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Joshua D. Blank

Professor of Law
Director of the UCI Law in NYC Program
Joshua D. Blank

Expertise:

Tax Administration and Compliance, Administrative Agency Communication, Taxpayer Privacy and Tax Transparency, Taxation of Business Entities

Background:

Joshua Blank is a Professor of Law at the University of California, Irvine School of Law.  Prior to joining UCI Law in 2018, Blank was a member of the full-time faculty of NYU School of Law, where he served as Professor of Tax Law, Vice Dean for Technology-Enhanced Education, and Faculty Director of its Graduate Tax Program.

Blank’s scholarship focuses on tax administration and compliance, taxpayer privacy, and taxation of business entities. His recent publications have appeared in journals such as Cornell Law Review, Vanderbilt Law Review, Minnesota Law Review, Emory Law Journal, New York University Law Review, Southern California Law Review, Tax Law Review, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and UCLA Law Review, among others. He is a frequent contributor to Bloomberg, CNN, Fortune, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal, among others.

Blank received a 2020 Teacher of the Year Award from the Association of American Law Schools, the 2017 Legal Teaching Award from the NYU School of Law Alumni Association, and the Podell Distinguished Teaching Award from NYU School of Law in 2014. In 2021, Blank was selected by the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) (with his co-author, Professor Leigh Osofsky) to conduct a study of U.S. federal government agencies’ use of automated tools, such as chatbots and virtual assistants, to explain the law to the public. In 2022, ACUS voted to adopt twenty policy recommendations based on his co-authored report, which were then published in the Federal Register and circulated to the federal agencies.

In 2022, Blank was appointed to serve as Vice Chair of the Teaching Taxation Committee of the Tax Section of the American Bar Association, a position he also held from 2009-2013.  Blank is an elected member of the executive committee of the International Fiscal Association (USA Branch) and is a fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel and the American Bar Foundation.

Blank previously served as an assistant professor of law at Rutgers School of Law – Newark, and was an acting assistant professor of tax law in the NYU Graduate Tax Program. He has taught tax law as a visiting professor at Hebrew University, Bocconi University, IDC Herzliya and the Internal Revenue Service. Prior to academia, Blank was a tax lawyer at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.

Blank received his B.A., summa cum laude, from NYU, College of Arts and Science; his J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School; and his LL.M. in taxation from NYU Law.

Prior Courses:

Corporate Tax, Federal Income Tax, Tax Practice & Procedure

(Log in to view full course descriptions in the UCI Law Course Catalog)

Prof. Blank's Scholarly Papers on SSRN

Books

  • Automated Agencies: The Transformation of Government Guidance (with Leigh Osofsky; under contract, Cambridge University Press, forthcoming, 2025)
  • Untaxed: The Rich, The IRS, and a New Approach to Tax Compliance (with Ari Glogower; under contract, Cambridge University Press, forthcoming, 2024).
  • Corporate Taxation:  Examples & Explanations (with Cheryl D. Block and Ari Glogower, Wolters Kluwer, 5th ed. (2022)).
  • The Income Tax Map: A Bird’s-eye View of Federal Income Taxation for Law Students (with Shari Motro, West Academic, 17th ed., 2019; 18th ed., 2020; 19th ed. 2021; 20th ed., 2022; 21st ed., 2023).

