16th annual
University of San Diego School of Law
Procopio International Tax Institute

Professor Richard C. Pugh

After graduating from Dartmouth in 1951, Professor Pugh studied at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and spent three years as a naval officer before returning to the U.S. to earn his J.D. from Columbia Law School (where he was an editor of the Law Review). After 3 years as a tax associate at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton in New York City, he returned to Columbia in 1961 as a Professor of Law teaching courses in tax and international law.

Professor Pugh remained on the Columbia faculty for 8 years, interrupted by 2 years of public service as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. In 1969, he returned to private practice as a tax partner at Cleary, Gottlieb where he enjoyed an extraordinary 20-year career representing some of the leading national and international corporations in tax matters. He also continued to teach 1 tax course per year as an Adjunct Professor at Columbia.

Professor Pugh began the final chapter of his tax career in 1989 when he returned to academia and accepted a position as Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of San Diego, joining an already strong tax faculty of Bert Lazerow, Virginia Shue, and Lester Snyder. Over the past 15 years, Professor Pugh has been a productive scholar, perhaps best known as the co-author of three leading casebooks: Taxation of Business Enterprises (West Group, 2d ed. 2002), Taxation of International Transactions (West Group, 2d ed. 2001), and International Law (West Group, 4th ed. 2001), as well as coordinating editor of the annual International Income Taxation: Code and Regulations–Selected Sections (CCH). His most recent law review article was published as the lead article in the inaugural issue of the San Diego International Law Journal: Policy Issues Relating to the U.S. Taxation of Foreign Persons Engaged in Business in the United States Through Agents: Some Proposals for Reform, 1 San Diego Int’l L.J. 1 (2000).

Although Professor Pugh was in phased retirement at USD, he continued to teach a full load in the spring term and remained an active scholar, with revised editions of his casebooks and code and regulations volume in the works.

Throughout his long tax career, Professor Pugh held various leadership posts within the academy and profession. He was a fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel and a member of the American Law Institute. He was the former chair of The Tax Forum and past president of the U.S.A. Branch of the International Fiscal Association.

Professor Pugh’s tenure at the University of San Diego coincided with the schools’s meteoric rise into the top echelons of American law schools, both generally and with respect to its tax program. In recent years, USD has made a number of noteworthy lateral hires of top scholars from other law schools, including tax stars Karen Burke (from Minnesota) and Grayson McCouch (from Miami).

In his most recent survey of law school faculty quality, Texas law professor (and rankings guru) Brian Leiter rates USD as having the 22nd best faculty among the 180 law schools (and thus confirming his earlier observations that USD was on a "steep upward trajectory" and was "on the verge of cracking the 'big leagues' of the great law school hierarchy").

In the most recent U.S. News & World Report tax rankings, USD is 11th overall and 6th among law schools with graduate tax programs. Indeed, USD’s tax program is the highest ranked program west of the Mississippi River. USD's program is strengthened by the involvement of several national tax figures, including M. Carr Ferguson (Senior Counsel at Davis Polk & Wardwell) as Executive Advisor; Richard Shaw (Chair of the ABA Tax Section) as Distinguished Adjunct Professor; and the Honorable David Laro (U.S. Tax Court Judge) as Visiting Professor.

By his own account, Professor Pugh was an avid tennis player and inept golfer. His legions of San Diego students had enjoyed his sense of humor – he had summered in Vermont for over 25 years and collected various examples of Vermont lore that he deployed in class to provide much-needed relief from the rigors of tax law.

Professor Pugh is off this summer to celebrate his 50th anniversary and 75th birthday with his wife, three children and their spouses, and seven grandchildren – his greatest legacy.

Professor Richard C. Pugh, a long-time tax professor at San Diego, passed away on December 5, 2015 after a battle with cancer.

Professor Rufus Rhoades

Rufus v. Rhoades provides tax consulting to law firms, accounting firms, and international trust companies. He specializes in international tax, foreign tax issues, non-resident issues, and provides expert testimony for international taxation matters. Mr. Rhoades graduated from Stanford University and has been practicing tax law (initially in New York and then California) ever since. Mr. Rhoades is the Past Chairman of Los Angeles County Bar Association Sections of Taxation; Foreign Tax Committee, and a Past Member of the Executive Committee Section on Real Estate & International Fiscal Association. In addition to his experience in tax law, he has also co-authored and co-edited guides and books regarding international tax law.

