The US Supreme Court will soon hear Moore v. United States, a case challenging the constitutionality of a one-time tax imposed by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on about $3 trillion in undistributed corporate earnings that had accumulated overseas. The plaintiffs, and amicus briefs in support of the plaintiffs, argue that the 16th Amendment power to “lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived,” does not authorize Congress to tax unrealized sums. If the court accepts these arguments, it could upend key parts of the tax code and cost significant revenue.

Join the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center and the Tax Law Center at NYU Law for an event with leading tax policy and legal experts to examine the case's potential ramifications. The event will describe the history and context of the 16th Amendment, and the case's potential fiscal, economic, and administrative consequences.

Confirmed participants are listed below and additional speakers will be announced soon.

Opening Remarks:

• Tracy Gordon, Co-Director, Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center
• Chye-Ching Huang, Executive Director, Tax Law Center at NYU Law

Panel 1: 16th Amendment History and Context

• Vanessa Williamson, Senior Fellow, Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center (moderator)
• John Brooks, Professor of Law, Fordham University
• Ajay Mehrotra, Professor of Law & History, Northwestern University; Research Professor, American Bar Foundation

Panel 2: Economic Implications

• Eric Toder, Institute Fellow, Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center (moderator)
• Kyle Pomerleau, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
• Natasha Sarin, Associate Law Professor, Yale University
• George Callas, Executive Vice President, Arnold Ventures

Panel 3: Administrative Challenges

• Chye-Ching Huang, Executive Director, Tax Law Center at NYU Law (moderator)​
• Deborah Paul, Partner, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
• Steve Rosenthal, Senior Fellow, Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center
• Eric Solomon, Partner, Ivins, Phillips & Barker

Meeting Materials:

Speaker bios

Prospects for “Moore” Damage to Our Tax Code -- blog by Reuven S. Avi-Yonah and Steve Rosenthal

Panel 2 slides showing revenue implications