Call For Papers: Stetson Tax Law Symposium

The Stetson Business Law Review has issued a call for papers for its Tax Law Symposium:

Stetson Business Law Review (SBLR) is seeking articles and presenters for the 2023 edition of its Tax Law Symposium. The SBLR was founded in the 2019-20 academic year by ambitious students with strong interests in business law following the establishment of the Stetson Business Law Concentration. Earlier this year, SBLR successfully hosted its inaugural Symposium focused on white collar crime. The second annual Symposium will take place virtually on Friday, February 24, 2023, with an opportunity for hybrid in-person presentations. Following the virtual event, SBLR will be hosting a networking reception at the Tampa Law Center.

We invite you to submit an article for publication in the next edition of the Symposium paired with a presentation, or to join as a presenter without an article submission. We are hopeful that you take advantage of this unique opportunity to share your specialized knowledge for the benefit of the profession, while showcasing your expertise nationally. Each submission should be related to tax law, and satisfy the following:

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Tax Policy Center Hosts Virtual Event Today On The Future Of Business Taxes Post-Inflation Reduction Act

The Tax Policy Center hosts a virtual event on The Future Of Business Taxes Post-Inflation Reduction Act today at 12:30 PM ET (registration):

The recently enacted Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) put in place some significant changes to business taxation, including incentives for clean energy and a minimum tax on large corporations’ book incomes. But how effective will those measures be in achieving their goals? And what should Congress do next, with so many unanswered questions about the future of corporate taxation and climate change?

Join the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center for an event examining the IRA and the short-term future of corporate taxation. The event will feature keynote remarks by Treasury Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy Lily Batchelder and two expert panels. The first panel will examine the new corporate tax provisions, and the second panel will examine expanded green-energy incentives.

Keynote Speaker: 

• Lily Batchelder (Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy, U.S. Treasury)

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Stanford Hosts Forum Today On Tax Policies For A Freer And Fairer Country

The Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) hosts a forum today from 11:30 AM - 7:00 PM PT (register here). 

12:00 PM: Welcome Remarks

• Mark Duggan (Stanford; Google Scholar), the Trione Director of SIEPR, the Wayne and Jodi Cooperman Professor of Economics

12:15 PM: Tax on Individuals—Equity and Efficiency

• Kimberly Clausing (UCLA; Google Scholar)
• Kevin Hassett (Hoover Institution; Google Scholar)
• Scott Hodge (Tax Foundation)
• Mark Wolfson (Stanford) (moderator)

 

 

 

 

 

1:30 PM: Corporate Tax—Tax-induced Distortions, Profit Shifting, and Location and Investment Decisions

• Alan Auerbach (UC-Berkeley; Google Scholar)
• Michelle Hanlon (MIT; Google Scholar)
• Marcus Heyland (KPMG)
• Juan Carlos Suarez Serrato (Duke; Google Scholar)
• Rebecca Lester (Stanford; Google Scholar) (moderator)

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Brooklyn Hosts Discussion Today On A Global UN Tax Convention And Human Rights

Brooklyn hosts a Discussion on a Global UN Tax Convention and Human Rights today from 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM EST. 

Objectives
On the margins of the UN General Assembly, the UN Independent Expert on foreign debt and human rights is convening a side event with the general aim of deepening discussions around the content of her thematic report, including the recommendations therein. More specifically, this side event will focus on:

• Further discussing the current issues plaguing the international tax architecture;
• Examining in detail the recommendations of creating a global UN led tax convention and a global tax body using a human rights lens.

Moderator: 

• Attiya Waris (UN Independent Expert; Google Scholar)

Speakers: 

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Pittsburgh Hosts Symposium Today On Protecting Dynastic Wealth

Pittsburgh hosts a symposium on Protecting Dynastic Wealth: Perspectives on the Role of Estate and Gift Tax in Perpetuating Inequality today at 8:00 AM -2:00 PM ET (live stream here): 

Opening Keynote:  Jonathan Blattmachr, The 200-Year Life and the Future of Wealth Transfer Taxation

Panel #1: Protecting Dynastic Wealth

The estate and gift tax law has been critiqued as ineffective in curbing the growth of dynastic wealth. What goals are well served by the current law of wealth transfer taxation? Who benefits the most from the current tax structure? How might estate and gift tax laws be more effective as a backstop for the income tax? What role do lawyers play in the tax system, and how does that uniquely manifest in the wealth transfer tax context?

• Bridget Crawford (Pace; Google Scholar)
• Mitchell Gans (Hofstra) 
• David Herzig (Ernst & Young) (moderator)
• Carlyn McCaffrey (McDermott Will & Emery, New York)

Panel #2: Critical Perspectives on Wealth

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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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Texas A&M Conference For Associate Deans

Five years ago, on my first day as dean, I presented Faculty Scholarship Assessment: A (Very) New Dean's Perspective at the 2017 Texas A&M Associate Deans Conference.  I am delighted to be back at the 2022 Texas A&M Associate Deans Conference today as part of a Panel of Deans:

This panel features current law deans with diverse backgrounds and experiences. They will discuss issues relevant to associate deans, including the relationship between the dean and associate dean, as well as advice for prospective law deans.

• Robert Ahdieh (Texas A&M)
• Paul Caron (Pepperdine)
• Tamara Lawson (University of Washington)
• Moderator: Gary Lucas (Texas A&M) 

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Call For Tax Papers And Panels: Law & Society Annual Meeting

Neil Buchanan (Florida) has issued his annual call for tax papers and panels for next year's annual meeting of the Law & Society Association in San Juan (June 1 - 4, 2023):

The Law & Society Association (LSA) will host its next annual meeting from June 1 - 4, 2023, in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  For the nineteenth year in a row, I am organizing sessions for the "Law, Society, and Taxation" group (Collaborative Research Network 31).  For the seventh year in a row, Professors Jennifer Bird-Pollan and Mirit Eyal-Cohen are willing to work tirelessly as co-organizers to make our conference-within-a-conference a continuing success.

Under our signatures below, I've copied the Call for Papers email that LSA sent last week.  Note that all sessions in San Juan will be entirely live -- that is, there will be no online sessions or virtual participation of any kind at next year's conference.  Law & Society goes old school!

This year's official conference theme, "Separate and Unequal," happens to overlap with much of the work that you all have been presenting at Law & Society conferences over the years.  Even so, please remember that you are not bound by the official theme of the conference,   We will give full consideration to proposals in any area of tax law, tax policy, distributive justice, interdisciplinary scholarship, and so on.

The deadline for submissions is November 8, 2022 at 12 noon Eastern Standard Time (United States and Canada).  That is barely more than six weeks from today!