Legislation Experience
Mr. Rhoades drafted a gross income tax law for the Island of Palau at the request of the United States Department of Interior, and he also drafted a portion of the 1986 Tax Reform Act that dealt with certain exceptions to tax laws applicable to the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Honors
• Dana Latham Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement in Taxation – Los Angeles Bar Association Section on Taxation
• Joanne Garvey Award – for substantial lifetime contributions to the field of tax law - California State Bar Section on Taxation
• Distinguished Professor Richard C. Pugh International Tax Award – University of San Diego School of Law/Procopio Tax Institute

Lectures
Mr. Rhoades speaks at a variety of international taxation seminars, and has been an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of San Diego, as well as the University of Southern California Law School.

Published Writings
U.S. International Taxation and Tax Treaties

Written by Rhoades & Langer, U.S. International Taxation and Tax Treaties, is a treatise of six volumes published by Matthew Bender & Co., New York, and revised four times a year. The work is a leader in its field, covering all aspects of U.S. taxation of foreign matters. Matthew Bender has sold more than 2,500 copies to law firms, accounting firms, corporations, and governmental agencies throughout the world, which remain as subscribers. The set is currently in its 128th revision.

LexisNexis Emerging Issues
In addition to his six-volume work, Mr. Rhoades is a regular contributor to LexisNexis – Emerging Issues, an ongoing series of discussions about international tax issues.

Legal Journals
Mr. Rhoades was, for a number of years, co-author of the International Tax Notes column for California Tax Lawyer, a regular publication of the California State Bar Section on Taxation. He has also written numerous articles and outlines on the field of U.S. taxation for all aspects of international taxation for various law journals, law reviews, and institutes.

Lic. Manuel Trón – IFA President

Manuel Tron is a Partner with Manuel Tron SC in Mexico which he founded in 2014 after spending a year as the Americas Leader of Tax Policy with Ernst & Young LLP in New York.

In 2008, Tron founded Tron Abogados, S.C., a Mexico-based law firm focused on tax consulting and litigation services. He also spent three years as a Partner with White & Case LLP.

Mr. Tron was elected to two terms as the IFA President from 2009 to 2013, after having spent ten years as a member of the Permanent Scientific Committee of the IFA. He also held leadership positions in the Mexico branch of the IFA.

In Mexico, Tron has worked as an international tax law consultant for the Tax Administration Service, the Federal Court of Administrative and Tax Justice, various committees of the Secretaries of Study and Accounts of the Supreme Court and to members of the Public Finance Committee in the Mexican Senate.

Tron has been a professor at several Mexican universities and a guest lecturer at other universities and major industry events. He is the author of the book ""El Régimen Fiscal de los Extranjeros en México"" and a contributing author to books published by the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation and Euromoney, as well as numerous articles on behalf of international and Mexican fiscal and accounting associations.

Education:
Postgraduate Studies in Economic and Corporate Law, Universidad Panamericana Law School (1983)

International Tax Institute, University of Wisconsin Law School

Professor Reuven Avi-Yonah

Reuven S. Avi-Yonah, the Irwin I. Cohn Professor of Law and director of the International Tax LLM Program, specializes in corporate and international taxation. He has served as a consultant to the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on tax competition, and is a member of the steering group for OECD's International Network for Tax Research. He is also a trustee of the American Tax Policy Institute, a member of the American Law Institute, a fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the American College of Tax Counsel, and an international research fellow at Oxford University's Centre for Business Taxation. In addition to prior teaching appointments at Harvard University (law) and Boston College (history), he practiced law with Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy in New York; with Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz in New York; and with Ropes & Gray in Boston. After receiving his BA, summa cum laude, from Hebrew University, he earned three additional degrees from Harvard University: an AM in history, a PhD in history, and a JD, magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School. He has published more than 150 books and articles, including Advanced Introduction to International Tax (Elgar, 2015), Global Perspectives on Income Taxation Law (Oxford University Press, 2011), and International Tax as International Law (Cambridge University Press, 2007).
Recently Taught Courses
• Advanced Topics in Int'l Tax
• Income Tax Treaties
• Int'l Trade & Tax Law
• International Tax
• Intro to US Tax Law
• SJD Research
• Taxation of Individual Income
• Curriculum Interest Areas
• Commercial Law
• Corporate Law and Practice
• Estate Planning
• Family Law
• International and Comparative Law
• Taxation

Herbert Bettinger Barrios

Dr. Herbert Bettinger Barrios obtained his Law Degree from the Universidad Anáhuac. Master in law by the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico, school of Law. Studies of specialization in public finance at UNAM; Specialized in “Amparo” Constitutional Litigation by the Supreme Court of Justice; International double taxation and integration Business by the University of Southern California and the International Tax Program from Harvard University.

