The American Bar Association Tax Section 2019 May Tax Meeting commences in Washington, D.C. and runs May 9 through 11, 2019. Several Procedurally Taxing contributors will be speaking at the conference and this is your guide to finding those sessions.
read more...Leslie Book –
Saturday, May 11, 9:30 – 10:30 a.m.
Pro Bono & Tax Clinics Committee
Procedural Due Process and the Tax System: A Fresh Look.
Procedural due process is rooted in the Magna Carta and is embedded in our constitution. The right to notice and the opportunity for a hearing are the two key ways that the constitution helps ensure that the sovereign does not erroneously deprive people of essential rights, including the right to property. Procedural due process, a concept closely related to procedural justice, ensures that the sovereign treats its subjects as human beings entitled to a sense of dignity and is a foundational aspect of good government in general and tax administration in particular. In this panel, we will explore the historical roots of procedural due process jurisprudence, consider the ways that that current and proposed IRS procedures relate to due process protections and procedural justice norms, and explore insights from areas other than tax when there have been challenges to agency actions that violate procedural due process protections.
Moderator: Sarah Lora, Legal Aid Services of Oregon, Statewide Tax Clinic. Portland, OR
Panelists: Professor Leslie Book, Charles Widger School of Law, Villanova University, Villanova, PA and Professor in Residence, Taxpayer Advocate Service, Washington, DC; Nina E. Olson, National Taxpayer Advocate, Taxpayer Advocate Service, Washington, DC; Professor Susannah Camic Tahk, University of Wisconsin School of Law, Madison, WI
Cosponsored by: Individual & Family Taxation and Teaching Taxation
Note: Professor Jamie Andree, Maurer School of Law, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, is no longer able to attend due to injury.
Keith Fogg –
Thursday, May 9, 1:45 – 2:45 p.m.
Tax Bridge to Practice, Sponsored by: Young Lawyers Forum and Diversity Committees
Statutes of Limitations in Tax Litigation: Friend or Foe?
Statutes of limitations are an important, but often overlooked, aspect of tax litigation that can work to the advantage or the detriment of a party. Most practitioners are familiar with the general three-year period of limitation on assessment, as well as basic exceptions, including those for a false return, no return, or a substantial omission of gross income. This panel will address more nuanced rules affecting statutes of limitations in tax, including the interplay of section 6511(a) and (b) in refund suits (and, as appropriate, Tax Court litigation), the failure to notify the IRS of certain foreign transfers, and the failure to disclose listed transactions. The panelists will also discuss strategies for navigating statute of limitation issues in litigation, as well as the effect of the government shutdown on both statute of limitations and filing deadlines with courts and the IRS.
Moderator: Kelley C. Miller, Reed Smith LLP, Washington, DC
Panelists: Paul Butler, Kostelanetz & Fink LLP, Washington, DC; Professor T. Keith Fogg, Director of the Federal Tax Clinic, Harvard Law School, Jamaica Plain, MA; Elie Mishory, Attorney, Office of Associate Chief Counsel (Procedure and Administration), IRS, Washington, DC; Lawrence A. Sannicandro, McCarter & English LLP, Newark, NJ; Rebecca M. Stork, Eversheds Sutherland LLP, Atlanta, GA
Co-sponsored by: Court Procedure & Practice and Young Lawyers Division Tax Law Committee
Keith Fogg & William Schmidt –
Friday, May 10, 9:00 – 10:00 a.m.
Individual & Family Taxation Committee
CDP – Beyond the Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth; What Can be Done to Fulfill CDP’s Beneficial Intent?
Collection due process (CDP) rights launched twenty years ago to provide additional procedural protections to taxpayers facing tax liabilities. CDP is an essential part of the practitioner’s toolkit: It offers independent review of IRS collection actions, including the chance for alternatives to enforced collection and, in certain instances, review of the liability itself. CDP may be used to achieve meaningful and lasting collection resolutions for both pro se and represented taxpayers. However, CDP also may be an expensive and emotionally wrenching experience for taxpayers who enter the process in good faith, only to be greeted by inflexible, unrealistic deadlines, overworked IRS professionals applying cookie cutter tactics to move a file off their desk, and a Court swamped with equally cookie cutter motions for summary judgment by the IRS against which pro se taxpayers are ill-equipped to defend. Even seasoned tax practitioners are frustrated by inadequate case records, inelastic government responses, and seemingly limited judicial remedies. This program will move beyond “let me tell you how it all went wrong” to brainstorm what realistically might be done to fulfill the promise of CDP.
Moderator: Carolyn Lee, Morgan Lewis and Brockius, San Francisco, CA
Panelists: The Honorable David Gustafson, US Tax Court, Washington, DC; Professor Keith Fogg, Harvard Law School, Boston MA; Mitchel Hyman, IRS Office of Chief Counsel, IRS, Washington, DC; William Schmidt, Kansas Legal Services Low Income Tax Clinic, Kansas City, KS; Professor Erin Stearns, University of Denver Low Income Tax Clinic, Denver, CO
Co-Sponsored by: Pro Bono & Tax Clinics
I will be speaking with Keith Fogg at the panel listed above. First of all, I want to thank Leslie Book for providing creative input at the starting stages of planning the panel. Next, I want to mention that the panel is not going to be a history or a gripe session about collection due process. It is a panel designed for dialogue between practitioners in several areas of tax law with the intent of finding solutions to improve taxpayer interactions with the IRS. We will be looking at the administrative and judicial levels, plus discussing creative remedies that may be available. We hope this panel brings more debate and leads to positive systemic change.
-William
Christine Speidel –
Saturday, May 11, 8:30 – 9:30 a.m.
Pro Bono & Tax Clinics Committee
Family Members as Caregivers
Section 131 promotes community care for disabled adults by excluding certain state payments from caregivers’ gross income. Historically, Service challenged the excludability of payments to a parent caring for an adult disabled child in the provider’s home. In 2014 the Service reversed this position for certain Medicaid waiver payments, effecting a major economic change for affected families. This panel will discuss the impact of the 2014 guidance, areas of continued uncertainty, and other remaining barriers to the uniform treatment of caregivers’ income.
Moderator: Camille Edwards Bennehoff, Attorney, IRS Office of Chief Counsel (Income Tax & Accounting), Washington, DC
Panelists: Victoria J. Driscoll, Senior Attorney, IRS Office of Chief Counsel (Income Tax & Accounting), Washington, DC; Professor Christine Speidel, Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law, Villanova, PA; Wayne Turner, Senior Attorney, National Health Law Program, Washington, DC
Cosponsored by: Individual & Family Taxation and Diversity
Caleb Smith –
Thursday, May 9, 3:45 – 5:00 p.m.
Low Income Taxpayer Representation Workshop (Pro Bono & Tax Clinics Committee)
EITC and Benefits Law: Conceptualizing, Understanding (and Navigating) the Interplay of EITC and Benefits Law
What makes the EITC “different” from other tax provisions? And when do those differences matter (in a legal sense)? This panel will discuss the history and purpose of the EITC, how it interfaces with other disparate areas of law like benefits and bankruptcy.
Moderator: Professor Caleb Smith, University of Minnesota Law School, Minneapolis, MN
Panelists: Margot Crandall-Hollick, Congressional Research Service, Washington, DC; Carrie Welton, Center for Law and Social Policy, Washington, DC
About William Schmidt
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