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U.S. Tax Prof Presentations At Today's Tax Research Network Conference

U.S. Tax Prof presentations at today's Tax Research Network Conference in Edinburgh Law School at the University of Edinburgh:

Jeremy Bearer-Friend (George Washington; Google Scholar), Poll Taxes, Revisited:

The introduction of the Community Charge in Scotland in 1989 was one of the defining moments of modern UK politics. Famously defended by Nicholas Ridley, Conservative Secretary of State for the Environment, on the grounds that a Duke would pay no more than a dustman, the arrival of the unpopular form of tax in Scotland a year before its introduction in England and Wales inspired a mass non-payment campaign and helped to bring about the end of Margaret Thatcher’s career as Prime Minister. But it was not the first time a 'poll tax' had been introduced by a British or US government during the twentieth century.

Using the political ephemera and archive collections of the National Library of Scotland, Jeremy Bearer-Friend puts the Scottish anti-Poll Tax campaign into global perspective, exploring how the everyday act of tax filing can become both a tool of discrimination and a powerful forum for political expression. Looking at the introduction of the Community Charge in comparison with other poll taxes applied by Anglophone governments during the twentieth century, he examines the ways in which neutrality in statutory language can cloak the use of tax as a political and economic weapon, and argues for an enriched understanding of the relationship between taxpaying and citizenship that goes beyond voting rights.

Michael Hatfield (University of Washington; Google Scholar) & Michelle Kwon (Tennessee), A Study of Tax Lawyers Discussing Duties, 75 Tax Law. ___ (2022):

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Virtual Roundtable Tomorrow On Starving The Beast: Ronald Reagan And The Tax Cut Revolution

On behalf of the Ronald Reagan Institute, the Washington, D.C. Office of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library, we invite you to attend the next iteration of the Reagan Scholars Virtual Roundtable Series from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm Eastern Time on Tuesday, August 2, 2022. Ronald Reagan Institute will host a virtual roundtable on August 2 from 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. ET. If you would like to attend, please contact Anthony Eames. 

For this session, we welcome Professor Monica Prasad of Northwestern University. She is the author of Starving the Beast: Ronald Reagan and the Tax Cut Revolution - winner of the best book award in economic sociology. Dr. Brian Domitrovic, Richard S. Strong Scholar at the Laffer Center for Supply-Side Economics, will offer his own comments in response. He is a leading authority on the history of on supply-side economics. See his recent book The Emergence of Arthur Laffer: The Foundations of Supply-Side Economics in Chicago and Washington, 1966-1976.  

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Today's Law, Society, And Taxation Panels

Today's Law, Society, and Taxation panels at the virtual 2022 Law & Society Association Annual Meeting:

Session #18:  Teaching Taxation: A Pittsburgh Tax Review Symposium (Diane Klein (Southern), Chair/Discussantl Author, Teaching Critical Tax: What, Why, & How, 19 Pitt. Tax Rev. 143 (2022)):
In its Spring 2022 issue, the Pittsburgh Tax Review published a symposium issue dedicated to teaching taxation. The idea behind the special issue is to collect in one place the insights of leading tax teachers as a service for all who are interested in and devoted to educating current law students and future tax lawyers. This roundtable session includes several of the contributors to this special issue who will describe their contributions and lead a discussion regarding tax teaching in an interactive format with the audience. The contributions featured here include using a VITA program to put a face on tax policy, incorporating critical perspectives in the tax classroom, teaching tax through film, and lessons from teaching tax during the pandemic.

• Alice Abreu (Temple), Tax on the Ground: How a VITA Course Enhances the Law School Curriculum, 19 Pitt. Tax Rev. 101 (2022)
• Katherine Pratt (Loyola-L.A.), Reflections on Law Teaching at the Post-Pandemic Crossroads, 19 Pitt. Tax Rev. 217 (2022)
• Margaret Ryznar (Indiana-McKinney), Lessons from Teaching Tax Online, 19 Pitt. Tax Rev. 295 (2022)
• Stephanie McMahon (Cincinnati), Teaching Tax Through Film: It’s Not as Crazy as it Sounds, 19 Pitt. Tax Rev. 183 (2022)

Session #14:  Directions and Strategies for Future Tax Reforms (in Europe) (Yvette Lind (Copenhagen; Google Scholar), Chair/Discussant & Patrik Emblad (Gothenburg), Discussant):

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Today's Law, Society, And Taxation Panels

Today's Law, Society, and Taxation panels at the 2022 Law & Society Association Annual Meeting:

Session #9:  Tax History (Manoj Viswanathan (UC-Hastings; Google Scholar), Chair/Discussant):
While there is no imposition of tax at the supranational level, the imposition of tax at the national level within a country's own borders introduces complexity at the international level that affects issues of tax policy and tax design. The papers on this panel consider many of these complex concerns, with special attention paid, in some of the papers to the way the United States has addressed matters of international taxation.

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Penn-Wharton Hosts Virtual Discussion Today On Minimum Corporate Income Taxes

Penn-Wharton hosts a virtual discussion on Minimum Corporate Income Taxes today at 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. EDT (registration):

Minimum corporate income taxes are currently being debated as a way to generate tax revenue while preventing highly profitable companies from using tax loopholes to reduce their tax bills. In particular, a minimum tax based on income that corporations report on financial statements has been included in both the House and Senate versions of Build Back Better. Minimum taxes, such as a minimum tax on multinational corporations, are also being considered as part of tax changes codified in international agreements. Questions that will be addressed in this webinar include: Are minimum corporate income taxes efficient in general? What are the challenges with different approaches to imposing a minimum tax, both domestically and internationally? What are potential minimum tax alternatives that do not use financial statement income but can raise similar levels of revenue?

Panelists:

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Today's Law, Society, And Taxation Panels

Today's Law, Society, and Taxation panels at the 2022 Law & Society Association Annual Meeting:

Session #4:  International Tax I (Lotta Björklund Larsen (Exeter; Google Scholar), Chair/Discussant):
While there is no imposition of tax at the supranational level, the imposition of tax at the national level within a country's own borders introduces complexity at the international level that affects issues of tax policy and tax design. The papers on this panel consider many of these complex concerns, with special attention paid, in some of the papers to the way the United States has addressed matters of international taxation.

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Today's Law, Society, And Taxation Panels

Today's Law, Society, and Taxation panels at the 2022 Law & Society Association Annual Meeting:

Session #1:  Critical Tax Theory  (Alice Abreu (Temple), Chair/Discussant):
The nominal application of tax rules to the taxpayers affected by them is often at odds with the affects of those rules in practice. In addition, the priorities and experiences of the actors participating in the drafting, interpreting, and enforcing of tax rules can impact the way those rules are created or operate. The papers on this panel employ a variety of approaches to think about the tax law in the real world, both in the lived experiences of those subject to the rules, and in the intentions of those who create and enforce the rules.

