Lawrence A. Zelenak | Scholars@Duke

Lawrence A. Zelenak
Pamela B. Gann Distinguished Professor of Law

Lawrence Zelenak teaches income tax, corporate tax, and a tax policy seminar. His publications include numerous articles on tax policy issues and a treatise on federal income taxation of individuals. His most recent book is Learning to Love Form 1040: Two Cheers for the Return-Based Mass Income Tax (University of Chicago Press, 2013).

Zelenak’s recent articles include “Choosing Between Tax and Nontax Delivery Mechanisms for Health Insurance Subsidies,” 65 Tax Law Review 723-747 (2012); “Custom and the Rule of Law in the Administration of the Income Tax,” 62 Duke Law Journal 829-855 (2012); “The Great American Tax Novel,” 110 Michigan Law Review 969-984 (2012) (reviewing David Foster Wallace, The Pale King (2011)); and “Tax Scholarship: Useful and Useless,” 130 Tax Notes 1337-1341 (2011).

Prior to joining Duke Law in 2003, Zelenak was a member of the Columbia Law School faculty. Earlier he was a faculty member at the University of North Carolina School of Law; professor in residence at the Office of the Chief Counsel, Internal Revenue Service, Washington, D.C.; an assistant professor at Lewis and Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon; and an associate with the firm of LeSourd and Patten in Seattle. He has also been a visiting professor at the University of Utah and Northwestern University schools of law.

Zelenak received his B.A., summa cum laude, from the University of Santa Clara, and his J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1979.

Current Appointments & Affiliations

Pamela B. Gann Distinguished Professor of Law, Law School, Duke University 2004
Professor of Law, Law School, Duke University 2003

Contact Information

Duke Law School 210 Science Dr, Duke Box 90362, Durham, NC 27708
Duke Law School Room 4185, Duke Box 90362, Durham, NC 27708
zelenak@law.duke.edu (919) 613-7267
See the Duke Law profile page
View this faculty member's publications on the Duke Law web site

Background
Education, Training, & Certifications
- J.D., Harvard University 1979
- B.A., Santa Clara University 1976
Recognition
In the News
- JUL 7, 2020 Forbes
  
  If Paying Your Taxes Was Like an Episode From 'The Honeymooners'
- APR 13, 2015 Bloomberg
  
  Lawrence Zelenak comments on proposed estate tax repeal
- APR 13, 2015 Bloomberg
  
  Lawrence Zelenak comments on proposed estate tax repeal
- DEC 3, 2014 OUPblog
  
  Lawrence Zelenak discusses IRS's ‘don't ask, don't tell policy’ regarding taxation of frequent-flyer miles
- DEC 3, 2014 OUPblog
  
  Lawrence Zelenak discusses IRS's ‘don't ask, don't tell policy’ regarding taxation of frequent-flyer miles
- SEP 4, 2014 Bloomberg News
  
  Lawrence Zelenak comments: No free lunch for companies as IRS weighs meal tax rules
- SEP 4, 2014 Bloomberg News
  
  Lawrence Zelenak comments: No free lunch for companies as IRS weighs meal tax rules
- MAR 21, 2014 Bloomberg News
  
  Lawrence Zelenak comments: Buffett cuts tax bill, tells others not to complain
- MAR 21, 2014 Bloomberg News
  
  Lawrence Zelenak comments: Buffett cuts tax bill, tells others not to complain
- APR 8, 2013
  
