Event Summary
Corporate income tax returns have long been confidential. No information from the tax return is required to be disclosed to the public. The sole source of information about a firm's corporate income taxes generally is its GAAP disclosures in its audited financial statements. Recently, policymakers and the business press have raised the issue of whether public disclosure of corporate tax returns is feasible and advisable. The purpose of this conference is to provide a forum for tax, legal and financial disclosure experts to explore this topic.
The conference will provide lawyers, accountants, and economists the opportunity to present original research on the impacts of disclosure, to be followed by discussants' comments, a panel of experts, and general audience participation. Invited participants will include officials from Congress, and key staff from Capitol Hill, the IRS, the SEC and FASB, as well as practitioners from the tax and financial reporting fields.
ORGANIZERS
William G. Gale, Co-Director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center
Doug Shackelford, Professor, University of North Carolina Business School
EVENT INFORMATION
Agenda
Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center home page
PAPERS AND PRESENTATIONS
Corporate Tax Disclosure at the State Level: The Massachusetts Experience [PDF— 242 KB]
Robert Tannenwald
What Can We Infer About a Firm's Taxable Income from its Financial Statements? [PDF— 147 KB] [PPT— 130 KB]
Michelle Hanlon
Bridging The Reporting Gap: A Proposal For More Informative Reconciling of Book and Tax Income [PDF— 161KB] [PPT— 101 KB]
Lillian F. Mills and George A. Plesko
Discussion of "What Can We Infer About a Firm's Taxable Income from its Financial Statements?" [PPT— 41 KB]
Michele Hanlon
Comments on "Bridging the Reporting Gap: A Proposal for MoreInformative Reconciling of Book and Tax Income? by L. Mills and G. Plesko [PDF— KB]
Mihir A. Desai
EVENT CONTACT
Shannon Leahy
sleahy@brookings.edu
phone: 202-797-6274
fax: 202-797-8151