Nyamagaga Gondwe (Wisconsin), American Taxation and The Empty Promise of Black Capitalism:

The federal income tax system is more permissive in how it provides financial assistance to property owners than it is in its method of giving financial assistance to those who principally rely on labor income. Historically, the federal government has participated in expanding rights in property ownership to different historically excluded groups. Expanding those entitlements allows the government to tout individualist virtues of capitalism over collective social spending. But Professors Mehrsa Baradaran and Keeanga Yamatta-Taylor present the theories of “counterfeit capitalism” and “predatory inclusion” to show that systemic failures to regulate market racism against Black Americans have made historically significant tools for building wealth (e.g., stock ownership and homeownership) empty entitlements that drain Black resources instead. Baradaran and Yamatta-Taylor’s accounts are significant from the perspective of the tax distinction between capital and ordinary income because for the balance of American history Black American economic life has been confined to low-wage labor and low-value housing.

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Surrey Workshop On Fairness In International Taxation

The two-day University of Surrey Fairness in International Taxation Workshop (program) concludes today:

The nature of international tax policy has changed dramatically in recent years. Twentieth century international tax policy sought to prevent double taxation of income, to treat taxpayers doing business abroad fairly and to mitigate inefficiencies in the allocation of investment. Recently, the focus of international tax policymaking has shifted, aiming to prevent double non-taxation of corporate income and to achieve a fair division of the resulting tax revenue. This is illustrated most prominently by the recent agreement on a global minimum corporation tax rate. As international tax policy raises its ambitions, there is a need for normative theories adequate to the challenges of this new era.

Fairness in International Taxation brings together legal scholars, political theorists and political philosophers to consider both high-level theories of distributive justice and the normative underpinnings and implications of leading policy proposals. The workshop will cover questions such as how to divide tax revenue from multinationals between nations, how to strike a fair balance between combating profiting shifting and respecting national autonomy, and how to tax internationally mobile workers. By combining theoretical approaches to distributive justice with analysis of the political and institutional context of policymaking we aim to develop new accounts of fairness in international taxation.

U.S. presenters include:

Amanda Parsons (Colorado), The Economic Allegiance of Capital Gains:

How to ensure that multinational companies are paying their “fair share” of taxes in the countries in which they create value has been the subject of lively debate within the international tax community in recent years. These debates have led to significant and exciting reforms, namely the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework. While these reforms represent an important step towards creating a more coherent and equitable international tax system, the current conversations have overlooked an essential fact. Value created by a company’s business activities manifests itself in two ways—as business income and as an increase in the overall market value of the company, which then translates into capital gains income when investors sell their shares. Thus far, the conversation has focused exclusively on how to divide taxing authority over company income, missing half the story. A truly comprehensive reform that ensures fairness and equity in international taxation must address the question of how taxing authority over income stemming from the growth in company value should be allocated amongst countries.

This paper fills this gap and assesses how taxing authority over this capital gains income should be divided amongst countries under the normative principles that have guided international tax law for the past 100 years.

Adam Kern (Law Clerk, Hon. Jed S. Rakoff, U.S. District Judge Court for the Southern District of New York), Optimal Taxation for the World:

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17th Annual Junior Tax Scholars Workshop Concludes Today At Illinois

Ariel Jurow Kleiman (Loyola-L.A.; Google Scholar), Crisis Lawmaking, Automatic Stabilizers, and Democracy
Commentators: Blaine Saito (Northeastern; Google Scholar), Christine Speidel (Villanova; Google Scholar)

Andrew Appleby (Stetson; Google Scholar), Digital Property Taxation
Commentators: Hayes Holderness (Richmond), Shelly Layser (Illinois; Google Scholar; moving to San Diego)

Amanda Parsons (Colorado), The Economic Allegiance of Capital Gains
Commentators: Jonathan Choi (Minnesota; Google Scholar), Eleanor Wilking (Cornell)

Jeesoo Nam (USC; Google Scholar), Just Taxation of Crime: Should the Commission of Crime Change One’s Tax Liability?
Commentators: Blaine Saito, Gaga Gondwe (NYU, moving to Wisconsin)

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17th Annual Junior Tax Scholars Workshop Kicks Off Today At Illinois

Gaga Gondwe (NYU, moving to Wisconsin), The Black Tax: How the Charitable Contribution Subsidy Reinforces Black Poverty, 76 Tax L. Rev. ___ (2023)
Commentators: Jeesoo Nam (USC; Google Scholar), Goldburn Maynard (Indiana-Kelley; Google Scholar)

Hayes Holderness (Richmond), Individual Home-Work Assignments for State Taxes
Commentators: Andrew Appleby (Stetson; Google Scholar), Shelly Layser (Illinois; Google Scholar; moving to San Diego)

Shelly Layser, Fighting the Affordable Housing Crisis Through State-Federal Tax (Dis)Conformity
Commentators: Andrew Appleby, Hayes Holderness

Blaine Saito (Northeastern; Google Scholar), Public Tax Actors
Commentators: Ariel Jurow Kleiman (Loyola-L.A.; Google Scholar), Jeesoo Nam

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National Tax Association 115th Annual Conference Call for Papers: June 6 Deadline

National Tax Association 115th Annual Conference Call for Papers:

The 115th Annual Conference on Taxation will be held at the JW Marriott Marquis Miami, in Miami, Florida. The conference will cover a broad range of topics in tax policy and public finance. We welcome submissions from the fields of accounting, economics, law, and public policy and administration, as well as research from other fields that bears on these topics.

This year’s conference agenda is being framed by recent significant developments: the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, the rise of inflation, climate change, ESG, and continuing activity within the OECD towards fundamental changes in international tax. We especially encourage submissions in line with these topics.

You are invited to submit the following: individual papers to be integrated into sessions, proposals for complete sessions of papers, and proposals for panel discussions. Please note that full session proposals are mere suggestions of groupings. The conference committee reserves the right to consider and accept individual papers from a complete session rather than accepting the complete session. Submitters of complete sessions are required to enter abstracts for each paper in the session.

The submission deadline is June 6, 2022.

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8th Annual Mid-Career Tax Professors Workshop At North Carolina

Tuesday, May 24:

Panel #1:

Ari Glogower (Ohio State; Google Scholar), Means-Adjusted Tax Rules
Commentator:  Philip Hackney (Pittsburgh)

Susan Morse (Texas; Google Scholar), APA Statute of Limitations
Commentator:  Clint Wallace (South Carolina)

Andrew Hayashi (Virginia; Google Scholar), Income Tax Enforcement & Redistribution: A Survey
Commentator:  Shu-Yi Oei (Boston College; Google Scholar) 

Brian Galle (Georgetown; Google Scholar), Solving the Valuation Challenge: A Feasible Method for Taxing Extreme Wealth (with David Gamage (Indiana-Maurer; Google Scholar) & Darien Shanske (UC-Davis; Google Scholar))
Commentator:  Andrew Hayashi (Virginia; Google Scholar)

Panel #2:

Yariv Brauner (Florida; Google Scholar), What Should Developing Countries do about the Recent Global Minimum Tax "Agreement"?
Commentator:  Young Ran (Christine) Kim (Utah, moving to Cardozo; Google Scholar)

Shuyi Oei (Boston College; Google Scholar), What Determines Treaty Favorability to Developing Countries?
Commentator: Susan Morse (Texas; Google Scholar)

