Edward D. Kleinbard

Professor of Law

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ekleinbard@law.usc.edu
Phone: (213) 740-4582
Fax: (213) 740-5502
Room: 426

Edward D. Kleinbard’s expertise focuses on tax matters, including the taxation of capital income, international tax issues, and the political economy of taxation. He joined USC Law in 2009 as professor of law. Professor Kleinbard previously served as chief of staff of the U.S. Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation. The staff of the Joint Committee functions as a nonpartisan office to assist Congress in every aspect of the tax legislative process, from the development and analysis of tax proposals for Members of Congress to the drafting of tax bills, estimations of all revenue legislation considered by the Congress, and investigations of various aspects of the Federal tax system. Prior to his appointment to the Joint Committee, Kleinbard worked as a partner based in the New York office of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP. He was a visiting lecturer at Yale Law School in 2007, where he taught Taxation of Financial Products and Markets.

Professor Kleinbard has lectured on tax topics in a wide variety of academic and professional settings. In 2009 Professor Kleinbard delivered the annual Laurence Neal Woodworth Memorial Lecture in Federal Tax Law and Policy (published in Tax Notes, May 18, 2009 under the title “How Tax Expenditures Distort Our Budget and Our Political Processes”).

Professor Kleinbard also has published extensively on tax matters in academic and professional journals. He presented a comprehensive proposal for the fundamental reform of the taxation of capital income in  “Rehabilitating the Business Income Tax,” for The Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution and “Designing an Income Tax on Capital,” a chapter in the book Taxing Capital Income (Urban Institute 2007). Other recent articles authored or co-authored by Professor Kleinbard include “A Revenue Estimate Case Study: The Repatriation Holiday Revisited,” “Throw Territorial Taxation from the Train,” “Is it Time to Liquidate LIFO?,” and “Competitive Convergence in the Financial Services Industries.” Older articles include “Risky and Riskless Positions in Securities” and “Business Hedges After Arkansas Best.” In 2006 Kleinbard received a Burton Award for Legal Writing.

Kleinbard graduated with a B.A. in Medieval and Renaissance Studies and an M.A in History from Brown University. He received his J.D. from Yale Law School, where he was an articles editor of the Yale Law Journal.

Articles and Book Chapters

• “Where Can We Stand to Gain Perspective?, Toward Tax Reform: Recommendations for President Obama’s Task Force,” Tax Analysts, 2009. - (PDF)
• “A Revenue Estimate Case Study: The Repatriation Holiday Revisited,” 120 Tax Notes 1191(2008) (with Patrick Driessen).
• “Rethinking Tax Expenditures,” an address to the Chicago-Kent College of Law Federal Tax Institute (2008). - (www)
• “Rehabilitating the Business Income Tax,” The Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution (2007). - (www)
• “Designing an Income Tax on Capital,” a chapter in Taxing Capital Income, The Urban Institute Press (2007).
• “Throw Territorial Taxation From the Train,” 114 Tax Notes 547 (2007).
• “A Holistic Approach to Business Tax Reform,” 114 Tax Notes 90 (2007).
• “Is It Time to Liquidate LIFO?,” 113 Tax Notes 237 (2006) (with George A. Plesko and Corey M. Goodman).
• “Taxing Convertible Debt: A Layman’s Perspective,” 56 SMU Law Review 453 (2003). - (Hein)
• “Competitive Convergence in the Financial Service Markets,” 81 Taxes 225 (2003). - (Hein)
• “A Short Course in Valuing Derivatives,” 94 Tax Notes 380 (2002).
• “Contingent Interest Convertible Bonds and the Economic Accrual Regime,” 95 Tax Notes 1949 (2002) (with Erika W. Nijenhuis and William L. McRae).
• “Disclosing Book-Tax Differences,” 96 Tax Notes 999 (2002) (with Peter C. Canellos).
• “The U.S. Taxation of Equity Derivative Instruments,” Chap. 24 in The Handbook of Equity Derivatives. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2000.
• “Everything I Know About New Financial Products I Learned From DECS, Practicing Law Institute,” Tax Law and Practice Course Handbook Series #457 (1999 and following years) (with Erika W. Nijenhuis).
• “Corporate Tax Shelters and Corporate Tax Management,” 51 The Tax Executive 231 (1999). - (Hein)
• “The Role of Mark-to-Market Accounting in a Realization-Based Tax System,” 75 Taxes 788 (1997) (with Thomas L. Evans). - (Hein)
• “Short Sales and Short Sale Principles in Contemporary Applications,” Chap. 17 in N.Y.U. Fifty-Third Institute on Federal Taxation. New York: Matthew Bender, 1995 (with Erika W. Nijenhuis).
• “Risky and Riskless Positions in Securities,” 71 Taxes 12 (1993).
• “Equity Derivative Products: Financial Innovation’s Newest Challenge to the Tax System,” 69 Texas Law Review 6 (1991). - (Hein)
• “Beyond Good and Evil Debt (And Debt Hedges): A Cost of Capital Allowance System,” 67 Taxes 12 (1989). - (Hein)
• “Business Hedges After Arkansas Best,” 43 Tax Law Review 393 (1988) (with Suzanne F. Greenberg). - (Hein)
• “The Miracle of Compound Interest: Interest Deferral and Discount After 1982,” 38 Tax Law Review 4 (1983) (with Peter C. Canellos). - (Hein)