Dr. Bettinger is the coordinator of the Graduate programs in Taxes on foreign trade and automated taxes at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo of Mexico (ITAM). He is the current Coordinator for ITAM and the diploma of Duke University for International tax.

Dr. Bettinger participated at Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público (SHCP) as Federal Fiscal Prosecutor. He advised the Government of Jalisco on municipal reforms. He was Staff Coordinator of Advisors to the federal government of Mexico to design the actual Servicio de Administración Tributaria (SAT). Currently he advices state governments on the creation and establishment of SAT operations.

Considered by the Ateneo National of Arts, Letters, science and technology as one of the best students in Mexico in the year of 1974. Award of public administration in 1986. He was managing partner of the legal services of Mancera, S.C., Member of Ernst & Young International. Considered the 2006 Tax Attorney of the year by Defensa Fiscal Magazine.

Hal Hicks

Mr. Hicks' practice focuses on a wide range of international tax issues for multinational corporations, partnerships and other entities involving both tax planning and tax controversy. Mr. Hicks has broad-based experience, particularly in the areas of international M&A, foreign tax credit, transfer pricing and subpart F. He is a highly recognized and frequent speaker and author.

Mr. Hicks repeatedly has been recognized as a leading tax adviser in Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Euromoney’s Guide to the World’s Leading Tax Advisers, The Best Lawyers in America (Tax Law and Tax Litigation and Controversy), Tax Directors Handbook, The International Who’s Who of Corporate Tax Lawyers, Who’s Who Legal: Corporate Tax, Who’s Who in American Law and in the international tax section of The Legal 500, among other publications. He also was included in Washingtonian Magazine’s 2017 Top Lawyers list. He is a fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel. Prior to coming to Skadden, Mr. Hicks served as the international tax counsel at the Department of Treasury from 2005-2007, and as associate chief counsel (international) in the Office of Chief Counsel at the IRS from 2003-2005. He is one of only two people to hold both top international positions at Treasury and Office of Chief Counsel.

In addition, Mr. Hicks has represented clients in audits, appeals and otherwise before the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of the Treasury.

As the international tax counsel at the Department of the Treasury, Mr. Hicks was the principal legal adviser to the secretary and the assistant secretary (tax policy) on all international tax matters. He oversaw the lawyers and economists working in the international tax area, including with respect to legislation, treasury regulations and other published guidance and treaties. Mr. Hicks led the U.S. delegation at the OECD and other international tax forums. As associate chief counsel (international), he supervised more than 120 international tax professionals, including those in the Advanced Pricing Agreement Program. His group was responsible for published guidance, TAMs, private rulings, closing agreements and APAs in all areas of international tax. Mr. Hicks also served as principal legal adviser on all international tax matters to IRS National Office, Field, Exam and Appeals. Mr. Hicks received both the Treasury Honor Award and the Chief Counsel Award for his government service.

Prior to his government service, Mr. Hicks had been in private practice for many years, representing clients in planning and controversy on both outbound and inbound matters, as well as on U.S. matters.

Honors

• Professor Richard Pugh Distinguished International Tax Award, University of San Diego School of Law – Procopio International Tax Institute (2014)
• U.S. Treasury Honor Award (2007)
• Chief Counsel Award (2005)
• Government Service

■ International Tax Counsel, Department of Treasury (2005-2007)
■ Associate Chief Counsel (International), Internal Revenue Service (2003-2005)

Lic. Armando Lara Yaffar

Higher Education
• Postgraduate in Finance from the Universidad Iberoamericana.
• Postgraduate in Taxation from the Universidad Panamericana.
• Law Degree from the Escuela Libre de Derecho.

2016 - Joins Chevez Ruiz Zamarripa as Partner.

Director General for International Treaties within the Underministry of Revenue, Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, Mexico.

Deputy Director General for Treaty Negotiations and Special Projects within the Underministry of Revenue.

Director of the Division of Legal International Procedure, Ministry of Finance and Public Credit.

Negotiation and renegotiation of the treaties to avoid double taxation and information exchange. Directly responsible for 42 of the 56 treaties.