Doron Narotzki (Akron; Google Scholar), Tax Planning and Pillar Two
Commentator: Yariv Brauner (Florida; Google Scholar)

Panel #3:

Jordan Barry (USC), Tax & the Boundaries of the Firm (with Victor Fleischer (UC-Irvine; Google Scholar))
Commentator: Doron Narotzki (Akron; Google Scholar)

Manoj Viswanathan (UC-Hastings), Hybrid Tax Bases & the Constitution
Commentator: Ari Glogower (Ohio State; Google Scholar)

Emily Cauble (DePaul), Testing Intuitions About Partnership Tax Intuitions
Commentator: Leigh Osofsky (North Carolina; Google Scholar)

Panel #4:

Stephanie Hoffer (Indiana-McKinney; Google Scholar), Language of Disability in the Tax Code
Commentator: Kathleen DeLaney Thomas (North Carolina; Google Scholar)

Kathleen DeLaney Thomas (North Carolina; Google Scholar), Fake News & the Tax Law
Commentator: Emily Cauble (DePaul)

Leigh Osofsky (North Carolina; Google Scholar), Implicit Leg Bias & the HMID
Commentator: David Gamage (Indiana-Maurer; Google Scholar)

Wednesday, May 25:

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ABA Tax Section Hybrid 2022 May Meeting

This week's ABA Tax Section hybrid 2022 May Meeting (program) kicks off today. One of the highlight of the meeting is Saturday's luncheon and plenary session:

Keynote Speaker: Lily Batchelder, Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy, U.S. Department of the Treasury
Roundtable: Tax Data Transparency: Changes Coming to a Post-Pandemic Tax Code? On January 20, 2021, President Biden signed Executive Order 13985, which, inter alia, established an Interagency Working Group on Equitable Data prompted by a growing recognition that the absence of demographic data in federal datasets, including tax data, results in inequities across federal programs. In addition, Treasury is undertaking a comprehensive research initiative to study the relationship between the U.S. tax code and racial inequities, in response to research identifying inequities in tax enforcement. Congress, too, is making demands for more transparency in tax data, with Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR) calling for the IRS to “collect and disclose more information relating to the effect of the tax code on different demographics [because] it makes no sense to blind lawmakers to the key data that would illuminate injustice in our tax laws.” This roundtable will provide new insight on the tax policy implications of greater tax data transparency in a post-Pandemic tax code. Discussion will focus on the role of tax data transparency in tax expenditure oversight; the implications of the absence of demographic data on current tax administration and policy; and how tax expenditures included in Pandemic- related legislation have created an opportunities for new data.

Moderator: Caroline Bruckner, Sr. Professorial Lecturer & Managing Director of the Kogod Tax Policy Center, American University Kogod School of Business

Panelists: Steven Dean, Professor of Law, Co-Director of the Dennis J. Block Center for the Study of International Business Law, Brooklyn Law School; Mark Mazur; Danny Yagan

• Steven Dean, Filing While Black: The Casual Racism of the Tax Law, 2022 Utah L. Rev. __ 
• Steven Dean, Filing While Black: How Our Racially Biased Tax System Hurts All of Us, 175 Tax Notes Fed. 466 (Apr. 18, 2022)

Other Tax Profs with speaking roles include:

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Tax Policy Center Hosts Virtual Conference Today On Wealth Taxation In Defense Of Equal Citizenship

The Tax Policy Center hosts a virtual conference on Wealth Taxation in Defense of Equal Citizenship today at 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. EDT (registration):

Wealth inequality is often discussed in terms of its economic effects rather than its political implications. But money is a form of power, and the wealthy exert an outsized influence on politics. Wealth taxation has the potential, therefore, not only to reduce the concentration of economic power in America, but to strengthen democracy itself. On Monday, May 2, the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center will host an event considering wealth taxation as a tool of democratic reform. During the live event, viewers can submit questions via email to events@brookings.edu or on Twitter using #WealthTax.

Speakers:

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Tax Policy Center Hosts Virtual Conference Today On Global Corporate Tax Reform: Why It’s Important and What It Will Do (And Not Do)

The Tax Policy Center hosts a virtual conference on Global Corporate Tax Reform: Why It’s Important and What It Will Do (And Not Do) today at 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. EDT (registration): 

In the fall of 2021, the U.S. and over 130 nations representing more than 90 percent of global GDP agreed to change the way multinational corporations are taxed. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says the two-pillar OECD/G-20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) agreement will end the “damaging race to the bottom on corporate taxation” that each year deprives countries of billions of dollars in tax revenue.  Pillar 1 will for the first time allocate a share of the largest multinationals’ profits to countries where their goods are consumed. Pillar 2 will combat tax competition by encouraging countries to adopt a global minimum tax on corporations’ foreign income at a rate of 15 percent.

On Friday, April 15, the Hutchins Center on Fiscal & Monetary Policy and the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center will host an event to explain the significance of the agreement; how it will affect multinational corporations, advanced economies, and developing economies; and the prospects for its implementation.

During the live event, the audience may submit questions at slido using the code #GlobalTax or join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #GlobalTax.

Speakers:

• Lily L. Batchelder (U.S. Treasury)
• Dhammika Dharmapala (Chicago; Google Scholar)
• Lilian Faulhaber (Georgetown; Google Scholar)
• Alexander Klemm (IMF; Google Scholar)
• Pam Olson (PwC) 
• David Wessel (Brookings Institution)

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Tax Presentations At The Critical Trusts & Estates Conference

Tax presentations at the Critical Trusts and Estates Conference at Oklahoma City University School of Law last Thursday and Friday:

Death and Taxes

• Bridget Crawford (Pace; Google Scholar) & Lee-ford Tritt (Florida), The Appalachia Tax
• Victoria Haneman (Creighton; Google Scholar), Tax-Sheltering Funeral Savings
• Kayla Stephen (Kirschbaum Law Group), Pay to Stay Incarceration and Probate
• Phyllis Taite (Oklahoma City), Do Taxing Systems Impact Income and Wealth Inequality? Investigating Disparities in OECD Member and Contributing Countries

Debate — Resolved: Wealth Should Escheat to the State at Death Because it was Never Yours Anyway

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Indiana Symposium: The COVID Care Crisis And Its Implications For Legal Academia

Symposium, The COVID Care Crisis and its Implications for Legal Academia (Bloomington, IN), 16 FIU L. Rev. 1-185 (2021):