Articles

  • Democratic Accountability and Tax Enforcement, 61 Harv. J. on Leg. __ (forthcoming, 2024) (with Leigh Osofsky)
  • Democratizing Administrative Law (with Leigh Osofsky), 73 Duke L.J. __ (forthcoming, 2024)
  • Automated Agencies (with Leigh Osofsky), 107 Minn. L. Rev. 2118 (2023).
  • The Tax Information Gap at the Top (with Ari Glogower), 108 Iowa L. Rev. 1597 (2023).
  • When Should Means Matter? The Case of Tax Compliance (with Ari Glogower), 42 Va. Tax Rev.241 (2022)
  • Simplicity Lost (with Leigh Osofsky), 20 Pitt. Tax Rev. 105 (2022) (symposium contribution). 
  • The (Uncertain) Future of Corporate Tax Shelters (with Ari Glogower), in Research Handbook on Corporate Taxation (Reuven Avi-Yonah, ed., Edward Elgar Publishing, forthcoming, 2023). 
  • Redesigning Automated Legal Guidance (with Leigh Osofsky), Regul. Rev. (2023). 
  • The Inequity of Informal Guidance (with Leigh Osofsky), 75 Vand. L. Rev. 1093 (2022). 
  • Automated Legal Guidance at Federal Agencies, Draft Report to the Administrative Conference of the United States (with Leigh Osofsky), Mar. 25, 2022. 
  • The Trouble with Targeting Tax Shelters (with Ari Glogower), 74 Admin. L. Rev. 69 (2022). 
  • United States National Report on Mandatory Disclosure Rules, in Mandatory Disclosure Rules (International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation, 2022). 
  • Presidential Tax Transparency, 40 Yale L. & Pol'y Rev. 1 (2021). 
  • Progressive Tax Procedure (with Ari Glogower), 96 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 668 (2021).
  • Automated Legal Guidance (with Leigh Osofsky), 106 Cornell L. Rev. 179 (2020).
  • Legal Calculators and the Tax System (with Leigh Osofsky), 15 Ohio St. Tech. L.J. 73 (2020).
  • Corporate Tax Privacy and Human Rights, in Tax, Inequality and Human Rights (ed. Philip Alston and Nikki Reisch, Oxford University Press, 2019).
  • The Timing of Tax Transparency, 90 S. Cal. L. Rev. 449 (2017).
  • Simplexity: Plain Language and the Tax Law, 66 Emory L.J. 189 (2017) (with Leigh Osofsky).
  • United States National Report on Exchange of Information, in Proceedings of 2014 Congress of European Association of Tax Law Professors (2015) (with Ruth Mason).
  • Collateral Compliance, 162 U. Pa. L. Rev. 719 (2014).
  • Reconsidering Corporate Tax Privacy, 11 N.Y.U. J. L. & Bus. 31 (2014).
  • Avoidance Transactions in the United States, in The Common Law Doctrine of the Sham: Reality and Pretence in Law (ed. Edwin Simpson and Miranda Stewart, Oxford University Press, 2013) (with Nancy Staudt).
  • United States National Report on Tax Privacy, in Tax Secrecy and Tax Transparency - The Relevance of Confidentiality in Tax Law (Peter Lang GmbH – Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften, Frankfurt, Germany) (2013).
  • Corporate Shams, 87 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 1641 (2012) (with Nancy Staudt).
  • In Defense of Individual Tax Privacy, 61 Emory L.J. 265 (2011).
  • When Is Tax Enforcement Publicized?, 30 Va. Tax Rev. 1 (2010) (with Daniel Z. Levin).
  • What’s Wrong With Shaming Corporate Tax Abuse, 62 Tax L. Rev. 539 (2009).
  • Overcoming Overdisclosure: Toward Tax Shelter Detection, 56 UCLA L. Rev. 1629 (2009).
  • Confronting Continuity: A Tradition of Fiction in Corporate Reorganizations, 2006 Colum. Bus. L. Rev. 1.
  • March 2024
    Presenter, Democratizing Administrative Law (with Leigh Osofsky), Duke Law School, Durham, NC
  • November 8, 2023
    Presenter, Untaxed: The Rich, The IRS, and a New Approach to Tax Compliance (with Ari Glogower), Intellectual Life Workshop, University of California, Irvine School of Law, Irvine, CA
  • November 7, 2023
    Co-presenter, Untaxed: The Rich, The IRS, and a New Approach to Tax Compliance (with Ari Glogower), Tax Policy and Economic Inequality Workshop, University of Chicago Law School, Chicago, IL 
