Center for Tax Excellence
Endowment will place Kenan-Flagler in the international spotlight
By Eleanor Lee Yates

ver the last decade, Kenan-Flagler has developed into a leader in the field of tax research. It has some of the finest tax faculty in the country, hosts the premier academic conference each spring and has the top PhD tax program. Now, the Center for Tax Excellence should place Kenan-Flagler in the international limelight as a research and resource institution for global tax issues.

"one of our goals is to promote communication and understanding among the constituents who have an interest in international tax law. Better understanding hopefully will translate into better laws," said Allen Wilson, whose gift will create the center.

M. Allen Wilson (BSBA '77) has established an endowment of $750,000 to create the Center. Wilson made the gift as a contribution to UNC-Chapel Hill's Carolina First Campaign. In addition to making the initial gift, Wilson also intends to be active in the solicitation of funds to permanently endow the Center.

"This Center elevates us across the board in tax issues," said Douglas A. Shackelford, Meade H. Willis Professor of Taxation and associate dean of the Master of Accounting Program. "Whether it's telecommunications or international securities, rethinking tax policy or emerging tax practices, the Center will provide the foremost base of knowledge in the tax area."

"To date, our primary influence has been in the academic arena. The Center will extend our reach to practitioners and policy-makers," he said.

In particular, the M. Allen Wilson Endowment and subsequent funds will mean more resources for research on international tax issues. Corporations, policy-makers and tax practitioners can contract with the Center for research, or they can come to Chapel Hill for independent research.

The Center will attract visiting international faculty, which will enable Kenan-Flagler professors and students to increase their knowledge of foreign tax issues, policies and opportunities, as well as generate new research topics for faculty and doctoral students. Two leading Korean tax professors are visiting Kenan-Flagler this year. A Norwegian professor, who also is a partner at Deloitte & Touche, will join the School in the fall. The new international relationships that will be forged also will be valuable to multinational corporations who use the Center as an international tax resource.

The Center also will expand the highly successful UNC Tax Symposium. For example, funds from the Center will allow this year's proceedings to be published in the highly regarded National Tax Journal. Additional international tax conferences are slated for Kenan-Flagler that could provide CEOs, government policy-makers and tax practitioners with a forum to meet and study research findings.

"One of our goals is to promote communication and understanding among the constituents who have an interest in international tax law: the policy-makers, the practitioners such as CPAs and tax attorneys, and academic leaders," said Wilson. "We'll discuss controversial topics. At a conference, practitioners could focus on a law and say, 'This is a terrible law.' They will be able to talk about practical problems with the law that policy-makers may not know exist. Better understanding hopefully will translate into better laws."

With global trade increasing, the Center's establishment is extremely timely. Shackelford said no other business school has positioned itself to specialize in the international tax arena.

"Most corporations these days have operations that span the world. With the expansion of companies doing business in multiple jurisdictions, tax issues have become increasingly important," Wilson added. "For example, if a multinational company makes a product in Country A, sells it in Country B and makes a $100 profit, how much of the profit is taxed in each country? The issues are huge. Just a 10 percent change in the profit split between the countries could mean a shift of millions of tax revenue dollars."

"Business has become international, but governments can only tax within their jurisdictions," Shackelford said. "The Internet and other technological developments are forcing redesign of tax systems around the globe."

Wilson has been a longtime supporter of Kenan-Flagler and UNC. He previously served as head of Arthur Andersen's Raleigh office tax division. Since 1999, he has held a firmwide position for delivering tax-proven solutions to the Global 1000 market.

For more information on the center, contact Shackelford at (919) 962-3197, .