Seminar 6: Colorblind Tax Enforcement

This talk examines the tax enforcement implications of colorblind tax data--the omission of race and ethnicity from the collection and published analysis of tax data. It begins by tracing the omission of race and ethnicity from IRS statistical publications since 1913, Joint Committee on Taxation publications since 1926, and Treasury Office of Tax Analysis publications since 1974. It shows how these omissions are exceptional relative to other areas of public policy where federal data on race and ethnicity are readily available, such as student achievement or healthcare exchange enrolments. It then evaluates the merits of colorblind tax data and argues that tax data should include race and ethnicity in order to meet goals of transparency, democracy, and equality. Colorblind tax data obscure racial inequality and prevent its remedy. Colorblind tax data also undermine the democratic accountability of tax policy. This talk will then discuss how race and ethnicity, even when not asked about on tax forms, might influence tax enforcement outcomes, including audit selection, examination results, and settlement amounts. The potential for racially biased tax enforcement further erodes the case for colorblind tax data.

SSRN

Moderator: Yvette Lind (Assistant professor, Copenhagen Business School)

Paper presenter: Jeremy Bearer-Friend (Associate Professor in Tax Law at the George Washington University Law School)

Jeremy Bearer-Friend is an Associate Professor of Law at George Washington University Law School. His research views taxpaying as a civic act that shapes a citizen's relationship to government. His scholarship examines the omission of race and ethnicity from tax data collection and tax data analysis, the use of administrative discretion to shape the civic features of taxpaying, and the potential of elective in-kind contributions to government in lieu of, or in tandem with, cash payments. Prior to academia, Professor Bearer-Friend was Tax Counsel to Senator Elizabeth Warren, leading the Senator’s work on a wide range of tax matters, including tax filing simplification, international tax reform, and the tax treatment of student loan discharges.  

Discussant: Steven Dean (Professor in Tax Law at New York University and Brooklyn Law School)

Steven Dean is Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School. Professor Dean’s scholarship explores the tension between neoliberal and progressive thought in tax law. His work also examines the changing relationship between profit- and mission-driven ventures and between philanthropy and investing. His publications have appeared in the NYU Law Review, the Notre Dame Law Review, the Boston College Law Review, the Tulane Law Review and the UC Davis Law Review. His collaborations include the books Federal Taxation of Corporations and Corporate Transactions (Aspen 2018, with Brad Borden) and Social Enterprise Law: Trust, Public Benefit and Capital Markets (Oxford 2017, with Dana Brakman Reiser). He graduated from Yale Law School, practiced at Debevoise & Plimpton and at Cravath, Swaine & Moore. He has served as Vice Dean at Brooklyn Law School and the Faculty Director of NYU Law’s renowned Graduate Tax Program. He also created and hosts the podcast The Tax Maven.