• Cyra A. Choudhury (Florida Int'l; Google Scholar), The COVID Care Crisis and its Implications for Legal Academia, 16 FIU L. Rev. 1 (2021)
• Nadia B. Ahmad (Barry; Google Scholar), "Blood, Sweat, Tears:" A Muslim Woman Law Professor's View on Degenerative Racism, Misogyny, and (Internal) Islamophobia from Preeclampsia and Presumed Incompetent to Pandemic Tenure, 16 FIU L. Rev. 13 (2021)
• Hadar Aviram (UC-Hastings; Google Scholar), The Center Cannot Hold: Zoom as a Potemkin Village, 16 FIU L. Rev. 75 (2021)
• Teneille R. Brown, (Utah; Google Scholar), Stereotypes, Sexism, and Superhuman Faculty, 16 FIU L. Rev. 83 (2021)
• Stephanie M. H. Moore (Indiana-Kelley), The Foundational Care Crisis, 16 FIU L. Rev. 101 (2021)
• Michele Okoh (Duke) & Inès Ndonko Nnoko (Duke Center on Law & Technology), The Need for Social Support from Law Schools during the Era of Social Distancing, 16 FIU L. Rev. 117 (2021)
• Shruti Rana (Indiana-Bloom.) & Hamid R. Ekbia (Indiana-Bloom.; Google Scholar), Crisis, Rupture and Structural Change: Re-imagining Global Learning and Engagement While Staying in Place During the Covid-19 Pandemic, 16 FIU L. Rev. 133 (2021)

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25th Annual Critical Tax Conference At Villanova

Villanova hosts the 25th Annual Critical Tax Conference (program) today and tomorrow:

The Critical Tax Theory Conference has a long history of fostering the work of both established and emerging scholars whose research challenges and enriches the tax law and policy literature. Critical tax scholars question assumptions of objectivity in tax, as their work explores how tax law and policy impact historically marginalized groups. At a time when tax policy is once again at the forefront of politics and public discourse, the work of these and other critical tax scholars supports a more robust discussion of the role for tax law in current and future social and economic policy.

Friday

9:15 AM: Welcome & Opening Remarks

• Joy Mullane (Villanova)
• Mark Alexander (Dean, Villanova)

9:30 AM: Connecting Scholarship to Policymakers and Stakeholders: A Discussion with Nina Olson (Center for Taxpayer Rights)

10:00 AM: Panel Presentation #1

• David Elkins (Netanya, visiting NYU; Google Scholar), A Red Herring that Shaped Tax Jurisprudence
• Jay Soled (Rutgers; Google Scholar), AI, Taxation, and Valuation
• Samantha Prince (Penn State-Dickinson; Google Scholar), Megacompany Employee Churn Meets 401(K) Vesting Schedules: A Sabotage on Workers’ Retirement Wealth

11:30 AM: Incubator Session #1

• Joshua Blank (UC-Irvine; Google Scholar), Automated Agencies
• Keith Fogg (Harvard), Delaware the Pirate State
• Alice Abreu (Temple), Taxpayer Bill of Rights - Moving Beyond the Procedural

12:15 PM: Keynote Address

• Leslie Book (Villanova; Google Scholar)
• William G. Gale (Brookings Institution; Google Scholar), Public Finance and Racism

1:30 PM: Panel Presentation #2

• Henry Ordower (St. Louis; Google Scholar), Block Rewards, Carried Interests, and Other Valuation Quandaries in Taxing Compensation
• Clint Wallace (Souther Carolina; Google Scholar), Democracy as Criteria for Taxation
• Goldburn Maynard Jr. (Indiana-Kelley; Google Scholar), Wage Enslavement: How the Tax System Holds Back Historically Disadvantaged Groups of Americans (with David Gamage (Indiana-Maurer; Google Scholar))

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Houston Hosts Energy Tax Conference Today

The University of Houston Law Center hosts the 4th Annual Denney L. Wright International Energy Tax Conference and the Houston Business and Tax Law Journal 22nd Annual Symposium today on Exploring International Energy Investments Post Pandemic virtually today from 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM CDT:

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Tax Papers At Today's AALS Poverty Law Pop-Up Conference

Tax papers at today's AALS Poverty Law Pop-Up Conference (12:00 pm - 4:05 pm ET) (program):

Michelle Layser (Illinois; Google Scholar), Overcoming Constitutional (and Political) Barriers to State Place-Based Tax Incentive Reform

Place-based tax incentives, which are used to promote investment in distressed geographies, have the potential to become an effective tool to fight poverty at the state and local level. However, the incentives that are currently used by state and local governments to advance their community economic development strategies often fail to benefit residents of low-income communities. Ideally, these tax incentives would be reformed by restricting their availability to activities that directly benefit low-income residents of distressed regions within the state, such as by requiring business taxpayers to hire or serve residents of the targeted areas. However, for reasons to be explained in this Article, under current constitutional law frameworks, these proposed reforms would constitute unconstitutional discrimination under the Dormant Commerce Clause—a consequence of decades of Court doctrine that has developed to constrain state tax competition. Successful state place-based tax incentive reform will require Congress to modify the existing constitutional framework to enable these types of reforms. Without such changes, there is a real and imminent risk that constitutional frameworks will continue to evolve in ways that further restrict the use of place-based tax incentives, depriving state and local governments of an important anti-poverty tool.

Richard Winchester (Seton Hall; Google Scholar): Homeownership While Black: A Pathway to Plunder, Compliments of Uncle Sam:

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IRS Commissioner Delivers Virtual Lecture Today At Miami

Miami hosts the IRS Commissioner Lecture today at 6:00 PM ET (register here):

Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Charles P. Rettig [(J.D. 1981, Pepperdine; Tax LL.M. 1982, NYU)] will be delivering a virtual lecture on Current IRS Priorities and Initiatives, hosted by the University of Miami School of Law Graduate Program in Taxation.

Retting, the 49th Commissioner of the IRS, presides over the nation's tax system, which collects more than $3.5 trillion in tax revenue each year, representing about 96% of the total gross receipts of the United States. Rettig manages an agency of about 80,000 employees and a budget of more than $11 billion. Read more about Charles P. Rettig.

The virtual lecture will take place on Thursday, March 24, 2022, from 6:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. EST, and is free and open to the public with registration.

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UC-Irvine Hosts Virtual Symposium Today On The Global Tax Deal And The Changing International Tax Order

UC-Irvine hosts the 4th A. Lavar Taylor Tax Symposium:

Panel #1:  Global Perspectives on a Global Tax Deal (Zoom link here)

• Ruth Mason (Virginia; Google Scholar), The Transformation of International Tax
• Shu-Yi Oei (Boston College; Google Scholar), World Tax Policy in the World Tax Polity? An Event History Analysis of OECD/BEPS Inclusive Framework Membership
• Valentin Bendlinger (Vienna) & Georg Kofler (Vienna; Google Scholar), The European Union Perspective on the Global Tax Deal
• Tianlong Lawrence Hu (Renmin; Google Scholar), In Search of a Pragmatic Soul – China’s Fiscal and Taxation Legal Reform Under the New International Tax Order
• Victor Fleischer (UC-Irvine; Google Scholar) (moderator) 

Panel #2: Developing Countries and the Global Tax Deal

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Florida Hosts 12th Annual Tax Policy Lectures Today On (1) Tax Evasion And Enforcement And (2) Public Finance And Racism

The University of Florida Law Graduate Tax Program hosts the 12th Annual Ellen Bellet Gelberg Tax Policy Lecture virtually today in two parts:

Tax Evasion and Enforcement at 9:30 AM ET (Zoom link):

• William Gale (Brookings Institution; Google Scholar)
• Fred T. Goldberg, Jr. (Skadden) 
• Nina Olsen (Center for Taxpayer Rights) 
• Natasha Sarin (Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy, U.S. Treasury Department)

Public Finance and Racism at 12:00 PM ET (Zoom link), by William Gale:

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Call For Papers: Workshop On Fairness In International Taxation At University Of Surrey (England)

Call for Papers:

The University of Surrey School of Law invites scholars in philosophy, political theory, law, and taxation to submit abstracts of 500 to 1,000 words for a workshop, Fairness in International Taxation, to be held June 23-24, 2022 in Guildford, England. Please submit abstracts on the conference webpage, by no later than 1 April 2022.

