1. Role of Lawyers in the Tax System
George K. Yin
University of Virginia
Program sponsored by National Tax Association
September 29, 2006
11/30/2018 7:01 PM
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COPYRIGHT © 2006 GEORGE YIN

2. Role of Lawyers in the Tax System
What is the task?
“Five key things non-lawyers should know about tax law and policy implications”?
statute doesn’t always mean what it says, … except when it does;
tax law is Constitutional, … except when it isn’t;
rules of thumb – legislative/judicial processes;
“details matter”
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3. Role of Lawyers in the Tax System
Or is our task to identify --
“five key points about the role of the legal profession in the tax system”;
“unique perspective” provided by the legal profession;
“five key perspectives”?
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4. Role of Lawyers in the Tax System
What are five key contributions of lawyers to the understanding of tax law and policy?
What is the source of the contributions of lawyers?
legal training;
ubiquitous involvement in every aspect of making, interpreting, understanding, and implementing the law.
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5. Contributions of Lawyers
1. Understand and explain the law as well as observations about the tax system.
knowledge of the law in both current and historical context;
explain observed phenomena in the tax system.
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6. Contributions of Lawyers
2. Identify the need for, and project the likely direction of, possible changes in the law.
knowledge of the law in context;
involvement in tax legislative and administrative processes;
familiarity with legal system and trends in jurisprudence.
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7. Contributions of Lawyers
3. Project the likely consequences of changes in the law.
will the purpose of the change likely be achieved?
what unintended consequences may arise?
what compliance, administrative, and enforcement problems may arise?
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8. Contributions of Lawyers
4. Implement changes in an administrable way.
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9. Contributions of Lawyers
5. Anticipate a broad range of possible outcomes.
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