Preparation of draft laws, regulations and tax rules regarding Income Tax, Federal Fiscal Code, and Business Flat Rate Tax.

Participation as a delegate of Mexico in the development of UN and OECD models to avoid double taxation and their respective commentaries.

Delegate of Mexico in WP6 while developing the OECD report focusing on the attribution of profits to permanent establishments, particularly in Chapter I.

Participation as a delegate of Mexico in the BEPS project and the Harmful Tax Practices.

As a delegate of Mexico in the development of the common reporting standard (CRS) on automatic exchange of information and FATCA negotiations.

Participation in various SAT (Tax Administration Service) committees regarding the most important issues in international affairs about audits or inquiries; in international technical groups on specific topics; and in working groups organized by the AMIB, CCE, "Grupo de los 6", among others.

Contribution in developing “amparo” reports about thin capitalization, preferential tax regimes and foreign pension funds.

Collaborator on NAFTA trade panel reports, and advisor to various areas of the federal government in fiscal matters.

Professional Associations
Chairman of the UN Committee of Experts in Tax Matters.

Vice-President of the OECD Committee on Fiscal Affairs.

Chairman of the OECD's Working Party No. 10 on Exchange of Information and Tax Compliance.

Member of OECD/G20 BEPS "Bureau Plus".

Has been included in 2013 and 2014 in International Tax Review's "Global Tax 50" as one of the 50 most influential people in the world in the field of taxation.

Professor David Rosenbloom

H. David Rosenbloom became the director of the International Tax Program in 2002. He is a member of Caplin & Drysdale, Chartered, a firm he rejoined in 1981 after serving as International Tax Counsel and Director, Office of International Tax Affairs, in the US Treasury Department from 1978 to 1981. He has also served as tax policy adviser for the US Treasury, the OECD, AID, and the World Bank in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Senegal, Malawi, and South Africa. Rosenbloom’s major areas of practice include international tax controversies, transfer pricing planning and disputes, advance pricing agreements, the foreign tax credit, tax treaties, financial products and financial institutions, and international aspects of corporate and individual tax planning. He is the author of numerous articles on international tax issues.

Publications

BOOKS

• Corporate Social Responsibility and the Institutional Investor; a Report to the Ford Foundation (New York, Praeger, 1973) (with Beth Longstreth)

ARTICLES

• "The Destination-Based Cash Flow Tax Is a VAT?," 154 Tax Notes 1425 (2017) (with Peter A. Barnes)
• "U.S. Corporate Reform and Wallace Stevens," 155 Tax Notes 693 (2017) (with Peter A. Barnes)
• "U.S. Corporate Tax Reform and Jean-Paul Sartre," 154 Tax Notes 873 (2017) (with Peter A. Barnes)
• "International Tax Policy: A View from the United States," 41 Austl. Tax Rev. 128 (2012) Abstract

Against the background of a dysfunctional political system and seriously dated international tax policies and processes, this article describes some of the major choices facing decision-makers and proposes specific steps toward an improved international tax system for the United States. Based on a lecture delivered in Melbourne in August 2011, the article is strongly influenced by the debt ceiling debate which was then reaching a frenzied crescendo in the United States. Although that particular crisis has since receded from the front pages, other senseless political debates have taken its place, leaving no greater reason for optimism than last year. The author offers his observations in the face of the prevailing winds, noting that "the Dark Ages did eventually give way to the Renaissance".

• "United States: The New US Foreign Tax Credit Rules," 66 Bull. for Int'l Tax'n 221 (2012) (with Neal Kochman)
• "From Arbitration to Zero Withholding: A Primer on the Canada-U.S. Treaty Protocol," 51 Tax Notes Int'l 603 (2008)
• "Cross-Border Arbitrage: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly," 85:3 Taxes 115 (2007)
• "Self-Initiated Transfer Pricing Adjustments: The Implications of Section 1.482-1(a)(3)," Tax Notes Int'l 1019 (2007)
• "The U.S. Approach to Transfer Pricing: Benchmarks and Hallmarks," 41 Tax Notes Int'l 341 (2006)
• "Angels on a Pin: Arm's Length in the World," 32 Tax Notes Int'l 523 (2005)
• "Thinking About Subpart F: The Domestic Base Company," 82 Taxes 153 (2004)

Dr. Manuel Hallivis Pelayo

Magistrate in the Superior Chamber of the Federal Administrative Court of Mexico, where he was President from 2014 to 2016. 43 years of public service mainly in tax and administrative matters. SJD (UNAM, Mexico), LLM (Tulane), MPA (The University of Michigan), Graduate program in the Institute of Fiscal Studies in the Tax Ministry of Spain. 37 years as professor in various universities as UNAM, UIA, UP, Salamanca, etc.

