel Backus and Logan Wagner
West Virginia

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ABA Tax Section Mid-Year Meeting Kicks Off Today In San Francisco

This week's ABA Tax Section Midyear Tax Meeting (program) kicks off today. A highlight is Friday's Teaching Taxation program on Reparations and Taxation:

To address the atrocities and enduring harms of slavery, legislators are considering proposals to provide reparations to Black Americans. For example, in 2023, a state-appointed task force in California issued a comprehensive report that explained why governments should provide such reparations and offered recommendations regarding how they should structure payments. According to the task force, reparations could address several specific harms, including the Black life expectancy gap, mass incarceration and excessive policing, discriminatory housing practices, lost business opportunities, and unjust property takings by eminent domain. Other federal, state, and local legislators are also actively considering reparations proposals. While legislators debate whether to adopt proposals to provide reparations, they must also consider several important related tax questions. What are the possible tax treatments of receipt of reparations under current law? Should governments introduce legislation to provide different tax treatment of the receipt of reparations, as compared to the tax treatment under current law? How should federal and state tax laws interact regarding the tax treatment of reparations? This panel will examine the topic of reparations and taxation by considering these and other questions.

• Sonya C. Watson (Office of the Attorney General of Nevada) (moderator)
• Young Ran (Christine) Kim (Cardozo; Google Scholar) (chair) 
• Bobby Dexter (Chapman) 
• Anthony Infanti (Pittsburgh; Google Scholar) 
• Natalia A. Ventsko (Law Office of Natalia A. Ventsko) 

Other Tax Profs with speaking roles include: 

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The Tax Lawyer Publishes New Issue

The Tax Lawyer has published Vol. 77, No. 1 (Fall 2023):

• Reuven Avi-Yonah (Michigan; Google Scholar) & Mohanad Salaimi (S.J.D 2023, Michigan), A New Framework for Taxing Cryptocurrencies, 77 Tax Law. 1 (2023)
• Emily Cauble (Wisconsin; Google Scholar), Taxpayers' Tax Election Regrets, 77 Tax Law. 77 (2023)
• Mary LaFrance (UNLV), The Future of Research and Experimentation After the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, 77 Tax Law. 129 (2023)

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2023 Tannenwald Tax Writing Competition Winners

The Theodore Tannenwald, Jr. Foundation for Excellence in Tax Scholarship has announced the winners of the 2023 tax writing competition:

First Prize ($5,000):
Colin Heath (NYU), Taxing “Borrow” in “Buy/Borrow/Die”
Faculty Sponsor: Daniel Hemel

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Exclusive Article Submission Window For The Tax Lawyer

The Tax Lawyer is offering an exclusive submission window for articles to be published in the Spring issue of the Tax Lawyer through December 1, 2023. If you’ve got a completed or almost completed draft of an article on any tax issue of 12,000-35,000 words, please submit it to Editor, Publications, at [email protected]. You can also submit via Scholastica if you prefer. Your article will be published by May 2024.

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ABA Tax Section Virtual Fall Meeting Kicks Off Today

This week's ABA Tax Section 2023 Virtual Fall Meeting (program) kicks off today. A highlight is the Teaching Taxation program on Wednesday on Tax Justice in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: 

The recent and rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI) technology is positioned to impact all aspects of tax law, including tax practice, administration, ethics, and the tax base itself. As tax law inevitably evolves in response to AI, there will be new opportunities to introduce laws, policies, and practices that make the tax system more equitable. Alternatively, these developments could further entrench inequities that exist under current law. This panel discusses ways that AI might affect tax equity and distributive justice; furthermore, in response to the emergence of this new technology, it will scrutinize the equity implications of proposals to improve tax administration and substantive tax law. In doing so, panelists will have the ambitious threefold agenda: (i) reflect upon tax equity under current law, (ii) consider what AI tells us about values embedded in the tax system, and (iii) explain how tax justice can be advanced in the age of AI.

