Fall 2020

'Taxing Capital and Wealth':
Top Experts Convene at Invitation-Only Summit

Leveraging UCLA Law and the Lowell Milken Institute for Business Law and Policy’s reputation for leadership in tax law and policy, Professor Jason Oh gathered dozens of academics and policymakers for the two-day “Taxing Capital and Wealth” conference this fall. The event continued UCLA Law’s nearly decade-long partnership in presenting tax summits with NYU School of Law, which co-sponsored the event alongside UC Berkeley’s Burch Center for Tax Policy and Public Finance and Center for Equitable Growth.

In private sessions on Sept. 25 and Oct. 2, participants – including staffers of every congressional tax-writing committee, influential Washington, D.C., think tank luminaries, and academic representatives of most major presidential candidates – joined top scholars in identifying challenges and offering solutions to possible changes in tax law surrounding charitable contributions and other issues. These included whether Congress decides to significantly alter the estate and gift tax or if it switches the income taxation of capital to something like a mark-to-market system that would account for yearly appreciation.

In the coming months, after election results become clear, Oh plans to host a public-facing event that will be open to students, alumni and others, featuring several authorities from the conference. There, they will address big-picture concerns about the taxation of income and wealth in the United States in the next four years.

Zolt Increases International Leadership in Tax Policy

Eric Zolt, UCLA Law’s Michael H. Schill Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus, was appointed extraordinary professor at the University of Pretoria’s African Tax Institute for 2020-21. Zolt co-founded the institute in 2002 to provide training, research and technical assistance in tax policy and administration across Africa. In addition, Zolt will present the paper “Cross-Border Philanthropy: A U.S. Perspective” at the “Taxation and Philanthropy” conference, hosted by the University of Geneva’s Geneva Centre for Philanthropy, in late November.

Tax Law Scholarship Opportunities
Expand for Entering Students

Building on its robust support for promising students in tax law, UCLA Law grew the number of scholarships that it offers to 1Ls in 2019-20. Now, two incoming students earn Thomas A. Kirschbaum Scholarships each year; Ian Anstee ’23 and Sarah Stebbins ’23 were the latest recipients. UCLA Law also opened to first-year students the Buddy Epstein and Christine Kim Endowed Scholarship, which previously went only to upper-level standouts who show a special interest in taxation; Dominick Divine III ’23 was the first entering law student to receive the award.

Recent Faculty Scholarship

STEVEN A. BANK
Vice Dean for Curricular and Academic Affairs
Paul Hastings Professor of Business Law

• “The Olympic-Sized Loophole in California’s Fair Pay to Play Act,” 120 Columbia Law Review Forum 109 (2020).
• “FIFA, Forced Arbitration, and the U.S. Soccer Lawsuits,” 30 Journal of Legal Aspects of Sport 1 (2020).

KIMBERLY CLAUSING
Professor of Law

• “Five Lessons on Profit Shifting from the U.S. Country by Country Data,” Tax Notes International (forthcoming).
• “Profit Shifting Before and After the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” National Tax Journal (forthcoming).
• “Taxing Multinational Companies in the 21st Century,” in Tackling the Tax Code: Efficient and Equitable Ways to Raise Revenue, edited by Jay Shambaugh and Ryan Nunn, the Hamilton Project (2020).
• “Fixing Five Flaws of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” 11 Columbia Journal of Tax Law 31 (2020).

JILL R. HORWITZ
Vice Dean for Faculty and Intellectual Life
David Sanders Professorship in Law and Medicine

• “The Importance of Data Source in Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Research,” with Corey Davis, Lynn McClelland, Rebecca Fordon and Ellen Meara, Health Services Research (2020).
• “Regulating Opioid Supply Through Insurance Coverage,” with M. Christopher Auld, Benjamin Lukenchuk and Lynn McClelland, 39 Health Affairs 1566 (2020).

JASON OH 
Professor of Law
Faculty Co-Director, Lowell Milken Institute for Business Law and Policy

• “Wealth Tax Design: Lessons from Estate Tax Avoidance,” with Eric M. Zolt, 74 Tax Law Review (forthcoming).

KIRK J. STARK
Barrall Family Professor of Tax Law and Policy

• “The Power Not to Tax,” 69 American University Law Review 565 (2019).

ERIC M. ZOLT
Michael H. Schill Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus

• “Wealth Tax Design: Lessons from Estate Tax Avoidance,” with Jason Oh, 74 Tax Law Review (forthcoming).
• “Personal Income Tax,” with Sebastian James and Victor Thuronyi, Tax Policy Assessment Framework, IMF and World Bank (2019).

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