Monte A. Jackel (Jackel Tax Law, Silver Spring, MD), The ALI Centennial and the Future of Tax Projects, 180 Tax Notes Fed. 1483 (Aug. 28, 2023) (reviewing The American Law Institute: A Centennial History (Andrew S. Gold (Brooklyn) & Robert W. Gordon (Stanford) eds. 2023)):
In its centennial book of essays summarizing its 100 years of existence, the American Law Institute and the authors it selected to contribute to the book do a good job describing the various restatements, principles of law, and model codes that form a huge part of the ALI’s legacy. …
Not so well known is that the ALI has a long and rich history of engaging in projects involving federal tax. Unfortunately, the federal tax history of the ALI was not separately discussed in the centennial history. It should have been.
ALI Tax History
The ALI’s involvement in federal tax started in the early 1950s, when it engaged in a project relating to partner and partnership taxation as part of the prelude to the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. … Several studies were published from the late 1950s through the 1970s on various federal income, estate, and gift tax subjects. Then, in or around 1984, there were several extensive studies done by the ALI, again led by the giants of the tax profession at that time, particularly experts in partnership and corporate tax. Those other federal tax studies were in the fields of corporate tax, international tax, estate and gift tax, and income taxation of trusts and estates. Finally, the ALI published a report on the taxation of private business enterprises in 1999. There has been no reported ALI activity on federal tax since 1999.
Discussion
It is my understanding that, after the 1999 project, the ALI leadership may have formed a view that tax legislation was too political and that the organization’s time and money were better spent elsewhere.
It can be argued that the deep tax tradition of the ALI and the present state of Congress mean that it is time to at least revisit this hesitancy to study federal taxes. This is particularly the case given ALI council rule 4.03:
To maintain the Institute’s reputation for thoughtful, disinterested analysis of legal issues, members are expected to leave client interests at the door. In communications made within the framework of Institute proceedings, members should speak, write, and vote on the basis of their personal and professional convictions and experience without regard to client interests or selfinterest. It is improper for a member to represent a client in Institute proceedings and such conduct constitutes good cause for termination of Institute membership.
Because of tax professionals’ vested economic interests, tax policy has suffered from a lack of constructive commentary from outside the government. It is time for a change.
Below is an appendix that lists some of the key tax players involved in ALI federal tax projects.