  News Tip: Tax Day Serves as 'Ceremony of Fiscal Citizenship'
Expertise
Global Scholarship
- Expertise
  - United States of America (Country)
Research
External Relationships
- LEG, Inc.
- Thomson Reuters
- West Academic Press
Publications & Artistic Works
Selected Publications
- Books
  - Zelenak, L., and A. Mehrotra. A Half-Century With the Internal Revenue Code: The Memoirs of Stanley S. Surrey. Carolina Academic Press, 2022.
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  - Zelenak, L. Figuring Out the Tax: Congress, Treasury, and the Design of the Early Modern Income Tax. Cambridge University Press, 2018.
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  - Zelenak, L., R. Schmalbeck, and S. Lawsky. Federal Income Taxation. Aspen Publishing, 2018.
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  - Zelenak, L., and M. Chirelstein. Federal Income Taxation: A Law Student's Guide to the Leading Cases and Concepts (Concepts and Insights Series). Foundation Press, 2018.
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  - Zelenak, L. Learning to Love Form 1040: Two Cheers for the Return-Based Mass Income Tax. University of Chicago Press, 2013.
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  - Zelenak, L. Federal Income Taxation of Individuals—Study Problems, 2003.
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  - Zelenak, L., B. Bittker, and M. McMahone Jr. Federal Income Taxation of Individuals, 2002.
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- Academic Articles
  - Zelenak, Lawrence A. “The Two "Two Americas" of Trump and Romney.” Law and Contemporary Problems 85, no. 3 (2022): 87–100.
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  - Zelenak, L. “The Deductibility of Capital Losses in a Mark-to-Market Regime.” Tax Notes Federal 172, no. 12 (2021): 1965–72.
  - Zelenak, L. “The American Families Plan and the Future of the Mass Income Tax.” Tax Notes Federal 172, no. 12 (2021): 1277–88.
  - Zelenak, L. “1924, 2021: Taxes of the Ultrarich, and Mark-to-Market Reforms.” Tax Notes Federal 172, no. 4 (2021): 583–92.
  - Zelenak, L. ““We Will See That You Are Troubled Right Along”: Women and the Politics of the Early Federal Income Tax.” Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy 27, no. 1 (2020): 279–95.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Giving Credits Where Credits Are (Arguably) Due: A Half Century's Evolution in the Design of Personal Tax Expenditures.” Florida Tax Review 24, no. 1 (2020): 51–150.
  - Zelenak, L. “Examining the Internal Revenue Code for Disparate Racial Impacts.” Tax Notes Federal 168, no. 10 (2020): 1807–21.
  - Zelenak, L. “Seven-Plus Decades of the Federal Income Tax in Sitcoms: An Update.” Tax Notes Federal 167, no. 7 (2020): 1211–15.
  - Zelenak, L. “Tax in History: The Federal Income Tax Goes to War.” Intertax 47, no. 8/9 (2019): 766–69.
  - Zelenak, L., and R. Schmalbeck. “The NCAA and the IRS: Life at the Intersection of College Sports and the Federal Income Tax.” Southern California Law Review 92, no. 5 (2019): 1087–1153.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Leaving it up to Treasury: Congressional Abdication on Major Policy Issues in the Early Years of the Income Tax.” Law and Contemporary Problems 81, no. 2 (2018): 137–65.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Comments on Proposed Regulations: 'Contributions in Exchange for State or Local Tax Credits' (Reg-112176-18) (In preparation),” 2018.
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  - Zelenak, L. “SALT Ceiling Workarounds and Tax Shelters.” Tax Notes 160, no. 4 (2018): 521–35.
  - Zelenak, L., and G. Yin. “Foreword: The Past, Present, and Future of the Federal Tax Legislative Process.” Law and Contemporary Problems 81, no. 2 (2018): 1–6.
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  - Zelenak, L. “The Body in Question: The Income Tax and Human Body Materials.” Law & Contemporary Problems 80 (2017): 37–82.
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  - Zelenak, L. “In Memoriam: Marvin and Zeno.” Tax Notes 149 (2015): 311–19.
  - Zelenak, L. “For Better and Worse: The Differing Income Tax Treatments of Marriage at Different Income Levels.” North Carolina Law Review 93 (2015): 783–820.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Tearing Out the Income Tax by the (Grass)Roots.” Florida Tax Review 15 (2014): 649–73.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Maybe Just a Little Bit Special, After All?” Duke Law Journal 63 (2014): 1897–1920.
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  - Zelenak, L. “The Almost-Restatement of Income Tax of 1954: When Tax Giants Roamed the Earth.” Brooklyn Law Review 79, no. 2 (2014): 709–32.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Will the Federal Income Tax Have a Bicentennial?” Florida State University Law Review 41 (2014): 275–90.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Up in the Air Over Taxing Frequent Flyer Benefits: The American, Canadian, and Australian Experiences.” Capital Markets Law Journal 9, no. 4 (2014): 420–46.
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  - Zelenak, L. “The Federal Income Tax in Situation Comedies.” Proceedings 104th Annual Conference on Taxation, 2013, 7–12.