This is an exciting time in international tax policy. Recent momentum toward international tax cooperation has seen policy proposals rise to the top of the international agenda that would have seemed utopian only a few years ago. Regardless of the fate of current OECD/G20 proposals, new policies to limit profit shifting and tax competition seem likely to be adopted. This new context of policy making calls for fresh consideration of the normative dimensions of international tax policy.

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Osgoode Hall Law School Workshop Invitation: Women With Disabilities And Negative Taxation

Workshop Invitation: Women with Disabilities and Negative Taxation (Mar. 10, 2022):

We would like to invite you to a workshop tentatively scheduled for November 11, 2022 in Toronto, Canada. The goal of this event is to contribute to the debates about proposed Canada Disability Benefit (CDB) program (Bill C-35) by sharing insights from multiple disciplines, different perspectives, and several stakeholder groups, with a focus on women with disabilities.

By way of background, the existing patchwork of income-support programs in Canada, including some delivered through the income tax system (such as disability tax credit and registered disability savings plan) fail to provide a reasonable level of income security for working-age disabled Canadians, especially women. The CDB aims to remedy that by modelling after the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) for seniors. If introduced, it will be the most significant addition to the Canadian social security system in recent years.

What are the challenges in getting the legislation passed? How will the CDB interact with existing programs (at federal and provincial levels)? What lessons can be learned from the CERB (Canada Emergency Response Benefit) in ensuring the CDB is effectively targeted, fairly implemented and adequate in meeting the needs of women with disabilities? Can the CDB be the genesis of a general negative tax or universal basic income system?

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North Carolina Hosts 25th Annual Tax Symposium Today And Tomorrow

Friday, March 11

9:00 AM: Introductions 

• Ed Maydew (North Carolina; Google Scholar)

9:10 AM: Origins of and Inspiration for the UNC Tax Symposium

• Doug Shackelford (North Carolina; Google Scholar)
• Joel Slemrod (Michigan; Google Scholar) 

9:40 AM: ETF Heartbeat Trades, Tax Efficiencies, and Clienteles: The Role of Taxes in the Flow Migration from Active Mutual Funds to ETFs

• Rabih Moussawi (Villanova; Google Scholar) (presenter)
• Ke Shen (Lehigh; Google Scholar)
• Raisa Velthuis (Villanova)
• John Heater (Duke; Google Scholar) (discussant)
• Stephen Glaeser (North Carolina; Google Scholar) (moderator)

11:00 AM: Does Shaming Pay? Evaluating California’s Top 500 Tax Delinquent Publication Program

• Chad Angaretis (California Franchise Tax Board)
• Brian D. Galle (Georgetown; Google Scholar)
• Paul Organ (Michigan; Google Scholar) (presenter)
• Allen C. Prohofsky (California Franchise Tax Board)
• Michele Mullaney (Indiana-Kelley) (discussant) 
• Jennifer Blouin (Penn) (moderator)

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NYU Hosts Forum Tomorrow On Taxing The Rich

NYU hosts a forum on Taxing the Rich: Is It a Problem? If So, What Can Be Done About It? tomorrow at 3:45 PM ET (registration):

ProPublica recently published a series of articles showing that many of the wealthiest Americans pay little or nothing in taxes. In some years, the series reported, the likes of Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Michael Bloomberg didn’t pay a penny in federal income tax. This pointedly raises the question of whether our approach to taxing the rich—particularly the superrich focused on by ProPublica—is right as a matter of fairness and revenue policy. Politicians and policymakers have put forth a number of proposals that would impose higher taxes on the wealthy. At this Forum, a panel of experts will unpack the issues underlying this situation and discuss the pros and cons of ideas put forth to address it.

Panelists: 

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UC-Hastings Hosts Virtual Conference Today On Tax Lawmaking During Times Of Uncertainty

The UC-Hastings Center on Tax Law hosts a conference today on Tax Lawmaking During Times of Uncertainty at 8:30 AM-2:30 PM PT (register here):

Hear from scholars, practitioners, and current and former government officials about the tax lawmaking process. Panelists will discuss the challenges of passing tax legislation, administering tax law during times of transition, and giving tax advice to clients when tax laws might change. The discussion will reflect on recent efforts to make tax law changes and will consider how tax lawmaking will continue to evolve.

8:30 AM: Welcome

• David Faigman (Chancellor & Dean, UC-Hastings; Google Scholar) 
• Manoj Viswanathan (UC-Hastings)
• Heather Field (UC-Hastings; Google Scholar)

8:45 AM: The Tax Legislative Process: Reconciliation, Budgeting, and More

• Victor Fleischer (UC-Irvine; Google Scholar)
• Jane Gravelle (Congressional Research Service)
• Daniel Hemel (Chicago; Google Scholar)

10:15 AM: Tax Practice Perspectives Amid Uncertainty

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Symposium: The 21st Century Trust — Evolution, Innovation, Adaptation

Symposium, The 21st Century Trust: Evolution, Innovation, Adaptation, 53 Creighton L. Rev. 643-764 (2020):

• Thomas Simmons (South Dakota; Google Scholar), Christian Purpose Trusts, 53 Creighton L. Rev. 643 (2020)
• Julie Blaskewicz Boron (Nebraska), Cognitive Competence and Decision-Making Capacity, 53 Creighton L. Rev. 659 (2020)
• Steven Schwarcz (Duke; Google Scholar), Tepoel Lecture: Bond Trustees and the Rising Challenge of Activist Investors, 53 Creighton L. Rev. 669 (2020)
• Carla Spivack (Oklahoma City), Twenty-First Century Trusts and Ethics: Estate Planning for Couples, 53 Creighton L. Rev. 683 (2020)
• Elaine Hightower Gagliardi (Montana), Estate Planning Choice of Wealth Management Entity: The Limited Partnership as an Alternative to the Trust, 53 Creighton L. Rev. 695 (2020)

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ABA Tax Section Virtual 2022 Midyear Meeting

This week's ABA Tax Section virtual 2022 Midyear Meeting (program) concludes today. Tax Profs with speaking roles included:

