The Tax Section of the ABA is holding its fall meeting next week in a virtual format. It’s less expensive to register in this format and certainly less costly in time and money to attend. My panel met this past week to test the platform. I could probably write a post describing the technological challenges facing the panelist with whom I am working and particularly my own personal challenges with the process. But assuming the technology works the way it seems designed, the programming should work well even with a few Luddites like me participating.
The meeting has several panels addressing issues recently discussed in PT.
One of the panels includes Yaman Salahi who was part of the team of attorneys representing incarcerated individuals who won the case on Thursday, September 25, 2020. Les is also on that panel and will talk about the CARES Act cases in which he is involved. This panel will occur on Thursday, October 1 from 10:00-11:30 AM. Here is the description of the panel and the panelist.
CARES Act Litigation. The panelists will discuss current issues and litigation related to the CARES Act, focusing on issues unique to an unprecedented era where guidance had to have been issued quickly. Discussion will include constitutional claims, claims under the little Tucker Act, claims related to the APA, choosing proper parties, plaintiff and defendant, and understanding litigation strategies. A discussion of the CARES Act legislation and the role of IRS’s publication of associated FAQs will also be included.
Moderator: Amy Spivey, Visiting Assistant Professor, UC Hastings Law School
Panelists: Les Book, Professor of Law, Charles Widger School of Law, Villanova; Jen Burdick, Supervising Attorney, Community Legal Services of Philadelphia; Robert Friedman, Senior Counsel, Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection; Nina Olson, Executive Director, Center for Taxpayer Rights; Yaman Salahi, Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein
Immediately after this panel will be an opportunity to hear Chief Special Trial Judge Lewis Carluzzo give an update on the Tax Court and the many changes happening there.
If you enjoyed the blog post on premature assessments of Tax Court cases or the mailing of 12 million notices weeks or months after the dates on the notices, you could attend a panel on which I will participate. If you have not already made note of this, Chief Counsel’s office has created a dedicated email address for anyone facing a premature assessment issue: taxcourt.petitioner.premature.assessment@irs.gov. We will be discussing this address and other issues related to premature assessments. This panel will also occur on Thursday, October 1, from 2:30 to 4:00 PM.
Navigating Late-Issued Collection Notices Administratively and in Litigation. After the expiration of the hiatus on collection and enforcement under the People First Initiative, the IRS mailed upwards of 20 million notices, many of which had expired action and response dates. The IRS created new response dates to some notices via an insert included with certain notices, but some have questioned the effect of, and how to respond to, the late-issued notices. In addition, the inability of the IRS and the Tax Court to process mail during the COVID emergency caused the IRS to make premature assessments of some tax liabilities. The panelists will discuss the potential effect of misdated notices on the validity of assessments and notices of federal tax lien; best practices in responding to expired notices administratively and in litigation; and jurisdictional limits of the courts to adjudicate certain issues concerning collection due process rights (including the role of equitable tolling). The panelists will also discuss practical steps to reverse premature assessments resulting from the Tax Court’s inability to process petitions and the IRS’s inability to process offers in compromise and installment agreements.
Moderator: Kelley C. Miller, Reed Smith LLP
Panelists: Frank Agostino, Agostino & Associates, P.C.; Professor T. Keith Fogg, Director of the Federal Tax Clinic, Harvard Law School; Honorable Mark V. Holmes, Judge, United States Tax Court; Julie L. Payne, Assistant Division Counsel (Tax Litigation), IRS Office of Chief
Here is a link to the full program. In addition to the panels in which Les and I will participate, readers of this blog should find interesting the panels happening at the Administrative Practice, Individual & Family Taxation, Court Practice and Teaching Tax Committees. In limiting my referrals to these sessions, I do not mean to suggest the other committee programming will not also be good, but it is generally not as targeted to controversy practitioners interested in procedural tax issues.