Tax Law Scholarship
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Recent News | Selected Scholarship | Public Engagement | Faculty
Recent News
Advancing Tax Law Scholarship
The center’s resumed its Northern California Tax Professor Roundtable, convening tax scholars from UC Berkeley Law School, UC Davis Law School, Stanford Law School, Georgetown Law, and San Jose State University at UC Law SF to discuss each other’s works in progress.
The center’s Tax Speaker Series addressed the key issues of big data, opportunity zones, and old regs through talks by preeminent scholars.
Allison Christians of McGill University presented “Taxing Big Data When the United States Disagrees” (click for abstract) with Tarcisio Diniz Magalhães, examining why countries might seek to tax Big Data, and if there are good reasons to do so, what kinds of rules would be most feasible to adopt without contravening the existing global legal architecture.
Deanna S. Newton of Pepperdine University presented “Closing the Opportunity Gap,” discussing the Opportunity Zones program, whose tax credits, scholars have found, mostly benefits wealthy investors, not the people and communities the program is purported to help.
Susan Morse of the University of Texas at Austin presented “Old Regs,” arguing that old regs should not be subject indefinitely to administrative procedure challenge.
Tax Concentration Graduates Land Top Jobs
UC Law SF’s specialized tax concentration continues to grow and create opportunities for students. For the Class of 2024, 25 students participated in the program, and the graduates will be joining employers such as the IRS Office of Chief Counsel; California Franchise Tax Board; Baker McKenzie; McDermott Will & Emery; Sidley Austin; Perkins Coie; Venable; EY; and Andersen. These new graduates join hundreds of UC Law SF tax concentration alumni working in a wide variety of tax specialties in California, nationwide, and around the world.
UC Law SF Class of 2024 Valedictorian Catherine Nasi was also a tax concentration graduate. During a summer internship at Airbnb, she discovered the area of practice that would lead her to a job with Baker McKenzie after graduation. “It was that moment when something just clicks for you,” Nasi said. “I liked the kinds of problems we were trying to solve. It was the one area of law that made sense to me more than any other.”
Meet Cat Nasi
ABA Honors Leo Martinez for Strengthening Connections Between Legal Education, Practice
UC Law SF Dean Emeritus Leo P. Martinez received the Robert J. Kutak Award from the American Bar Association’s Section on Legal Education and Admission to the Bar. The award recognizes those who contribute significantly to collaboration among legal educators, members of the bar, and members of the bench.
“His impact cannot be overstated,” said Mary Crossley, dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, who nominated him for the award. “Simply put, his leadership and contributions to legal education and to the profession make Leo Martinez the ideal recipient of this important honor.”
An accomplished scholar and educator, Martinez has co-authored a leading insurance law casebook and taught a diverse array of subjects, including tax law. He currently serves as Managing Director at Andersen, a global tax and financial services firm.
Read moreSelected Scholarship
Heather Field‘s Tax Enforcement by the Private Sector: Deputizing Tax Insurers was published in the Indiana Law Journal. The article argues for using a largely overlooked private sector party—tax insurers—to expand the IRS’s enforcement abilities. She presented the paper at Duke Law School, Wisconsin Law School, and University of San Diego Law School. Field is senior co-director of the center and the Stephen A. Lind Professor of Law.
Manoj Viswanathan published Making Social Security Progressive in the Columbia Law Review Forum. Viswanathan is co-director of the center and the Joseph W. Cotchett ’64 Professor of Law. The article proposes eliminating Social Security wage cap and using the resulting additional revenue to fund a zero-rate Social Security tax bracket analogous to the standard deduction of the federal income tax.
Viswanathan presented “Earmarked Taxes and Progressivity” at the Association of Mid-Career Tax Professors Conference (AMT) (for faculty tenured for up to 10 years).
Field presented “Selling Tax Benefits” at the Experienced in Tax Conference (EITC) (for faculty tenured between 10 and 20 years).
Public Engagement
The center’s Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic accepted 31 new clients, with a total of docket of 107 open cases over the year. Through clinic representation, taxpayers saved or obtained refunds totaling $300,000. A clinic event assisted taxpayers obtain Covid stimulus funds before the statute of limitations expired, with the help of 7 volunteer attorneys, 4 students, and 4 employees from the Taxpayer Advocate Service of the Internal Revenue Service.
Nearly 30 students participated in the center’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, helping over 120 taxpayers file their returns for free.
Faculty
Manoj Viswanathan
Joseph W. Cotchett ’64 Professor of Law and Co-Director, UC Law SF Center on Tax Law
View Manoj Viswanathan’s Profile
Heather Field
Stephen A. Lind Professor of Law and Co-Director of Center on Tax Law
View Heather Field’s Profile