• Michelle Layser (San Diego; Google Scholar) (moderator) 
• Stephanie Hoffer (Indiana-McKinney; Google Scholar) 
• Jay Soled (Rutgers; Google Scholar) 
• Hilary Escajeda (Mississippi College; Google Scholar) 

Other Tax Profs with speaking roles include:

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2003-2022 Tax Journal Rankings: Tax Law Review Is #1, Virginia Tax Review Is #2

Following up on yesterday's post, 2022 Tax Journal Rankings: Tax Law Review Is #1, Virginia Tax Review Is #2:  here are the Washington & Lee 2003-2022 tax law review combined rankings of eight major tax journals:

• Columbia Journal of Tax Law ("Columbia")
• Florida Tax Review ("Florida")
• Houston Business & Tax Review ("Houston")
• Pittsburgh Tax Review ("Pittsburgh")
• Tax Law Review ("NYU")
• Tax Lawyer ("ABA")
• Tax Notes Federal ("Tax Notes")
• Virginia Tax Review ("Virginia")

The rankings are based on the annual combined rankings in 2003-2022 among these eight journals by:

• Impact Factor (citations/number of articles published)
• Citations in Law Reviews
• Citations in Cases (federal and state courts)
• Currency (how rapidly articles are cited)

Ave	Journal	22	21	20	19	18	17	16	15	14	13	12	11	10	09	08	07	06	05	04	03
1.6	1. NYU	1	1	3	2	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
2.5	2. Virginia	2	2	2	4	4	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	3	4	4	4	4	4
2.8	3. Florida	3	3	1	1	1	2	3	4	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	3	2	2	3	2
3.3	4. Tax Notes	4	5	4	3	2	4	4	3	4	4	4	3	3	3	2	2	3	3	2	3
5.4	5. ABA	6	6	NR	6	NR	5	5	5	5	5	6	5	6	6	6	6	5	5	5	5
7.9	6. Houston	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	10	9	7	6	6	7	7	7	8	8	9	8	8	9	9
7.9	7. Pittsburgh	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	8	8	8	7	8	5	6	5	5	5	22	NR	NR	NR	NR
10.1	8. Columbia	5	4	5	5	NR	6	6	10	10	13	14	33	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR

As I have previously noted, Tax Notes fares poorly in the Impact Factor category (citations/number of articles published) because W&L apparently counts as "articles" all of the advance sheet material in Tax Notes Federal.

Tax Notes Federal is #1 by a wide margin in the number of citations in law reviews:

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2022 Tax Journal Rankings: Tax Law Review Is #1, Virginia Tax Review Is #2

Washington & Lee has just released the 2022 tax law review rankings of six major tax journals:

• Columbia Journal of Tax Law ("Columbia")
• Florida Tax Review ("Florida")
• Tax Law Review ("NYU")
• Tax Lawyer ("ABA")
• Tax Notes Federal ("Tax Notes")
• Virginia Tax Review ("Virginia")

The rankings are based on citations to articles published in 2018-2022 (methodology):

• Impact Factor (citations/number of articles published)
• Citations in Law Reviews
• Citations in Cases (federal and state courts)
• Combined (weighted combination of the above rankings)
• Currency (how rapidly articles are cited)

	Combined	Impact	Journals	Cases	Currency
1. NYU	15.26	1.02	164	0	1.81
2. Virginia	12.12	0.8	137	1	1.52
3. Florida	7.69	0.44	115	2	0.80
4. Tax Notes	6.65	0.01	257	0	0.01
5. Columbia	5.88	0.41	57	0	0.73
6. ABA	4.49	0.22	82	2	0.38

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The Tax Lawyer Publishes New Issue

The Tax Lawyer has published Vol. 76, No. 4 (Summer 2023):