• Consequences of Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta:  Ellen Aprill (Loyola-L.A.), Lloyd Mayer (Notre Dame)
• ESG and Tax Policy – Responsible Tax Policies for a Better Future:  Susan Gary (Oregon), Janet Milne (Vermont)
• Increases in Math Error Notices:  Leslie Book (Villanova)
• Low-Income SALT – Advocating for Low-Income Taxpayers in State Tax Matters:  Caleb Smith (Minnesota)
• Riding the Tax Reform Wave in Real Time:  Paul Caron (Pepperdine), Susan Morse (Texas)

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ABA Teaching Taxation Panel Today On Riding The Tax Reform Wave In Real Time

I am looking forward to moderating the Teaching Taxation Section panel on Riding the Tax Reform Wave in Real Time at today's ABA Tax Section Virtual 2022 Mid-Year Meeting at 12:30-2:00 PM ET:

What are the different ways in which law faculty and practitioners keep up with tax reform proposals, legislative changes, and administrative guidance in the rapidly changing world of tax law? As professionals, we need to be aware of conversations around legislative proposals and any resulting changes that would impact our audience, whether that is law students or clients. What are the best processes and sources of information for staying abreast of pending changes to the tax law? How do we juggle uncertainty as proposals unfold, whether we are teaching students or advising clients? How do we get up to speed as quickly as possible once changes are implemented and guidance follows? The panel – consisting of a tax law professor, law librarian, journalist, and practitioner – will discuss the best practices with simulations.

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St. Louis Symposium: Teaching Law Online

Symposium, Teaching Law Online, 65 St. Louis U. L.J. 455-726 (2021):

• Bridget J. Crawford (Pace; Google Scholar) & Michelle S. Simon (Pace), Law Faculty Experiences Teaching During the Pandemic, 65 St. Louis U. L.J. 455 (2021)
• Yvonne M. Dutton (Indiana-McKinney) & Seema Mohapatra (SMU; Google Scholar), COVID-19 and Law Teaching: Guidance on Developing an Asynchronous Online Course for Law Students, 65 St. Louis U. L.J. 471 (2021)
• Charletta A. Fortson (Southern), Now is Not the Time for Another Law School Lecture: An Andragogical Approach to Virtual Learning for Legal Education, 65 St. Louis U. L.J. 505 (2021)
• Shivangi Gangwar (Jindal Global; Google Scholar), Some Thoughts on the Corona Semester, 65 St. Louis U. L.J. 517 (2021)
• F. E. Guerra-Pujol (Central Florida; Google Scholar), Christiana Champnella (Graduate TA, Central Florida), Benjamin Mayo (Undergraduate TA, Central Florida), Morgan Travers (Graduate TA, Central Florida) & Antonella Vitulli (Undergraduate TA, Central Florida), Teaching Tiger King, 65 St. Louis U. L.J. 527 (2021)
• Agnieszka McPeak (Gonzaga; Google Scholar), Adaptable Design: Building Multi-Modal Content for Flexible Law School Teaching, 65 St. Louis U. L.J. 561 (2021)
• Antonia Alice Badway Miceli (St. Louis), From a Distance: Providing Online Academic Support and Bar Exam Preparation to Law Students and Alumni During the COVID-19 Pandemic, 65 St. Louis U. L.J. 585 (2021)
• Ira Steven Nathenson (St. Thomas-FL; Google Scholar), Teaching Law Online: Yesterday and Today, But Tomorrow Never Knows, 65 St. Louis U. L.J. 607 (2021)
• Margaret Ryznar (Indiana-McKinney), What Works in Online Teaching, 65 St. Louis U. L.J. 643 (2021)
• Anita M. Singh (George Washington), From Crisis Springs Opportunity: Using Virtual Learning to Develop More Effective Lawyers, 65 St. Louis U. L.J. 663 (2021)
• Sonia M. Suter (George Washington), Legal Education in a Pandemic: A Crisis and Online Teaching Reveal Who My Students Are, 65 St. Louis U. L.J. 679 (2021)

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Call For Presentations: UC-Irvine Tax Symposium

Call For Presentations: UC-Irvine Tax Sympsium:

The Graduate Tax Program at the University of California, Irvine School of Law will host its 4th Annual UCI/Lavar Taylor Tax Symposium on March 21, 2022. Due to the ongoing COVID situation, we will host the symposium virtually. The theme this year is The Global Tax Deal and the Changing International Tax Order.

The purpose of this full-day symposium is to launch an in-depth discussion on the “global tax deal” adopting the OECD two-pillar framework, signed by 136 countries last October. We are interested in submissions for proposed presentations on the ramifications of the global deal from any point of view, including, but not limited to: economic, political, legal, social, racial, as well as any critical perceptive.

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Northwestern Hosts Zoom Panel Today On Validity And Equity Problems In Law School Teaching Evaluations

Northwestern hosts a multidisciplinary Zoom panel on Validity and Equity Problems in Law School Teaching Evaluations today at 1:00 pm ET (registration):

Student evaluations are, as shown by study after study, not valid measures of teaching quality and are biased along the axes of gender, race, accent, age, disability, attractiveness, and other instructor attributes unrelated to teaching ability. Yet, even as many universities and colleges have begun reckoning with these established problems with teaching evaluations, and while many law schools have started tackling other barriers facing women and minorities in academia, attempts to reform evaluations have lagged behind in the legal academy. This panel brings together a multidisciplinary group of scholars to discuss the most recent research on teaching evaluations and how law schools should proceed given what this work shows about the issues with such evaluations.

Speakers:

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Call For Tax Papers And Panels: SEALS 2022 (Jan. 19 Deadline)

Hello and Happy New Year! Jennifer and I are coordinating tax panels and discussion groups for next year’s SEALS Conference.  The 2022 SEALS Conference will be held at the Sandestin Beach & Golf Resort, Sandestin, Florida on July 27-August 3.  All the info you need to send us is below but the most important bit of info to note might be that we are on a tight timeline.

The conference submission tool is open, and Jennifer and I are eager to coordinate people who are interested in presenting tax work at the SEALS conference into relevant panel groups.  In addition, we have also had very successful Tax Policy Discussion Groups in recent years.  Panels are generally composed of 4 to 5 people speaking for 15 to 20 minutes each.  We will attempt to group papers so that panels include papers on similar topics.  The Discussion Group includes about 10 people, each speaking for 5-8 minutes on a topic related to tax policy, broadly interpreted.  This has often included topics that are not necessarily fully formed paper ideas but are thoughts the presenter has had on something he or she would like to discuss with a group of smart, informed people in an informal setting.  Both types of presentation have been very successful in the past.  Each presenter may participate in one Panel AND one Discussion Group.

