Seminar in Tax Policy

This seminar will cover assorted topics relating to the law, theory, and policy of taxation and public finance both in the United States and internationally, and at both the federal and the state and local levels. The specific topics covered will depend primarily on students interests and choices for paper topics. Students will be required to write a seminar paper of at least twenty pages in length. Students will be expected to present their seminar papers to the class and also to write and present a series of short critical reaction papers analyzing supplementary readings and sources found while researching their seminar papers. Students will be graded primarily on their seminar papers, and secondarily on their presentations, critical reaction papers, and on class participation; there will not be a final exam. Students will be expected to perform as active participants in learning and analyzing the course materials, both in preparation for class sessions and during class discussions. The emphasis will be on improving lawyerly skills as related to tax policy topics. There are no prerequisites for this course. Students may find it helpful to have previously taken or to be concurrently enrolled in the Income Tax course, but this is not required. Similarly, students wishing to take the Income Tax course may find it helpful to have previously taken or to be concurrently enrolled in this course. This course is distinct from the Tax Policy Colloquium and students are encouraged to take both this course and the Tax Policy Colloquium if they so desire. This seminar is designated as a course addressing issues of systemic racism and social justice , with less primary focus on these topics, but including relevant readings or discussion. There will be ample opportunity to discuss and engage with such topics to the extent that students so desire. However, because this is a student-driven course designed around students choices of topics, the extent of such coverage as well as the extent of coverage of other possible topics related to taxation and public finance will depend primarily on the interests of the students enrolled and their choices for paper topics.