• Karen C. Burke (Florida), SALT Substitutes and Other Workarounds, 76 Tax Law. 605 (2023)
• Bruce A. McGovern (South Texas; Google Scholar) & Cassady V. (“Cass”) Brewer (Georgia State), Recent Developments in Federal Income Taxation: The Year 2022, 76 Tax Law. 645 (2023)

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ABA Tax Section Releases 23rd Annual Law Student Tax Challenge Problem

The ABA Tax Section has released the J.D. Problem (rules) and LL.M. Problem (rules) for the 23rd Annual Law Student Tax Challenge:

An alternative to traditional moot court competitions, the LSTC is organized by the Section’s Young Lawyers Forum. The LSTC asks two-person teams of students to solve a complex business problem that might arise in everyday tax practice. Teams are initially evaluated on two criteria: a memorandum to a senior partner and a letter to a client explaining the result. Based on the written work product, six teams from the J.D. Division and four teams from the LL.M. Division receive a free trip to the Section’s Midyear Meeting, where each team presents its submission before a panel of judges consisting of the country’s top tax practitioners and government officials, including tax court judges. The competition is a great way for law students to showcase their knowledge in a real-world setting and gain valuable exposure to the tax law community.

IMPORTANT DATES:

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Alice Abreu Named Chair-Elect Of ABA Tax Section

Alice Abreu (Temple) has been named Chair-Elect of the ABA Section of Taxation:

Alice G. Abreu is the Honorable Nelson A. Diaz Professor of Law and the Director of the Center for Tax Law and Public Policy. She specializes in federal income tax law, with a special emphasis in the formulation of tax policy. Before joining Temple Law School, she clerked for Judge Edward N. Cahn in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and practiced tax law with Dechert LLP in Philadelphia.

Professor Abreu is nationally known for her ability to make students understand and care about the tax system. She is a recipient of the 2017 Great Teacher Award from Temple University, the 2013 Murray F. Shusterman Award for excellence in teaching from the Temple Law Alumni Association, and the 2007 University Lindback award for distinguished teaching. She has been a visiting professor at a number of institutions, including the Harvard Law School and the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and has taught Corporate Tax at the Yale Law School.

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Snyder: Can Extraterritorial Taxation Be Rationalized?

Laura Snyder (President, Stop Extraterritorial American Taxation (SEAT); Board of Directors, Association of Americans Resident Overseas (AARO)), Can Extraterritorial Taxation Be Rationalized?, 76 Tax Law. 535 (2023):

There exist multiple rationales for the U.S. extraterritorial tax system. The rationales seek to explain why overseas Americans should be subject to worldwide taxation by the United States.

This paper challenges those rationales: The allegiance rationale is outmoded and rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court; the benefits rationale has been discredited; the membership in U.S. society rationale is belied by the exclusion of overseas Americans from critical beneficial aspects of the U.S. economy, the U.S. tax system, and federal assistance; the “worth the tax cost” rationale disregards human rights and the realities of renunciation of U.S. citizenship; and the administrability rationale ignores that the administration of an extraterritorial tax system requires resources beyond those required to determine domicile — resources the IRS does not have.

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ABA Tax Section Names 2023-2024 John Nolan Fellows

ABA Tax Section Recognizes Outstanding Young Tax Lawyers, Names Six 2020-2021 John S. Nolan Fellows:

The American Bar Association Section of Taxation announces its recipients of the 2023-2024 John S. Nolan Fellowships.

Nolan Fellows are young tax lawyers who are actively involved in the Section and have demonstrated leadership qualities and a commitment to the Section’s mission.

• Bibiana A. Cruz (Holland & Knight, Pinecrest, FL)
• Omeed Firouzi (Philadelphia Legal Assistance, Philadelphia, PA)
• Brian Gardner (Asbury Law Firm, Atlanta, GA)
• Samuel Lapin (Miller & Chevalier, Washington, D.C.)
• Joshua Savey (Morgan Lewis & Bockius, Washington, D.C.)
• Caitlin R. Tharp (Steptoe & Johnson, Washington, D.C.)