Author of 4 books: Interpretación de Tratados Internacionales Tributarios”, “Teoría General de la Interpretación”, “Fisco Federalismo y Globalización” y “Tratado de Derecho Fiscal y Administración Tributaria de México”. Coauthor in 46 books.

Multiple essays and publications. Various awards as First National Prize in Law, for his “licenciatura” Thesis, 2nd National Prize for his doctoral thesis; Gold Medal of Honor “José Sánchez Villaseñor” (UIA), “Venera Porte-Petit” (UNAM); “Miguel Villoro Toranzo Award (UIA); “Alfonso X el Sabio” Award (twice, UP); Judicial Distinction Award (Lawyers Day); Serra Rojas Award (Serra Rojas Institute); “Ojeda Paullada Medal” (Mexican Lawyers Association); “Constitutional Award” (INDEPAC), etc. World’s President (International Association of Supreme Administrative Jurisdictions); Member of the Board of the International Association of Tax Judges; President of the Tax Law Mexican Academy (2015-2017); Vicepresident (2011-2015); Vicepresident of the National Academy of Administrative Law.

Ms. Nina E. Olson, Esq.

U.S. Taxpayer Advocate Service

Ms. Olson is the voice of the taxpayer within the IRS and before Congress. She leads the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS), an independent organization inside the IRS that helps taxpayers resolve problems and works for systemic change to mitigate problems experienced by groups of taxpayers.

As the National Taxpayer Advocate, Olson was the only Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employee authorized to make legislative proposals directly to the  United States Congress. Twice a year, she identified the top problems taxpayers face to the IRS and Congress, and analyzed how the IRS can ameliorate those problems. "No one in the treasury department and no IRS employees, including the  Commissioner of Revenue  and anyone from the Office of Management and Budget, can see the report before I deliver it to Congress," Olson said, "I am truly an independent voice inside the IRS."

She has advocated for the rights of taxpayers and for greater fairness and less complexity in the tax system. In calling for fundamental reform in 2012, she wrote, “A simpler, more transparent tax code will substantially reduce the estimated 6.1 billion hours and $168 billion that taxpayers spend on return preparation” and “reduce the likelihood that sophisticated taxpayers can exploit arcane provisions to avoid paying their fair share of tax.” She was appointed to the position in 2001. Under her leadership, the NTA’s Annual Report to Congress has become an important vehicle for change.

In 2014, Olson predicted that the 2015 "filing season is going to be the worst filing season since I’ve been the National Taxpayer Advocate; I’d love to be proved wrong, but I think it will rival the 1985 filing season when returns disappeared." According to an article in January 2015 in  Politico, the annual report of the Taxpayer Advocate to Congress indicated that IRS service was deteriorating to unprecedented poor levels in all aspects of its work, mainly in pre-filing and filing activities and also in its enforcement activities. Congress removed 17 percent from the IRS budget since fiscal 2010 when adjusted for inflation while the agency was dealing with more tax returns than ever before. Each year, the IRS answers phone calls from about 100 million people. In 2015, the IRS was also implementing Obamacare.

Lic. Diana Bernal

Ms. Diana Bernal was Mexico’s Taxpayers advocate by designation of the Senate of the Republic. She has been a circuit Magistrate and District judge, as well as a magistrate of the Federal Court of Fiscal and Administrative justice and federal deputy. She was delegated of Iztacalco in the Federal district government headed by Mr. Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas. As a member of the LIX legislature, she was the author of the Federal Taxpayers Rights Act, and was actively involved in the adoption of the Organic Law of the Taxpayers’ defense attorney’s office.

Ms. Bernal graduated from Universidad Iberoamericana, where she obtained her Law degree. She now teaches in gender equity topics, at the degree level.

Nowadays, she coordinates a specialized group of experts (top level public servants, Congressmen, among others) on administrative and fiscal areas which main commitment is to enrich the Mexican tax system.[clarification needed] This group, whose name is Análisis Tributario Legislativo ATRIL (Tax - Legislative Analysis), is a kind of think tank especially focused on Taxation and Tax Administration reforms, as well as specific issues like taxpayers’ rights.[citation needed]