So, if you are interested in submitting to SEALS and would like us to include you in a group of other tax profs, please email me with the following information:

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Tax Policy Center Hosts Virtual Event Today On Taxing Business Income: Evidence From The Survey Of Consumer Finances

The Tax Policy Center hosts a virtual event on Taxing Business Income: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances today at 12:30 PM ET (registration):

Legislated changes in business income taxes over the past 20 years have led to a dramatic reduction in the federal income tax base and revenues. As a result, a significant share of income is never subject to tax. For example, more than half of non-corporate business income in the National Income and Product Accounts does not show up on tax returns.

On January 11, the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center will host an event on this divergence between economic and taxable income and its implications for tax policy. Results from new research using the Survey of Consumer Finances will be presented with an eye towards understanding which forms of income do not show up on tax forms, where in the income distribution that divergence is occurring, and the revenue implications of broadening the business income tax base.

William G. Gale, Swati Joshi, Christopher Pulliam & John Sabelhaus, Estimating Income Tax Liabilities With Data From the Survey of Consumer Finances:

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AALS Hosts Three Four Virtual Tax Events Today

11:00 am ET:  The Promise and Pitfalls of the Global Tax Deal:

In October 2021, 136 countries struck a ground-breaking tax deal for the digital age. This panel will discuss the proposed two-pillar tax system from the perspective of the United States, the EU, and other regions, what these two pillars do, the likely approaches in many countries, practical concerns, and the impact on existing measures, such as DSTs, tax treaties, 15% global minimum tax, GILTI, BEAT, Subpart F, and foreign tax credit rules.

• Young Ran (Christine) Kim (Utah) (moderator)
• Steven Dean (Brooklyn)
• Omri Marian (UC-Irvine)
• Susan Morse (Texas)
• Diane Ring (Boston College)

11:00 am ET:  Nonprofit and Philanthropy Law:

Nonprofit organizations engage in discriminatory practices without losing their tax-exempt status. However, tax law may be used as a powerful tool to eradicate institutional discrimination among nonprofit organizations. This panel will explore nonprofit organizations and discriminatory practices, almost forty years after the landmark Bob Jones University v. U.S. case. In this decision, the Supreme Court held that the IRS may deny tax-exempt status to institutions whose policies violate “fundamental public policy,” even if those policies are allegedly based on religious beliefs. The panel will address the legacy of this decision today in educational, religious, and broader settings.

• Khrista McCarden (Tulane) (moderator)
• Samuel Brunson (Loyola-Chicago)
• JoAnne Epps (Temple)
• Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer (Notre Dame)

2:00 pm ET:  Social Networking Session:

Take a break from formal programming and join your colleagues from the Section on Taxation for informal conversation.

• Adam Thimmesch (Nebraska) (Incoming Chair)
• Kathleen Delaney Thomas (Chair)

4:45 pm ET:  New Voices in Taxation:

This program will feature works in progress by three emerging tax scholars, each of whom will be paired with a senior tax scholar discussant.

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Pepperdine Symposium: Wealth And Inequality

Symposium, Wealth and Inequality, 48 Pepp. L. Rev. 875-1129 (2021):

• Ari Glogower (Ohio State), Comparing Capital Income and Wealth Taxes, 48 Pepp. L. Rev. 875 (2021)
• Richard Winchester (Seton Hall), A GILTI Fix for an Employment Tax Glitch, 48 Pepp. L. Rev. 915 (2021)
• Bobby L. Dexter (Chapman), Inequality, and the Berlin Walls of the Mind, 48 Pepp. L. Rev. 949 (2021)
• Karen B. Brown (George Washington), Tax Incentives and Sub-Saharan Africa, 48 Pepp. L. Rev. 995 (2021)
• Phyllis Taite (Oklahoma City), May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor: How the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Fortified the Great Wealth Divide, 48 Pepp. L. Rev. 1023 (2021)

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AALS Hosts Virtual Panel Today On Tax Policy In The New Administration: Priorities And Opportunities

The AALS Tax Section hosts a Zoom panel today on Tax Policy In The New Administration:  Priorities And Opportunities at 11:00 AM ET:

President Biden’s administration has proposed a broad tax reform agenda aimed at providing middle and lower income tax relief and curtailing tax abuse. This panel will bring together experts from across the country to examine priorities and opportunities for reform. Topics covered will include: advancing racial equity in the tax system, IRS enforcement, global digital taxation, the American Families Plan, and other tax relief efforts.

Speakers:

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Save The Date: 25th Critical Tax Conference At Villanova

From Joy Sabino Mullane (Villanova):

I am excited to announce that Villanova Charles Widger School of Law and the Villanova Graduate Tax Program will host the 25th annual Critical Tax Conference in 2022. We are planning to meet in person on our campus, with a dinner the evening of Thursday March 31, a full day of panels on Friday April 1, and a morning session on Saturday April 2.

Les Book, Christine Speidel, and I look forward to welcoming you to Villanova and to another great weekend of tax scholarship. A formal call for papers, along with other pertinent information, will follow at the beginning of the new year. In the meantime, save the date, plan to travel to Philadelphia, and get ready for what should be a terrific weekend.

Prior Critical Tax Theory Conferences:

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Americans For Financial Reform Hosts The Hidden Racism In The Tax Code Today

Americans for Financial Reform will host a fireside chat on The Hidden Racism in the Tax Code today as part of its Take on Wall Street campaign at 11:00 A.M. EST (register here): 

The Take on Wall Street campaign of Americans for Financial Reform will host a fireside chat with Dr. Dorothy A. Brown and Dr. Darrick Hamilton to discuss the white supremacy inherent in our tax code and how American tax policies impoverish Black Americans while enriching white Americans.

Another fantastic opportunity to hear Professor Brown discuss her groundbreaking 2021 book, “The Whiteness of Wealth” with the always engaging and evocative economist Dr. Darrick Hamilton. Hamilton is a university professor, the Henry Cohen Professor of Economics and Urban Policy, and the founding director of the Institute for the Study of Race, Power and Political Economy at The New School. 

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ABA Hosts Redesigning Legal: The Role Of Legal Education, Clinics And Legal Labs Today

The American Bar Association will host the Redesigning Legal: The Role of Legal Education, Clinics and Legal Labs panel as part of its Redesigning Legal Speaker Series today at 1:00 P.M. EST: 

The fourth virtual Redesigning Legal Speaker Series on Tuesday, Dec. 7, will explore opportunities being created for law school education by the growing trend of regulatory innovation in the legal profession.

Utah and Arizona have already enacted sweeping changes to how legal services can be delivered and who can provide them. Nationally, no fewer than 10 other states are in different stages of exploring, recommending or implementing regulatory change that would generally allow nonlawyers to provide some legal services. The emerging landscape is certain to impact the legal profession in significant ways as well as present new challenges for J.D. education while possibly spawning other law-related educational programs.

Panelists will focus on how law schools are responding and adapting to the prospect of fewer barriers to innovation that offer increased employment opportunities for their students, more roles for people other than lawyers in the delivery of legal services, the creation of tiered legal service providers and collaboration across professional fields to provide more and new kinds of legal services.

Panelists: 

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