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The Tax Lawyer Publishes New Issue

The Tax Lawyer has published Vol. 76, No. 3 (Spring 2023):

• Steve R. Johnson (Florida State), Congressional Primacy, Equitable Tolling, and Tax Court Deficiency Litigation, 76 Tax Law. 451 (2023)
• Sergio Pareja (New Mexico), The Incapacitated Grantor and the Revocable Trust: Unnecessary Tax Complexity and a Reform Proposal, 76 Tax Law. 487 (2023)

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Winners Of The 22nd Annual Law Student Tax Challenge

ABA Tax Section, Winners Of The 22nd Annual Law Student Tax Challenge:

J.D. Division 

1st Place: 

Tracy Costanzo and Amanda Hepinger
Syracuse University College of Law

2nd Place and Best Written: 

Ivan Rudd and Isaac Fuhrman Borgman
University of Miami School of Law

3rd Place: 

Justin Sung and Judd Baguioro 
University of California College of the Law, San Francisco

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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:

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The Tax Lawyer Publishes New Issue

The Tax Lawyer has published Vol. 76, No. 2 (Winter 2023):

• Philip G. Cohen (Pace), Whirlpool Financial Corp. v. Commissioner Was Properly Decided, 76 Tax Law. 247 (2023)
• William P. Kratzke (Memphis), Musings: Itemized Deductions and The Changing Fabric of American Society Wrought by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act – Observing Regressiveness Hidden in Plain Sight, 76 Tax Law. 293 (2023)
• Scott A. Schumacher (Washington; Google Scholar), Taxes, Administrative Law, and Agency Expertise: Questioning the Orthodoxy, 76 Tax Law. 341 (2023)

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ABA Tax Section Mid-Year Meeting Kicks Off Today In San Diego

This week's ABA Tax Section Midyear Tax Meeting (program) kicks off today. A highlight is the Teaching Taxation program on Friday on New Directions in Tax Information Reporting and Withholding:

Tax information reporting and withholding rules play critically important roles in the United States tax system. When income is subject to mandatory tax information reporting—where third parties and/or taxpayers disclose information regarding certain transactions and activities to the IRS—the individual tax compliance rate is very high. When income is subject to both tax information reporting and withholding, it is even higher. While tax information reporting and withholding rules are among the government’s essential tax enforcement and administration tools, under current law, these rules do not apply equally to all taxpayers and transactions. Gaps in these rules lead not only to the potential spread of tax noncompliance, but they also raise important fairness concerns. Further, these rules often receive less attention from tax policymakers and tax law scholars than other aspects of the substantive tax law. This panel will consider new policy directions for tax information reporting and withholding rules in a variety of contexts, including taxpayers engaged in the gig economy, incarcerated taxpayers, and high-income and wealthy taxpayers.

• Michelle Layser (San Diego; Google Scholar) (moderator)
• Joshua Blank (UC-Irvine)
• Jessica Jeane (Vice President for Tax Policy, Western CPE)
• Katherine Pratt (Loyola-L.A.)

Other Tax Profs with speaking roles include:

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Invitation: ABA Virtual Tax Book Club On Tax Law And The Environment

The next virtual meeting ABA Tax Policy and Simplification Committee Book Club will have its next meeting on Thursday, January 26, 2023 from 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. ET (registration). The book to be discussed is Tax Law and the Environment: A Multidisciplinary and Worldwide Perspective (Roberta F. Mann (Oregon) & Tracey M. Roberts (Samford) eds. 2020):

Tax Law and the Environment: A Multidisciplinary and Worldwide Perspective takes a multidisciplinary approach to explore the ways how tax policy can is used solve environmental problems throughout the world, using a multi-jurisdictional and multidisciplinary approach. Environmental taxation involves using taxes to impose a cost on environmentally harmful activities or tax subsidies to provide preferred tax treatment to more sustainable alternatives to those harmful activities. This book provides a detailed analysis of environmental taxation, with examples from around the world. As the extraction, processing and use of energy use resources is has been a major cause of environmental harm, this book explores the taxation and subsidization of both fossil fuels and renewable energy. Its analysis of the past, present, and future potential of environmental taxation will help policymakers move economies toward sustainability, as well as and informing students, academics, and citizens about tax solutions for pressing environmental issues.