  • November 2, 2023
    Presenter, Democratic Accountability and Tax Enforcement (with Leigh Osofsky), 116th Annual Conference on Taxation, National Tax Association, Denver, CO
  • June 1, 2023
    Presenter, Automated Agencies (with Leigh Osofsky), Center for Taxpayer Rights, Washington, DC 
  • May 4, 2023
    Presenter, Automated Agencies (with Leigh Osofsky), American Bar Association Tax Section, Washington, DC 
  • April 17, 2023
    Discussant, Taxation of Crypto-Assets, 5th Annual UCI-Taylor Nelson Amitrano LLP Tax Symposium, Irvine, CA (April 17, 2023)
  • February 10, 2023:
    Presenter, The Tax Information Gap at the Top, Teaching Taxation Committee Panel, American Bar Association Tax Section, San Diego, CA 
  • October 26, 2022:
    Presenter, Automated Agencies, Intellectual Life Workshop, University of California, Irvine School of Law, Irvine, CA 
  • October 6, 2022:
    Presenter, Automation of Tax Guidance in the United States (with Leigh Osofsky),  International Tax Law Research Network Conference, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia, Online Presentation 
  • July 13, 2022:
    Presenter, The Tax Information Gap at the Top (with Ari Glogower), Law & Society Association Annual Meeting, Lisbon, Portugal
  • April 5, 2022:
    Presenter, Automated Legal Guidance at Federal Agencies (with Leigh Osofsky), Committee on Administration and Management, Public Meeting 1, Administrative Conference of the United States
  • April 1, 2022:
    Presenter, The Inequity of Informal Guidance (with Leigh Osofsky), Critical Tax Conference, Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law
  • March 28, 2022:
    Presenter, The Inequity of Informal Guidance (with Leigh Osofsky), The Tax Club, New York, NY
  • March 23, 2022:
    Presenter, The Inequity of Informal Guidance (with Leigh Osofsky), Intellectual Life Workshop, University of California, Irvine School of Law, Irvine, CA
  • March 21, 2022:
    Discussant, Developing Countries and the Global Tax Deal, 4th Annual UCI-A. Lavar Taylor Tax Symposium: The Global Tax Deal and the Changing International Order, Irvine, CA
  • December 1, 2021:
    Presenter, Presidential Tax Transparency, UCI Law Tax Law Society, University of California, Irvine School of Law, Irvine, CA
  • Nov. 18, 2021:
    Presenter, The Inequity of Informal Guidance (with Leigh Osofsky), 114th Annual Conference on Taxation, National Tax Association, Detroit, MI, Online Presentation
  • Sept. 24, 2021:
    Presenter, The Inequity of Informal Guidance (with Leigh Osofsky), Panel: The Service of the Service: Interacting Now and in the Future, American Bar Association Tax Section, Online Presentation
  • Sept. 23, 2021:
  • Discussant, Impoverishment by Taxation by Ariel Jurow Kleiman, Intellectual Life Workshop, University of California, Irvine School of Law, Irvine, CA
  • Sept. 17, 2021:
    Presenter, Tax Shelter Reporting in the United States, International Fiscal Association – India Branch, Online Presentation
  • July 15, 2021:
    Presenter, Progressive Tax Procedure (with Ari Glogower), Critical Junctures/Critical Perspectives and Tax Reform Symposium, Monash University, Faculty of Law, Melbourne, Australia, Online Presentation
  • July 2, 2021:
    National Reporter for the United States, Mandatory Disclosure Rules Conference, Institute for Austrian and International Tax Law, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria
  • May 27, 2021:
    Presenter, The “Internal” Internal Revenue Code: When Should Guidance Bind the IRS? (with Leigh Osofsky), Law & Society Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL
  • April 29, 2021:
    Presenter, Automated Legal Guidance and Taxation, Institute of Tax Law at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London School of Law, London, UK 
  • April 21, 2021:
    Presenter, Automated Legal Guidance (with Leigh Osofsky), Faculty Workshop, Perspectives on Taxation Presentation Series, University of Minnesota Law School, Minneapolis, MN, Online Presentation 
  • April 15, 2021:
    Presenter, Presidential Tax Transparency, Faculty Workshop, Stockholm University, Faculty of Law, Stockholm, Sweden, Online Presentation
  • April 14, 2021:
    Presenter, Progressive Tax Procedure (with Ari Glogower), Tax Administration Research Centre, University of Exeter Business School, Exeter, United Kingdom, Online Presentation
  • April 8, 2021:
    Presenter, Presidential Tax Transparency, Critical Tax Conference, University of California, Irvine School of Law (Irvine, CA), Online Presentation
  • Feb. 22, 2021: 
    Discussant, Panel: Equitable Tax Administration During the COVID-19 Pandemic, 3rd Annual UCI-A. Lavar Taylor Tax Symposium: Taxation in a Time of Crisis, Irvine, CA, Online Presentation
  • Jan. 19, 2021: 
    Presenter, Tax Compliance, Information and Disclosure in the United States, Universidad Panamericana/NYU School of Law, Mexico, Online Presentation 
  • Oct. 28, 2020: 
    Presenter, Automated Legal Guidance (with Leigh Osofsky), Orange County Bar Association, Business & Corporate Law Section, Irvine, CA, Online Presentation 
  • Oct. 14, 2020: 
    Discussant, Solidarity Federalism by Erin F. Delaney & Ruth Mason, Intellectual Life Workshop, University of California, Irvine School of Law, Irvine, CA, Online Presentation 
  • Aug. 19, 2020: 
    Presenter, Automated Legal Guidance (with Leigh Osofsky), Intellectual Life Workshop, University of California, Irvine School of Law, Irvine, CA, Online Presentation 
  • July 9, 2020:
    Presenter, “Automated Legal Guidance,” Indiana/Leeds Summer Tax Workshop Series, Online
  • Feb. 26, 2020: 
    Presenter, Simplexity and Automated Legal Guidance (with Leigh Osofsky), Faculty Workshop, Southern Methodist University School of Law, Dallas, TX 
  • Feb. 24, 2020: 
    Presenter, Simplexity and Automated Legal Guidance (with Leigh Osofsky), 2nd Annual UCI-A. Lavar Taylor Tax Symposium: Machine Intelligence and the Changing Nature of Tax Practice, Irvine, CA 
  • Jan. 17, 2020: 
    Presenter, Simplexity and Automated Legal Guidance (with Leigh Osofsky), Levin College of Law, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 
  • Dec. 3, 2019:
    Presenter, Progressive Tax Procedure (with Ari Glogower), Tax Policy Colloquium, NYU School of Law, New York, NY 
  • Nov. 21, 2019: 
    Presenter, Simplexity and Automated Legal Guidance (with Leigh Osofsky) and Progressive Tax Procedure (with Ari Glogower), 112th Annual Conference on Taxation, National Tax Association, Tampa, FL
  • Nov. 18, 2019: 
    Presenter, Progressive Tax Procedure (with Ari Glogower), Tax Policy Colloquium, Loyola Law School-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
  • Nov. 14, 2019: 
    Presenter, Progressive Tax Procedure (with Ari Glogower), Tax Law Speakers Series, University of San Diego School of Law, San Diego, CA
  • May 31, 2019:
    Presenter, Progressive Tax Procedure (with Ari Glogower), Law & Society Association Annual Meeting, Washington, DC
  • April 10, 2019:
    Presenter, Simplexity: Plain Language and the Tax Law and Simplexity and Legal Transitions (with Leigh Osofsky), University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law, Salt Lake City, UT
  • March 25, 2019:
    Presenter, Simplexity and Legal Calculators (with Leigh Osofsky), Tax Policy Colloquium, Pepperdine School of Law, Malibu, CA
  • March 22, 2019:
    Presenter, Simplexity and Legal Transitions (with Leigh Osofsky), Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Tax Law and Policy Symposium, Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, Columbus, OH
  • June 7, 2018
    Presenter, Transparency in Tax Administration (keynote presentation), 2018 Congress of European Association of Tax Law Professors, Zurich, Switzerland 
