Please join the Stanford Federalist Society and the Silicon Valley Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society as we present a panel on reforming the tax system with Roger Royse, Eric Ryan, Professor Edward Kleinbard, and Professor Annette Nellen.

It has been almost 30 years since the last big tax reform bill (the Tax Reform Act of 1986), and, although the world economy has changed significantly since then, the tax law has not. Currently, the United States has one of the highest corporate income tax rates in the industrialized world and taxes on a worldwide basis instead of a territorial basis, like most of our trading partners. Domestically, the tax code is widely viewed as overly complex, unfair, and inefficient. Thus, it is no surprise that virtually every Congressman supports tax reform. Despite the agreement on the need for change, the President and Congress have consistently failed to advance meaningful tax reform.

With the upcoming elections, the topic of tax reform remains hot, and 2017 may be the best chance for reform in many years. Our panel will explore the problems with our current system, the various tax proposals and the prospects for reform. We’ll describe domestic proposals as well as suggested changes in the taxation of international transactions. Finally, our panel will describe alternative tax proposals such as variations of a consumption.