Reviews:

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ABA Hosts Free Webinar Today On Tax Teaching And Adjunct Opportunities

The ABA Tax Section hosts a free webinar today at 1:00 PM ET on Tax Teaching and Adjunct Opportunities (more information):

This webinar is designed for tax practitioners who are current or prospective adjunct professors. Our panel of experienced adjunct professors will discuss best practices for teaching tax classes to JD and LLM students, as well as ideas to promote the Tax Section to law students.

Moderator: 

• Jennifer Kowal (Loyola-L.A.)

Panelists:

• Megan Brackney (NYU)
• Alexander Lee (Loyola-L.A.)
• Scott Levine (Georgetown)

Goals of Webinar: 

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The Tax Lawyer Publishes New Issue

The Tax Lawyer has published Vol. 76, No. 1 (Fall 2022):

• Karen C. Burke (Florida), Bristol-Myers’ Disappearing Gain, 76 Tax Law. 1 (2022)
• Monica Gianni (Cal State Northridge; Google Scholar), Supervisory Approval of Penalties: The Opening of a Graev Pandora’s Box, 76 Tax Law. 41 (2022)
• Michael Hatfield (University of Washington) & Michelle Kwon (Tennessee), A Study of Tax Lawyers Discussing Duties, 76 Tax Law. 73 (2022)

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This Week's Ten Most Popular TaxProf Blog Posts

Legal Education:

1. Steve Epstein (Poyner Spruill, Raleigh, NC), Extreme Punishment: The Chilling True Story Of Dan Markel's Murder
2. Paul Horwitz (Alabama), Should Deans Tell Their Faculty To Get Off Twitter And Get Back To Work?
3. Sarah Isgur (Politico Magazine), I’m A Conservative Who Got Heckled At Yale Law School. But Not By Who You Think.
4. Paul Caron (Dean, Pepperdine), July 2022 California Bar Exam Results: In-State Law Schools
5. Paul Caron (Dean, Pepperdine), July 2022 California Bar Exam Results: Out-Of-State Law Schools
6. Wall Street Journal, Students Sue USC For Reporting False Data To U.S. News To Goose Its Ranking
7. John McWhorter (Columbia; New York Times Op-Ed), When a Racist Joke Does Not Merit Cancellation
8. Derek Muller (Iowa), What Is The Endgame For Law Schools Boycotting The U.S. News Rankings?
9. Alan Morrison (George Washington; National Law Journal Op-Ed), AALS Should Provide A Law School Guide To Supplant The U.S. News Rankings
10. Josh Blackman (South Texas), ChatGPT And Law School Exams

Tax:

1. Charles Calomiris (Columbia; Wall Street Journal Book Review), The Myth Of American Income Inequality
2. Census Bureau, New U.S. Census Data: Major Migration From Blue States To Red States
3. SSRN, Tax Professor Rankings
4. SSRN, The Top Five New Tax Papers
5. Reuven Avi-Yonah (Michigan), Taxing Stock Buybacks As Dividends
   
6. Bryan Camp (Texas Tech), A Year Of Lessons From The Tax Court (2022)
7. Don Griswold (Bloomberg Tax), A ‘Social Harms’ Tax Can End The U.S. Gun Crisis, Constitutionally
8. Ways & Means Committee, House Democrats Release Donald Trump's Tax Returns
9. Dhammika Dharmapala (Chicago), The TCJA’s International Provisions: Conceptual Framework And Survey Of Evidence
10. Josh Blackman (South Texas), Did The Ways & Means Committee Play The Supreme Court On Trump's Tax Returns?

Faith: 

1. Tish Harrison Warren (Priest, Anglican Church), Did You Have A Hard Christmas? Jesus Did, Too.

2022 Tannenwald Tax Writing Competition Winners

The Theodore Tannenwald, Jr. Foundation for Excellence in Tax Scholarship has announced the winners of the 2022 tax writing competition:

First Prize ($5,000):
Danny Hirsch (Yale), The CIC Two-Step and the Future of Litigation Against the IRS
Faculty Sponsor: Michael Graetz

Second Prize ($2,500):
Alexander Stephenson (Northwestern), Stacking the Chips: Qualified Small Business Stock Exclusion
Faculty Sponsor: David Cameron

Third Prize ($1,500):
Likhitha Butchireddygari (Columbia), Eliminating the Tax Benefit from Investing in Police Brutality Bonds, 123 Colum. L. Rev. __ (2023)
Faculty Sponsor: Alex Raskolnikov

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ABA Tax Section 2022 Fall Meeting

The ABA Tax Section held an in person 2022 Fall Tax Meeting in Dallas last week (program). A highlight was the Teaching Taxation program on Classification of Tax Regulations and the APA:

For many administrative agencies, external sources of law, such as the Administrative Procedure Act, have played a key role in rulemaking. The APA has had an increasingly important role in tax administration. One key aspect is its relationship to tax regulations. Most tax regulations that interpret statutory text have historically been viewed by the tax community as interpretive rules under the APA, thus not requiring notice and comment (although tax regulations have historically been issued with notice and comment). One panelist reads some recent Tax Court and circuit court cases to have implicitly or explicitly held that regulations interpreting statutory text are considered legislative for APA purposes; another panelist does not read those cases as authoritative or persuasive on the issue. The current state of this issue will be discussed to inform the audience as to the issues involved. In addition, regulatory practices have changed significantly over time, yet litigants have raised procedural challenges to older regulations. This panel will consider the historical approach to tax regulations, review the arguments concerning the proper classification of those regulations, and address cases that have struggled to situate tax regulations under the APA. In addition, the panel will address the significance for tax administration of West Virginia v EPA, where the Supreme Court struck down emission caps and relied on the “major questions” doctrine, which requires agencies to demonstrate “clear congressional authorization” when taking actions of political or economic significance.

Chair: Michelle Drumbl (Washington & Lee)
Moderator: Leslie Book (Villanova; Google Scholar)
Panelists:

• Kristin Hickman (Minnesota; Google Scholar)
• Gilbert Rothenberg (American)
• Jack Townsend (Houston)

Other Tax Profs with speaking roles included:

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ABA Hosts Free Webinar Today On Tax Traps And Opportunities In The Post-Dobbs Era

The ABA Tax Section hosts a free webinar today at 1:30 PM ET on Personhood, Reproductive Choice, and Family Formation: Tax Traps and Opportunities in the Post-Dobbs Era (register here):

The US Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization reversing the landmark case of Roe v. Wade has both opened tax traps and created tax opportunities that concern all Americans. To introduce these traps and opportunities to the general public, this panel will begin with a discussion of the fetal personhood movement and its potential tax ramifications.

Next, the panel will consider how Dobbs may have expanded (1) the tax definition of a "dependent" and (2) eligibility for tax benefits for reproductive "medical care" — including abortion, cryopreservation, in vitro fertilization, and surrogacy — for different-sex and same-sex couples and for individuals.

Finally, the panel will conclude with a discussion of the post-Dobbs tax aspects of employer-provided travel and lodging benefits associated with medical care, with a particular focus on the need to address concerns regarding the potential use of the tax system to surveil and criminally punish reproductive choices.

