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Preventive Tax Policy: Chief Justice Roger J. Traynor's Tax Philosophy, Mirit Eyal-Cohen

Mirit Eyal-Cohen

Justice Roger J. Traynor is best known for his judicial innovations in the fields of conflict of laws, product liability, and civil procedure. However, few would trace Traynor’s roots to the field of tax law. In the late 1930’s Traynor collaborated with Stanley S. Surrey, our nation's foremost authorities on federal tax law, and together they called for a substantial transformation of existing mechanisms for settling tax disputes. At that crucial time in history, high marginal tax rates intensified the friction between taxpayers and the government, boosted litigation and multiplied the number of tax controversies. Traynor and Surrey developed the …