  • January 1, 2018
    Presenter, The Timing of Tax Transparency, Tax Law Forum, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel 
  • September 15, 2017
    Presenter, Simplexity: Plain Language and the Tax Law, with Leigh Osofsky, Teaching Taxation Committee Panel, American Bar Association Tax Section, Austin, TX 
  • June 15, 2017
    Presenter, Collateral Compliance, 9th Annual NYU Tax Controversy Forum, New York, NY 
  • May 8, 2017
    Presenter, The Timing of Tax Transparency, Faculty Colloquium, Institute for Austrian and International Tax Law, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Vienna, Austria
  • February 20, 2017
    Presenter, The Timing of Tax Transparency, Tax Policy Colloquium, Pepperdine School of Law, Malibu, CA
  • November 14, 2016
    Presenter, The Timing of Tax Transparency, Queen Mary University of London School of Law, London, United Kingdom 
  • November 2, 2016
    Presenter, The Timing of Tax Transparency, Tax Policy Colloquium, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, Chicago, IL
  • September 23, 2016
    Presenter, The Timing of Tax Transparency, Human Rights and Tax in an Unequal World, Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, NYU School of Law, New York, NY 
  • June 1, 2016
    Presenter, The OECD BEPS Action Reports: Disclosure to the Public and the Taxing Authority, Amsterdam Centre for Tax Law, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands 
  • May 27, 2016
    Presenter, The Timing of Tax Transparency, Faculty Workshop, Stockholm University Faculty of Law, Stockholm, Sweden 
  • April 7, 2016
    Presenter, The Timing of Tax Transparency, Tax Policy Colloquium, Duke University School of Law, Durham, NC 
  • April 1, 2016
    Presenter, The Timing of Tax Transparency, Faculty Workshop, University of Virginia School of Law, Charlottesville, VA
  • January 8, 2016
    Presenter, Simplexity: Plain Language and the Tax Law, with Leigh Osofsky, Tax Policy Colloquium, Levin College of Law, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 
  • November 20, 2015
    Presenter, Simplexity: Plain Language and the Tax Law, with Leigh Osofsky, 108th Annual Conference on Taxation, National Tax Association, Boston, MA 
  • October 9, 2015
    Presenter, The Timing of Tax Transparency, Tax Administration Conference, University of Washington School of Law, Seattle, WA 
  • June 2, 2015
    Presenter, The Timing of Tax Transparency, Offentlighet och sekretess inom skatteförvaltningen (Conference on Transparency and Confidentiality in Tax Administration), University of Gävle, Gävle, Sweden 
  • Vice Chair of the Teaching Taxation Committee of the American Bar Association Tax Section (August 2022)
  • Member of Executive Committee of International Fiscal Association (June 2022)
  • Selected by Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) to Study Automated Legal Guidance at Federal Agencies, 2021-2022
  • National Reporter for the United States, Mandatory Disclosure Rules Conference, Institute for Austrian and International Tax Law, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria, 2021
  • Teacher of the Year Award, Association of American Law Schools, 2020
  • American College of Tax Counsel, Fellow (2018, by election)
  • Legal Teaching Award, NYU School of Law Alumni Association, 2017
  • >Podell Distinguished Teaching Award, NYU School of Law, 2014
  • National Reporter for the United States, Congress of the European Association of Tax Law Professors, Istanbul, Turkey, 2014
  • National Reporter for the United States, Tax Secrecy and Tax Transparency Conference, Austria, Vienna University of Economics and Business and Orebro University, 2012
  • Vice Chair, Teaching Taxation Committee, American Bar Association Tax Section (2009, by election)