Stupid Tax Tricks

A Tax Policy Center Forum
Wednesday, April 11, 2007 from 12:00 - 1:30 pm
At the Urban Institute - 2100 M Street, NW, Washington, DC,
5th floor, Katharine Graham Conference Room

Especially around this time of year, the U.S. Tax Code is the butt of jokes. Honoring that tradition, this Tax Policy Center forum will explore some of the inanities that policymakers have inserted into our tax laws and ways in which the IRS adds insult to injury. We'll riff way beyond the (obvious) alternative minimum tax, hitting such low notes as?.

• A child subsidy that poor families can't get
• A housing subsidy that makes it harder for people to own their homes
• The chicken poop tax credit
• "As you like" taxation of financial products
• Massive social programs that an overburdened, understaffed IRS is supposed to administer
• Blinders on the green eye shades at the IRS

The forum will dig into some of the reasons why the tax code is so inscrutable, why well-intended tax incentives often miss their mark, and why tax policy and even the IRS might on occasion be the best instruments to advance non-tax objectives. The panelists include some of the foremost stand-up tax experts in the country:

Len Burman
Senior Fellow, Urban Institute, and Director, Tax Policy Center
"Stupid Tax Tricks"

Fred Goldberg, Jr.
Partner, Skadden, Arps; Former Commissioner, IRS, and Assistant Treasury Secretary for Tax Policy
"IRS Tricks and Congressional Treats"

Edward D. Kleinbard
Partner, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
"Tax-Induced Fun with Financial Products"

Jason Furman
Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution, and Director, The Hamilton Project
"Credit Where Credit Is Due: Good and Bad Reasons for Tax Incentives"

Lunch will be provided. Please register online.
Direct questions to Julianna Koch at jkoch@ui.urban.org or call 202-261-5538.