Preface

Sixteen months ago in a comment during office hours, we raised the idea for a journal at Columbia Law School dedicated to tax law and policy. Within a few weeks, student interest grew in support of the idea and sparked active discussion. Over the course of last year, the proposal that developed brought together the perspectives of the faculty, administration, library, alumni and colleagues outside of academia, and students pursuing tax as their field of focus. It is our pleasure to introduce the Inaugural Issue of the Columbia Journal of Tax Law, the culmination of over a year and a half’s preparation. The field of tax has the attribute of attracting a diverse collection of backgrounds and perspective among the individuals who participate in its lively debates. It is a great asset of this field, and one of our principal sources of inspiration as we crafted the vision for this Journal. The readers and authors of the scholarship in our pages draw from at least three distinct groups within the field of tax. They include the policymakers in federal, state, and foreign governments, practitioners in the private sector, and professors in academia