Speakers:

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ABA Tax Section Releases 22nd Annual Law Student Tax Challenge Problem

The ABA Tax Section has released the J.D. Problem (rules; entry form) and LL.M. Problem (rules; entry form) for the 22nd Annual Law Student Tax Challenge:

An alternative to traditional moot court competitions, the Law Student Tax Challenge (LSTC) is organized by the Section’s Young Lawyers Form. The LSTC asks two-person teams of students to solve a complex business problem that might arise in everyday tax practice. Teams are initially evaluated on two criteria: a memorandum to a senior partner and a letter to a client explaining the result. Based on the written work product, six teams from the J.D. Division and four teams from the LL.M. Division receive a free trip to the Section’s Midyear Meeting, where each team presents its submission before a panel of judges consisting of the country’s top tax practitioners and government officials, including tax court judges. The competition is a great way for law students to showcase their knowledge in a real-world setting and gain valuable exposure to the tax law community.

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ABA Tax Section Accepting Nominations for 2023-2025 Public Service Fellowships

The ABA Tax Section is accepting applications for Christine A. Brunswick Public Service Fellowships for 2023-2025:

The Section of Taxation is pleased to announce that it is now accepting applications for its Christine A. Brunswick Public Service Fellowship program class of 2023-2025. Applications are due November 10, 2022.

The fellowship program was developed in 2008 to address the need for tax legal assistance and to foster an interest in tax-related public service among new attorneys. Through the fellowship, recent J.D. and LL.M. graduates or law clerks practice public service tax law at a host organization for two years.

You can register for an upcoming information to learn more the fellowship. We will take questions during the sessions and share the recordings on the fellowship page.

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The Tax Lawyer Publishes New Issue

The Tax Lawyer has published Vol. 75, No. 4 (Summer 2022):

• Karie Davis-Nozemack (Georgia Tech; Google Scholar) & Sarah Webber (Dayton; Google Scholar), No Appeal for You: Reforming Appeals for Tax Whistleblowers, 75 Tax Law. 637 (2022)
• Bruce McGovern (South Texas), Cassady Brewer (Georgia State) & James Delaney (Wyoming), Recent Developments in Federal income Taxation: The Year 2021, 75 Tax Law. 681 (2022)

Gianni: Supervisory Approval Of Penalties—The Opening Of A Graev Pandora's Box

Monica Gianni (CSUN), Supervisory Approval of Penalties: The Opening of a Graev Pandora's Box, 75 Tax Law. __ (2022):

Section 6751(b) of the Internal Revenue Code requires supervisory approval in writing prior to assessment of certain penalties. Enacted in 1998 as part of the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) Restructuring and Reform Act, the statute’s purpose was to prevent IRS agents from using penalties as bargaining chips. The section remained essentially dormant for over 20 years, with both the IRS and taxpayers accepting the position that approval needed to be obtained only prior to assessment. The trilogy of Graev cases and a decision of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Chai v. Commissioner changed the § 6751(b) landscape completely, opening a Pandora’s box of taxpayers using § 6751(b) to avoid penalties on the technicality of no-written-supervisory approval. Hundreds of court cases have followed, resulting in cases inconsistently interpreting § 6751(b) and well-counseled taxpayers avoiding tax penalties.

This article examines the enactment of § 6751(b) and explores in detail the Graev and Chai decisions.

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Free Webinar Today On Job Opportunities In The Office Of Tax Policy (U.S. Treasury Department)

The ABA Tax Section is hosting a free webinar today at 1:00 PM ET on Opportunities to Influence Change: Legal Jobs in the Office of Tax Policy (register here):

The Office of Tax Policy at the Treasury Department is responsible for developing and implementing the tax policies and programs of the United States, drafting tax regulations, negotiating tax treaties, and providing legal analysis of tax policy decisions. But what does all of that really mean? Please join members of the Office of Tax Policy to learn about the day-to-day experience of working as an attorney-advisor, and to discover potential career opportunities that let you be on the forefront of developments in tax law, all while serving the public interest.

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