Tax Policy

This course provides an introduction to the basic concepts underlying federal tax policy, including principles of fairness, progressivity, neutrality, and distributive justice. Examples of possible topics include consumption taxes, estate tax repeal, capital gains tax rates, tax shelters, and Social Security reform. For the first portion of the course, we will discuss various foundational aspects of tax policy. We will then focus on recent tax scholarship where each student will be assigned to read and to present their views on a recent law review article involving tax policy. The remainder of the course will be a participatory exercise involving mock congressional hearings. As a class, we will select tax policy issues; each student will then testify before the mock Committee on two separate issues. The course should not be limited to students who anticipate pursuing a career in tax or business law. Issues of tax policy are necessarily of general interest and involve basic issues of fairness and the appropriate role of government.