Levin Center to present multinational corporate tax conference

The Levin Center at Wayne State University Law School will present a half-day conference, “Next Steps in Offshore Multinational Corporate Tax,” on Tuesday, Jan. 31, in Washington, D.C.

Corporate tax reform is front and center on the Washington agenda, but its pace and contours are still unknown. The conference will present diverse views on how Congress and the new presidential administration can tackle issues related to multinational corporate offshore profits.

Topics to be discussed include:

—Pros and cons of a tax holiday on offshore profits.
—Future treatment of foreign earnings.
—Consequences of border adjustment tax reform.
—Use of corporate taxes to fund infrastructure

The conference will be from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m., at The Pew Charitable Trusts, 901 E St. N.W. Admission is free, including a continental breakfast, but registration is required by Thursday, Jan. 26. Register online and view complete conference details at law.wayne.edu/taxconference.

Retired U.S. Sens. Carl Levin and Tom A. Coburn, M.D., will co-chair the convening. Levin is chair of the Levin Center at Wayne Law, Wayne Law’s distinguished legislator in residence, and former chairman of the U.S. Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Coburn is a member of the Levin Center’s Advisory Board, and a former ranking member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. During their time on the subcommittee, Levin and Coburn conducted a number of bipartisan investigations into corporate tax matters.

Other confirmed speakers:

• Robert B. Stack is deputy assistant secretary (international tax affairs) for the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In addition to overseeing development of U.S. international tax policy, he serves as the U.S. delegate to the Committee on Fiscal Affairs in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and to the Global Forum on Transparency. His last day in office is Jan. 20, 2017.

• Edward Kleinbard is the Johnson professor of law and business at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, and a fellow at The Century Foundation. Previously, he was chief of staff for Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation.

Moderating the discussion will be Elise Bean, Washington co-director of the Levin Center at Wayne Law. From 2003 to 2014, she served as staff director and chief counsel for Sen. Levin on the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. For the second consecutive year, Bean was named to Global Tax 50, an international list of 50 people and organizations who influenced tax policy.