55th Annual Spring Symposium Program In Association with the American Tax Policy Institute (ATPI)

TAXES IN A NEW WORLD

Program Chairs: Janet Holtzblatt, Tax Policy Center, Kyle Pomerleau, AEI, Eric Solomon, ATPI and Ivins, Phillips & Barker, Thomas Luke Spreen, University of Maryland

Thursday, May 8, 2025

8:45-9:00AM	WELCOME
9:00-10:15AM	THE PAST AND THE FUTURE OF THE TAX CUTS AND JOBS ACT (Panel Session) Moderator: Richard Rubin, Wall Street Journal Panelists: Lily Batchelder, New York University George Callas, Arnold Ventures Beverly Moran, Boston College Martin Sullivan, Tax Notes Panel Description Most of the individual income tax and estate tax provisions in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will expire at the end of the year. President Trump favors the permanent extension of those provisions, which would cost more than $4 trillion over the next ten years and largely benefit high-income taxpayers. The president has also proposed including other tax cuts—such as eliminating taxes on overtime, tips, and Social Security benefits—that would further add to the federal deficit. This panel will explore the impact of the TCJA changes over the past seven years and the benefits and costs of permanent extension.
10:15 – 11:30 AM	AN UPDATE ON INTERNATIONAL TAX POLICY (Panel Session) Moderator: Pat Brown, PwC Panelists: Daniel Bunn, Tax Foundation Wei Cui, University of British Columbia Itai Grinberg, Georgetown University Loren Ponds, Skadden Panel Description The panel description will be added shortly.
11:30 – 11:45 AM	BREAK
11:45AM- 12:00PM	PRESENTATION OF THE DAVIE-DAVIS AWARD FOR PUBLIC SERVICE Presentation of the Davie-Davis Award for Public Service to Recipient Barry Johnson, Non-Resident Fellow, Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, by Len Burman, Urban Institute
12:00 – 12:30 PM	KEYNOTE PRESENTATION Introduction: Peter Merrill, PwC Presentation title will be added shortly. Ken Kies, Treasury Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy–Nominee (Invited)
12:30 – 2:00 PM	LUNCH
2:00 – 3:00 PM	MODELING THE BUDGETARY, ECONOMIC, AND DISTRIBUTIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF TARIFFS (Paper Session) Discussant: Simon Lester, WorldTradeLaw.net and Rice University Who Bears the Burden? A Description of How the Tax Policy Center Estimates the Distribution of Tariffs. Rob McClellan, Tax Policy Center Understanding the Implications of Tariffs Erica York, Tax Foundation Kyle Pomerleau, American Enterprise Institute (Co-author) The Fiscal & Macroeconomic Effects of ‘Reciprocal’ Tariffs Ernie Tedeschi, Yale University
3:00 – 3:15 PM	BREAK
3:15 – 4:15 PM	ANTI-POVERTY PROGRAMS AT A POLICY CROSSROADS (Panel Session) Co-Sponsored by the American Tax Policy Institute Moderator: Katherine Pratt, Loyola Marymount University Panelists: Elizabeth Ananat, Barnard College, Columbia University Kathryn Edwards, Independent Policy Consultant Elira Kuka, George Washington University Panel Description The panel description will be added shortly.
4:15 – 5:15 PM	PRESENTATION OF THE DANIEL M. HOLLAND MEDAL Presentation of the 2024 Daniel M. Holland Medal to Recipient Hilary Hoynes, University of California, Berkeley Moderator: Ankur Patel, U.S. Department of the Treasury Panelists: Marianne Bitler, University of California, Davis Elaine Maag, Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center Robert Moffitt, Johns Hopkins University
5:30 – 6:30 PM	RECEPTION Sponsored in part by the Burch Center in honor of Hilary Hoynes

Friday, May 9, 2025

8:45 – 9:00 AM	WELCOME
9:00 – 10:00 AM	RESTORING FISCAL SUSTAINABILITY (Paper Session) Discussant: Karen Dynan, Harvard University Assessing the Risks and Costs of the Rising U.S. Federal Debt Louise Sheiner, Brookings Institution Wendy Edelberg, Brookings Institution (Co-author) Ben Harris, Brookings Institution (Co-author) Fiscal Consolidation – Are There Lessons for the U.S.? William Gale, Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center Ian Berlin, Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center (Co-author) Samuel Thorpe, University of Manchester (Co-author) Radical Reform Is the Only Path to Fiscal Sustainability Laurence Kotlikoff, Boston University
10:00-10:15 AM	BREAK
10:15 – 11:15 AM	FAMINE, FEAST, AND FAMINE AGAIN: THE IRS’S BUDGET AND ITS IMPACT ON TAXPAYERS (Panel Session) Moderator: Janet Holtzblatt, Tax Policy Center Panelists: Barry Johnson, Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center Natasha Sarin, Yale University Pete Sepp, National Taxpayers Union Panel Description Famine and feast and famine again: that’s a description of the Internal Revenue Service’s funding situation over the past 15 years. From 2010 through 2020, Congress cut the IRS’s appropriations by nearly 20 percent, after adjusting for inflation, leading to cutbacks in taxpayer services, reductions in audits, and a slowdown in modernization. The famine appeared to end with the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which boosted funding for the IRS by nearly $80 billion through 2031—on top of annual appropriations—for transformative changes to the agency. But since then, Congress has chipped away at the IRA funding and froze the IRS appropriations. The experts on this panel will discuss the impact of the IRA fundings before the funding rollbacks and the future of the IRS.
11:15 – 11:30 AM	BREAK
11:30 AM – 12:00 PM	KEYNOTE PRESENTATION Introduction: Eric Solomon, ATPI & Ivins, Phillips & Barker Presentation title will be added shortly. Danny Werfel, Former IRS Commissioner
12:00 – 1:30 PM	LUNCH
1:30 – 2:30 PM	ISSUES FOR ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL TAXATION (Paper Session) Discussant: Michael Mehling, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Tax Incentives Supporting Solar and Wind in the Electric Power Sector Molly Sherlock, Congressional Budget Office Practicality of Carbon Border Adjustments in a Carbon Tax Shuting Pomerleau, American Action Forum Carbon Leakage to Developing Countries Marcel Olbert, London Business School Diego R. Kanzig, (Co-author) Julian Marenz, (Co-author)
2:30 – 2:45 PM	BREAK
2:45 – 4:00 PM	MIGRATION RESPONSES TO STATE AND LOCAL TAXES (Paper Session) Discussant: Brian Galle, Georgetown Law Center Local Income Taxes and Intrastate Migration: New Evidence from Indiana and Maryland Andrey Yushkov, Tax Foundation Welfare Consequences of Mobility Restrictions in the Tiebout Model: An Agent-Based Modeling Approach Soomi Lee, University of La Verne Yuri Mansury, Illinois Institute of Technology (Co-author) State Taxes, Migration, and Capital Gains Realizations Ben Sprung-Keyser, University of Pennsylvania Lucas Goodman, U.S. Department of the Treasury (Co-author) (Invited)
4:00 – 5:00 PM	CURRENT ISSUES IN INTERGOVERNMENTAL FISCAL RELATIONS (Panel Session) Moderator: Liz Farmer, Pew Charitable Trusts Panelists: Fitzroy Lee, Washington, D.C. Office of the Chief Financial Officer Kim Rueben, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy Jared Walczak, Tax Foundation Panel Description The Trump administration and Congress signaled their intent to extend and expand the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. This panel will discuss the impacts of a TCJA extension and other pending federal tax changes on state revenue systems. The panel will also explore how potential reforms of federal grant programs could affect the fiscal situation of state and local governments.