SYMPOSIUM PROGRAM

Monday, May 10, 1999

Tuesday, May 11, 1999

8:45-9:00 A.M.

Welcome and Introduction

Diane Lim Rogers, Congressional Budget Office/The Urban Institute (April 1999)

 

9:00-10:30 A.M.

Forecasting the Surplus: Issues in Projecting Receipts

Moderator: Thomas A. Barthold, Joint Committee on Taxation

Presenters:

Ann Parcell, Office of Tax Analysis, U.S. Department of the Treasury--"Problems and Uncertainties in Forecasting Federal Receipts"

Richard A. Kasten, David J. Weiner, and G. Thomas Woodward, Congressional Budget Office--"What Made Receipts Boom and When Will They Go Bust?"

Richard Kaluzny, New Jersey Office of Revenue and Economic Analysis--"Forecasting Receipts in the States: Lessons from New Jersey"

Brad Williams, California Legislative Analyst Office--"Forecasting Receipts in the States: Lessons from California"

 

10:45 A.M.-12:15 P.M.

Challenges in Business Tax Policy

Moderator: William C. Randolph, Office of Tax Analysis, U.S. Department of the Treasury

Presenters:

Moshe Schuldinger, O'Connor & Hannon, LLP; and Dennis Zimmerman, Congressional Research Service--"Taxing State and Local Government Enterprises: Economic and Legal Ramifications"

James R. Hines, Jr., University of Michigan--"Tax Deferral for Foreign-Source Income: Limits and Alternatives"

Paul Crispino, Office of Tax Policy, U.S. Department of the Treasury--"Defining Corporate Tax Shelters"

Discussants:

Mitchell Rappaport, Nixon, Hargrave, Devans & Doyle, LLP

William M. Gentry, Columbia University

 

12:30-2:00 P.M.

Symposium Luncheon

Presiding: Billy C. Hamilton, Deputy Comptroller of Public Accounts, State of Texas

President, National Tax Association

Speaker: Leonard E. Burman, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Analysis, U.S. Department of the Treasury--"Surplus Tax Policy?"

 

2:00-3:30 P.M.

Sales Taxes in Theory and Practice

Moderator: William G. Gale, The Brookings Institution

Presenters:

Austan Goolsbee, University of Chicago; and Jon Zittrain, Harvard University--"How Should Internet Commerce Be Taxed?"

George Zodrow and Peter Mieszkowski, Rice University--"The Sales Tax, the VAT, and Taxes in Between"

William G. Gale--"Estimates of the Required Tax Rate in a National Retail Sales Tax"

 

3:45-5:15 P.M.

Boom or Bust: The Role of State Governments in the New Economy

Moderator: Julia Lynn Coronado, Federal Reserve Board

Presenters:

Gloria Timmer, National Association of State Budget Officers--"State Surpluses: What to Do? What to Do?"

Arik Levinson and Brian Knight, University of Wisconsin--"Rainy Day Funds and State Government Savings"

Julia Lynn Coronado--"Does Tax Exemption Subsidize Capital Investment?"

Discussants:

Daphne Kenyon, Simmons College

Leslie McGranahan, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

 

5:30-6:30 PM

Reception

 

9:00-10:30 A.M.

Paying for the Retirement of the Baby Boomers

Moderator: Eric J. Toder, The Urban Institute

Presenters:

Melissa Favreault, Caroline Ratcliffe, and Eric J. Toder, The Urban Institute--"Labor Force Participation of Older Workers: Prospective Changes and Potential Policy Responses"

Richard Johnson, The Urban Institute--"Distributional Implications of Social Security Reform: The Impact of Revising Spousal Benefits, COLAs, and Retirement Ages, on Elderly Beneficiaries"

Kent Smetters, University of Pennsylvania--"Investing the Trust Fund in Equities: The 'Free Money' is a Hidden Tax"

Jan Walliser, International Monetary Fund--"Would Saving Social Security Raise National Saving?"

 

10:45 A.M. - 12:15 P.M.

Taxpayer Responses to Lump-Sum Pension Distributions

Moderator: John Sabelhaus, Congressional Budget Office

Presenters:

Leonard E. Burman and Norma Coe, Office of Tax Analysis, U.S. Department of the Treasury; and William G. Gale, The Brookings Institution--"Lump-Sum Distributions: Recent Trends and Policy Issues"

Jeffrey Brown, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Olivia Mitchell, Wharton School and National Bureau of Economic Research; James Poterba, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and National Bureau of Economic Research; and Mark Warshawsky, TIAA-CREF--"Taxation of Annuities and Retirement Plan Buyouts"

John Sabelhaus and David J. Weiner, Congressional Budget Office--"Disposition of Lump-Sum Pension Distributions: Evidence from Tax Returns"