New paper on importance, challenges, and goals of progressive tax reform published in @taxnotes.com and now available outside paywall here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

New paper on tax reform in wake of OBBBA is out this week in @taxnotes.com. While that bill is (rightly) unpopular, risk that regressive and complex changes end up living on in years ahead if we follow past patterns. Paper begins to sketch out paths for progressive tax reform.

Sharing a new paper forthcoming in Harv. J. on Legislation. Takes a step back to ask when policymakers enact a new spending program or a tax cut, who pays for the policy? Policymakers may not say or, even if they do, what they say may not be the ultimate financing. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

THREAD: GOP Senators say they're trying to scale back the SALT cap relief in the House bill. But could the approach to SALT in the Senate bill actually end up *more* generous & costly overall than the House bill? Do Senators – or does anyone – even know, despite the intense political focus on SALT?

On June 3, join us for a webinar on the risks to taxpayer privacy as taxpayer data is accessed and shared across government in unprecedented ways. The event will be moderated by @lilybatch.bsky.social and feature an opening discussion with Daniel Werfel. Register here: nyu.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

THREAD Markets are waking up to a provision buried in the House bill that could undermine the demand for US Treasuries at a time when bond markets are already jittery: www.ft.com/content/b400... www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

More from @taxlawcenter.org on House reconciliation bill. (1) Close reading of bill shows text curtails SALT cap workarounds for all biz (including 199A biz). That’s good news IF it sticks. (2) OTOH, bill slashes clean energy credits and imposes unworkable red tape. Bad news.

(1) Two new pieces from @taxlawcenter.org on tax provisions in the House reconciliation bill. Detailing unfair and complex new provisions to the benefit of those with higher incomes and then onerous provisions on lower-income working families.

Ways & Means bill takes "haphazard approach to tax breaks, would create new opportunities for tax avoidance & evasion, add complexity to the tax system, & increase filing burdens for low- & moderate-income families and workers" New @taxlawcenter.org post: taxlawcenter.org/blog/the-hou...

THREAD: the Ways & Means bill creates new opportunities for tax avoidance and evasion, adds complexity to the tax system, and increases filing burdens for low- & moderate-income families. My @taxlawcenter.org colleagues have more analysis coming, but here's a starter list (suggestions welcome):

(1) There’s a lot in W+Ms draft bill. We knew it'd be losing trillions of $$$ and in regressive fashion. But provisions also pick winners+losers often in unjustified ways and give us an (even more) swiss cheese tax system that’d generally be harder to administer and unfair in new ways.

A letter from many of the @nyulaw.bsky.social faculty on importance of academic freedom and rule of law, which are under threat. We have many different perspectives and should on law and policy, but these are core principles in support of which we stand together. drive.google.com/file/d/1yysJ...

On 4/9, join us for a conversation about DOGE & the administrative state, featuring former Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo and Tax Law Center experts including former OMB Director Shalanda Young and professors @lilybatch.bsky.social & @davidkamin.bsky.social taxlawcenter.org/events/nyu-l...

(1) The Trump administration bears responsibility for the economic pain and chaos that will come from its tariffs. And charts like this from @budgetlab.bsky.social show the regressive effects. But, I want to talk about the responsibility now of the other two branches: Congress and the courts.

(1) The CR is a bad bill (see large & pointless cut to DC funding). But, I want to focus on what it does not do: it does not authorize the lawless actions of Trump admin to unilaterally slash agencies’ budgets. Those acts remain lawless and should continue to be fought in court.

The giant cut in IRS is effectively a tax cut disproportionately for top of income spectrum and done in worst possible way-a reward to aggressive tax positions and lawbreaking-and demoting top lawyer risks IRS itself not following the laws on the books. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

There’s been a lot of talk recently about cutting funding and staffing at the IRS. New work from the Budget Lab shows that if the IRS shrinks by 50% we estimate that this would result in 350 billion net forgone revenue over the 10-year budget window. 1/ @budgetlab.bsky.social

Bill Paul is an extraordinary public servant who served as Acting Chief Counsel under 3 administrations, including Trump I. I fear what this signals given DOGE’s push for IRS to approve extraordinarily broad sharing of taxpayers’ confidential data across federal agencies. 1/3

If the Administration’s new appointee for the top IRS lawyer accedes to DOGE requests for extraordinarily broad access to confidential taxpayer information despite the law, taxpayers’ data and their rights will be at risk of large-scale breach and abuse.

1/ Firing some half of the IRS staff to “reduce fraud” would be like trying to catch more fish by ripping your net in half. And it’d be lawless. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/04/u...

(1) Slashing the IRS in half by executive fiat would be contrary to law – Congress sets the magnitude of tax services and enforcement – and fundamentally undermines the fair implementation tax system established under the law. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/04/u...

DOGE is reportedly demanding IRS share highly sensitive taxpayer data w/multiple agencies. I don’t see how this abides by bipartisan laws that balance the benefits of responsible data sharing against the risks to taxpayers through careful limits and guardrails. 1/4 medium.com/@taxlawcente...