LAW 1036: Low Income Taxpayer Policy & Practice
Spring 2020 • Section 01 • CRN 25329

Course Description

This course enables students to see first-hand the effect tax policies have on low income taxpayers and then to process that experience through the lens of existing tax policy scholarship and commentary. Students will become certified as volunteer preparers for VITA, the IRS's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance project, and will volunteer at a VITA center of their choice for a minimum of 35 hours during the semester. Class will meet once per week and will consist of two parts. During the first part, students will share their experiences preparing low income taxpayer returns, specifically linking what they are seeing in the returns to the scholarship they have read for the class. During the second part they will discuss the specific reading assigned for that class.  Students will also produce a series of at least four short papers in which they will offer their reflections on their tax preparation experience and the ways in which it does, or does not, connect with the policies reflected in the scholarship they have read. At the end of the course, students will develop a project, either alone or in a small group, present the project to the class, and write a final paper describing the project. The project can be a recommendation for regulatory or legislative change, suggestions for administrative improvement, or can reflect research into some aspect of low income taxpayer policy. The course will be graded, and the grade for the course will reflect a combination of the quality of the quality of the periodic reflection papers, participation in class meetings, and the final presentation and paper.

Book List/Materials