Professor Steven Dean Part 1: The Sociology Of International Tax - A History Of Privilege

October 21, 2021 - Participants Include:

 

Professor Steven Dean - @BrooklynTaxProf

John Richardson - @Expatriationlaw

 

On October 21, 2021 I participated in a discussion with Professor Steven Dean of Brooklyn Law School. The discussion has been divided into two podcasts. This is Podcast 1.

As a professor Steven Dean understands the technical aspects of tax. That said, he is one of the very few tax academics who is a thought leader in understanding the sociological forces that have and continue to shape  our current system of international taxation. Shockingly the international tax system is based on treaties that were entered into 100 years ago. As such those treaties reflect the values, assumptions and priorities of a world that no longer exists.

Steven Dean's writings draw attention to ways that the international tax system (reflecting the views and priorities of the privileged) impose and perpetuate hardship on the disadvantaged. Who could have imagined that poverty in some of the poorest countries of the world are exacerbated by the rules of international tax?

Our discussion on how taxation impacts countries and individuals includes the newsworthy Pillar 1, Pillar 2 and Professor Dorothy Brown's "The Whiteness Of Wealth".

His insights into the events that led to FATCA will be of particular interest to those Americans abroad who are fighting the injustices of FATCA and US citizenship-based taxation.

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What follows are links to some of his best and most interesting work. Each of these articles is referenced in the podcasts. I particularly recommend the "Ten Truths About Tax Havens" article below ...

 

Mainstream media for a mainstream audience

 

A Plea to President Biden to Stop Perpetuating Racist Tax Policy
https://www.thenation.com/article/economy/biden-tax-policy/

 

Can The Powerful Global Tax Organization Shed Its Racist Ways?

https://www.thenation.com/article/economy/digital-tax-racism/

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Academic Papers

 

Steven Dean: A Constitutional Moment In Cross Border Taxation
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3900564

Steven Dean and Attiya Waris: The Ten Truths About Tax Havens
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3822421

 

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Bonus:

 

How Racial Diversity Shaped US International Tax Policy*
https://www.forbes.com/sites/taxnotes/2020/07/27/how-racial-diversity-shaped-us-international-tax-policy/?sh=6100dcd4231c

*This is an interview with Robert Goulder of Tax Notes. The discussion sheds some light on the events leading to FATCA.