Professor Clint Wallace from the University of South Carolina Rice School of Law visited the MPI for Tax Law and Public Finance from May 12 to 16 to present his research topics and exchange ideas with researchers and international guests.
In 2019, the Institute launched a visiting research program to recognize and support young scholars who are researching and teaching tax law at a foreign university. The program is named after Hugh Ault, professor emeritus at Boston College Law School, long-time special advisor to the OECD, and one of the world's leading scholars in international and comparative tax law. Each year, the Institute invites two to four “up-and-coming talents” from around the world for a one-week, fully funded research stay.
In May, Clint Wallace, Professor of Law, was a guest at our Institute as a Hugh Ault Fellow. Wallace teaches at the Joseph F. Rice School of Law at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. His current research focuses on U.S. tax policy and tax administration. In addition, Wallace investigates the intersection of tax theory and democratic theory, and how tax systems can strengthen or undermine democratic governance.
Wallace presented his research in two workshops at the institute this week:
In his lecture on “The Past and Future of Taxing ‘Incomes’”, based on a forthcoming paper co-authored with Bret Wells, he explained the turn to the “originalist” method in U.S. constitutional interpretation, and explored the potential implications for how courts interpret the powers to tax under the U.S. Constitution. Wallace and Wells contend that the theory of income developed by Georg Schanz in the late 19th century was well-known in the U.S. when modern income tax was first adopted, suggesting an expanded original public meaning of income that does not require realization. They connect Schanz’s insights to the subsequent work of American economists, as well as to practical developments around that same time that tracked a similar understanding of income.
During his visit, Wallace focused on the political and social motivations behind the U.S. income tax, which he explored in greater depth in his second workshop. His presentation centered on the 19th century American populist movement, and theories of tax reform focused on fostering democratic participation and accountability that Wallace contends were featured in populist reform proposals. “The intellectual, political and social origins of the early U.S. income tax reveals a role for tax policy that can be responsive to populist impulses while also supporting democratic institutions,” Hugh Ault Fellow Wallace emphasized. “These insights, and the focus on the connection between tax and democracy, can be relevant in how we think about tax reform around the world in the current political moment.”
May 2025