American Tax Policy Institute

The Tannenwald Foundation

Professionalism - Government Submissions

American Tax Policy Institute

www.americantaxpolicyinstitute.org

The College is a sponsor of the American Tax Policy Institute (ATPI), an Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to the advancement of objective and nonpartisan research on tax policy. The establishment and continuing support of ATPI has been one of the College’s most important undertakings. Previous to the Institute’s formation, no organization existed that had an exclusive focus on tax policy research and the improvement of existing tax policy.

ATPI has a limited – but important goal, namely, the advancement of sound tax policy through objective and nonpartisan research. ATPI seeks to fulfill that purpose by conducting conferences, holding roundtables and sponsoring discrete research projects. Each project addresses a particular tax policy issue, assesses deficiencies in existing policy, and identifies methods for correcting the identified deficiencies. In selection of projects, ATPI attempts to focus on those tax policy issues that are of substantial current interest, and are appropriate subjects for research reports that can be expected to be immediately useful to decisions makers.

ATPI studies have been furnished to members of Congress and to the Treasury Department in connection with such issues as the earned income credit and the employee/independent contractor debate.

The Tannenwald Foundation

The Tannenwald Foundation for Excellence in Tax Scholarship was formed in March of 2000. It is named for the late Judge Theodore Tannenwald, Jr., who served on the United States Tax Court for almost 35 years. Throughout his tenure on the bench, Judge Tannenwald distinguished himself as one of the foremost tax jurists of our time. He authored more than 1,000 opinions and served as the Chief Judge of the Court from 1981-83. In addition to continuing charitable and civic pursuits, he served as a member of the Council of the ABA Section of Taxation and taught law school courses in taxation at the University of Miami, the University of San Diego and George Washington University. In 1998 he received the Distinguished Service Award from the ABA Tax Section and delivered the Griswold Lecture to the American College of Tax Counsel. He was a revered colleague, mentor, counselor and friend to his law clerks, to fellow judges and their clerks, and to countless tax practitioners and academics of all ages.

The overriding purpose of the Foundation is to encourage and foster in law students the intense passion that Judge Tannenwald had for rigorous and insightful legal analysis, for precise legal writing, and for quality legal education. The Foundation’s primary activity is to sponsor, in conjunction with the American College of Tax Counsel, an annual law student writing competition for which cash prizes are awarded. Papers by both undergraduate and graduate law students are accepted. The winning papers are selected by a panel of tax professors and practitioners, and are generally published in The Tax Lawyer. In order to encourage the widest possible participation in the Competition, and to maintain a consistently high level of quality for submitted papers, the Foundation had enlisted a dedicated group of tax professors throughout the country to help publicize the Competition and to work with interested students in developing topics and discussing drafts of their papers. Since the inception of the Competition in 2001, more than 90 papers have been submitted by students attending some 30 law schools throughout the country.
The Foundation is classified as a tax-exempt organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Tannenwald Writing Competition
Tannenwald Competition Rules
Past Competition Winners

Professionalism - Government Submissions

The important issues of professionalism and ethics in the tax practice, both in the private and government sectors, are receiving priority attention of the college. The College’s Committee on Professionalism, working with representatives of the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Justice, is actively studying those important issues and arranging national conferences and other meetings to promote a discussion of ways to improve the practice.

Government Submissions:

Tax Policy: