Readers of Procedurally Taxing know how vital Keith Fogg’s analyses and commentary is to improving the state of tax procedure and administration in the United States. One only has to read his most recent series of posts about the Boechler case here and here and here and here and here to realize that Keith is a tireless advocate who does not rest on his laurels. He is always thinking about how to build on victories and how to work around losses. And those readers who know Keith personally know how generous and unstinting he is with support, friendship, and humor.
So it may come as a surprise for readers to learn that Keith is retiring from the Harvard Federal Tax Clinic on June 30th of this year. We didn’t want this occasion to pass unnoticed. The Center for Taxpayer Rights, of which Keith serves as President, is hosting a virtual celebration of Keith’s career. Now you can share your appreciation by raising a toast to Keith and sharing some reflections about what his support and friendship mean to you.
read more...The celebration will be held on Tuesday, May 10th, 2022, from 5 pm to 7pm EDT via zoom. You can register for celebration and receive the Zoom invite here.
If you can’t attend, you can still share your reflections by registering. We will then send you a link to a drop box location where you can upload a short (2 to 3 minute) video of your comments which we will share with Keith during our celebration.
I can personally attest to the impact Keith has had on my life, starting with a conversation I had with him in January 1993, shortly after I incorporated The Community Tax Law Project (CTLP), the first independent low income taxpayer clinic in the country. CTLP was just a vision in my mind; I was working on my LLM at Georgetown, and one of the deans there mentioned that I should speak with Keith Fogg, who taught the bankruptcy and insolvency class in the LLM program and who was the district counsel for the Virginia-West Virginia district. So I cold-called Keith. He didn’t know me at all, but he took my call, listened to me talk about my ideas for the clinic, and agreed completely about the need for representation of low income taxpayers before the IRS and in the courts. The only doubt he raised was, where would the funding come from? (Note, as the Center’s president, he still asks that question; we did address that concern, somewhat – see IRC § 7526.)
Fast forward a week or two, and Keith had finagled an invitation for me to meet with the VA-WVA IRS district leadership – the District Director, the Deputy District Director, the chief of exam, the chief of collection, the district chief of appeals, the customer service director and education director, even the chief of criminal investigation. The District Director committed to putting posters up about CTLP in the walk-in office (when it was truly open for walk-ins) as well as including stuffer letters in appeals initial letters. All that from one phone call!
I can truly say that had Keith hung up on me that first day, or been too busy to take a call from an unknown person, or just failed to see the need, a lot of things would have happened differently in my life. Or at least at a more slow pace, and we all know that timing is everything. Lucky for all of us, Keith not only did listen, but he actively supported CTLP and the concept of clinics writ large. The tax system is much improved because of that one simple act in early 1993 and all the other acts of generosity and integrity Keith has done over the years. On top of all that, I’m fortunate to have had Keith’s friendship over the years.
So, if you’d like to share your “Keith stories,” join us in our celebration of Keith Fogg on May 10th.
Keith has asked that folks wanting to recognize his career make a contribution to the Center for Taxpayer Rights. You can donate to the Center here. Hope to see you on May 10th to raise a glass to Keith!
Wonderful idea, Nina! What a great way to give kudos to Keith!
Three cheers for Keith.
And, actually, 3 cheers for Nina as well.
chuck gravett
Napa, CA