Enacting and Evaluating Changes to the Tax Law

The Colloquium will examine the process of enacting tax law and evaluating the legislative outcome, using as an example the 2017 “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” (the “Act”). We will begin by providing a context for the discussion by examining the revenue structure of the federal government, including the sources of revenue and the distribution of the federal revenue burden by income class. After an overview of the taxation of domestic and international business income, we will review the formal legislative process, with particular emphasis on the rules governing the consideration of legislation in the House and the Senate. We will discuss the criteria by which to evaluate tax legislation and then proceed to an analysis of the 2017 legislation in detail.  The Colloquium will conclude with a discussion of the roads not taken, including various forms of consumption taxation and wealth taxation, as well as what the future might hold.