The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) faces extraordinary challenges in administering a complicated tax code—challenges made more daunting by a decade of large cuts in funding.

As part of the fifth annual Donald C. Lubick Symposium, Maurice Foley, chief judge of the United States Tax Court, will speak about these challenges, and those that taxpayers experience in trying to understand and comply with the Internal Revenue Code.

He will be followed by a panel of experts who will delve into the impact of the IRS’s budget cuts on its compliance programs for large businesses. The panel will address the following questions and more:

• As the audit rate of the largest US corporations has fallen from nearly 100 percent to roughly 50 percent over the past decade, what steps has the IRS taken to change the targeting and scope of its examinations of large businesses?
• What new strategies has the IRS adopted to improve businesses’ tax compliance?
• How have large businesses responded to changes in the IRS’s approaches to compliance?
• How have the IRS’s budget cuts impacted corporate tax collections?

Event Materials

• Speaker Biographies
• Slides

Opening Remarks and Keynote

• Maurice Foley, Chief Judge, United States Tax Court
• Tracy Gordon, Acting Director and Interim Vice President, Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center
• Eric Toder, Institute Fellow, Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center

Panel

• Jeffrey Hoopes, Associate Professor and Harold Q. Langenderfer Scholar of Accounting, Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina
• Sharon Katz-Pearlman, Global Head of Tax Dispute Resolution and Controversy, KPMG
• Douglas O’Donnell, Commissioner, Large Business and International Division, Internal Revenue Service
• Erin Towery, Associate Professor and KPMG Faculty Fellow, Terry College of Business, University of Georgia
• Janet Holtzblatt, Senior Fellow, Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center (moderator)

THE DONALD C. LUBICK SYMPOSIUM SERIES

The Tax Policy Center established the Donald C. Lubick Symposium Series in 2016 to honor Don’s extraordinary record in promoting better tax policy founded on the principles of efficiency, equity, and simplicity. The Tax Policy Center places a premium on clear, engaging, and accessible analysis of current and emerging policy issues. Funding supports an annual public event to be held every spring around Tax Day that addresses key current issues in tax policy and tax administration. The annual symposium engages policymakers, senior officials, scholars, and the media in analysis and discussions at the frontiers of tax policy.