Photo by Marcela Suter

The University of Florida Levin College of Law’s Graduate Tax Program welcomed distinguished members of the global tax community for the eighth annual International Tax Law Symposium on Friday, Oct. 19.

There were around 100 attendees at the symposium, which is geared toward educating interested students, faculty and alumni on important topics revolving around current and future international tax policy.

This year’s presenters and topics were:

• Willard B. Taylor, of counsel at Sullivan & Cromwell in New York: “Suppose FIRPTA was Repealed?” which examines the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act.
• Luis Eduardo Schoueri, chair of tax law at the Department of Economic, Financial and Tax Law at the Law School of Sao Paul University: “Trends and Challenges of the International Tax Law in the Dawn of the 21^st Century and the Non-Regression Principle as a New Approach Towards Tax Treaty Termination.”
• Susan C. Morse, associate professor of law at the University of California Hastings College of Law: “Startup, Ltd.: Tax Planning and Initial Incorporation.”

The symposium also featured commentary by UF Law Professor Yariv Brauner, Omri Y. Marian and Martin J. McMahon.

A webcast of the symposium can be viewed here.

Jameson graduated summa cum laude from the University of Florida, earning a bachelor of science degree in public relations with a minor in business administration. She graduated summa cum laude from Stetson University College of Law, and graduated from the University of Florida Levin College of Law with an LL.M. in taxation.

She received the Richard B. Stephens Award, given to the most outstanding student in the LL.M. program, as determined by UF Law tax faculty. Prior to joining the UF Law faculty, Jameson worked as an associate at Carlton Fields, PA, representing taxpayers at the state and federal level in tax controversy disputes and providing tax planning services to clients in various industries.

Potter, a graduate of Yale Law School and former professor of the Georgetown University Law Center, has held positions in both the Treasury Department’s Office of Tax Policy and the Joint Committee on Taxation of the United States Congress. Potter also practiced with the firm Sullivan & Cromwell in New York. Undoubtedly, her wealth of experience serves her well in her current position with the IRS.

Her lecture to the Levin College of Law focused on the challenges of creating tax policies that are enforceable and that encourage compliance, especially involving foreign accounts and income.

“If the IRS can’t administrate it, you encourage noncompliance,” she explained.

Potter said that the IRS currently employs 1,600 lawyers, with 600 or 700 of them experts in different areas of substantive tax law. These experts work closely with lawmakers in drafting tax legislation. Tax legislation may be proposed by the Treasury Department only once a year as part of the annual budget.

“The IRS provides the manpower for drafting and publishing regulations,” Potter explained. The Office of Tax Policy of the Treasury Department is responsible for additional development of revenue procedures and for general guidance.

Interestingly, Potter is not employed directly by the IRS but instead is employed by the general counsel of the Treasury Department. Potter stated that the chief counsel’s office is regarded as the lawyers to the IRS. By distancing her position from the IRS, she is able to serve as an advisor rather than an executive of the IRS, which allows her to report what she calls the “hard news” to the commissioner, who is the head of the IRS, and to sustain attorney-client privilege.

Potter often works with the IRS to help regulate offshore accounts and developing guidelines for penalizing taxpayers who hide income overseas. She explained that advances in technology that aid in easily moving money around make overseas accounts and income more difficult to track.

The IRS offers some redemption for those who have successfully evaded foreign income reporting requirements on past tax documents and wish to come clean without facing prosecution. They may voluntarily disclose past foreign income and then pay back taxes, interest, and some penalties. Potter differentiated this practice from granting amnesty, but added that it does provide protection against criminal prosecution.

In contrast, if a taxpayer willfully fails to disclose foreign income, he or she may face criminal prosecution in addition to penalties in excess of 100 percent of the hidden income.

Potter emphasized that overregulation is not the answer, as it causes honest taxpayers to worry unnecessarily about which credits they are entitled to and provides incentive for those who are dishonest to continue their noncompliance. Instead, she touts legislation and regulation that provides incentives for compliance without being too complicated.

The idea of “uncomplicated tax regulation” may seem like an oxymoron, but at least Potter intends to give it an earnest try.