  - Zelenak, L. “Choosing Between Tax and Nontax Delivery Mechanisms for Health Insurance Subsidies.” Tax Law Review 65 (2012): 723–47.
  - Zelenak, L. “The Great American Tax Novel.” Michigan Law Review 110 (2012): 969–84.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Custom and the Rule of Law in the Administration of the Income Tax.” Duke Law Journal 62 (2012): 829–55.
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  - Zelenak, L. “The Loophole that Would Not Die: A Case Study in the Difficulty of Greening the Internal Revenue Code.” Lewis & Clark Law Review 15 (2011): 469–81.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Tax Scholarship: Useful and Useless.” Tax Notes 130 (2011): 1337–41.
  - Zelenak, L. “Debt-Financed Consumption and a Hybrid Income-Consumption Tax.” Tax Law Review 64 (2010): 1–35.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Complex Tax Legislation in the Turbotax Era.” Columbia Journal of Tax Law 1 (2010): 91–119.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Of Punitive Damages, Tax Deductions, and Tax-aware Juries: A Response to Polsky and Markel.” Virginia Law Review in Brief 96 (2010): 61–68.
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  - Zelenak, L. “The Federal Retail Sales Tax that Wasn't: An Actual History and an Alternative History.” Law and Contemporary Problems 73 (2010): 149–205.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Foreword: The Fabulous Invalid Nears 100.” Law and Contemporary Problems 73 (2010): i–xvii.
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  - Zelenak, L., and M. Chirelstein. “Tax Increases, Revenue Effects, Efficiency, and Income Inequality.” Tax Notes 128 (2010): 197–204.
  - Zelenak, Lawrence. “Intergenerational Justice.” Ethical Perspectives 17, no. 2 (2010): 358–59.
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  - Zelenak, L. “The Conscientious Legislator and Public Opinion on Taxes.” Loyola University of Chicago Law Journal 40 (2009): 369–83.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Can Obama's IRS Retroactively Revoke Massive Bank Giveaway?” Tax Notes 122 (2009): 889–93.
  - Zelenak, L. “Tax Expenditures and the Carbon Audit.” Tax Notes 122 (2009): 1367–76.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Tax Policy and Personal Identity Over Time.” Tax Law Review 62 (2009): 333–75.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Tax Enforcement for Gamers: High Penalties or Strict Disclosure Rules?” Columbia Law Review Sidebar 109 (2009): 55.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Cancellation-of-Indebtedness Income and Transactional Accounting.” Virginia Tax Review 29 (2009): 277.
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  - Zelenak, L. “The Court and the Code: A Response to 'The Warp and Woof of Statutory Interpretation'.” Duke Law Journal 58 (2009): 1783–89.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Does Intergenerational Justice Require Rising Standards of Living?” George Washington Law Review 77 (2009): 1358–82.
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  - Zelenak, L., and C. Johnson. “Codification of General Disallowance of Artificial Losses.” Tax Notes 122 (2009): 1389–92.
  - Zelenak, L. “Justice Holmes, Ralph Kramden, and the Civic Virtues of a Tax Return Filing Requirement.” Tax Law Review 61 (2007): 53–88.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Six Decades of the Federal Income Tax in Sitcoms.” Tax Notes 117 (2007): 1265–88.
  - Zelenak, L. “The Theory and Practice of Tax Reform.” Michigan Law Review 105 (2007): 1133–49.
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  - Zelenak, L. “The Sometimes-Taxation of the Returns to Risk-Bearing Under a Progressive Income Tax.” Smu Law Review 59 (2006): 879–915.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Taxing Endowment.” Duke Law Journal 55 (2006): 1145–81.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Of Head Taxes, Income Taxes, and Distributive Justice in American Health Care.” Law and Contemporary Problems 69 (2006): 103–20.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Of Prius Buyers, Blue States, Consumer Energy Credits, and the Alternative Minimum Tax.” Tax Notes 109 (2005): 657–62.
  - Zelenak, L. “Tax or Welfare? The Administration of the Earned Income Credit.” Ucla Law Review 52 (2005): 1867–1916.
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  - Zelenak, L., and M. Chirelstein. “Tax Shelters and the Search For the Silver Bullet.” Columbia Law Review 105 (2005): 1939–66.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Framing the Distributional Effects of the Bush Tax Cuts.” Tax Notes 105 (2004): 83–95.
  - Zelenak, L. “Redesigning the Earned Income Tax Credit as a Family-Size Adjustment to the Minimum Wage.” Tax Law Review 57 (2004): 301–53.
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  - Zelenak, L. “The Myth of Pretax Income.” Michigan Law Review 101 (2003): 2261–74.
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  - Zelenak, L. “The Income Tax and the Costs of Earning a Living.” Tax Law Review 56 (2002): 39–79.
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  - Zelenak, L., B. Bittker, and M. McMahon Jr. “Capitalization of Benefits Beyond the Tax Year.” Tax Notes 97 (2002): 257–64.
  - Zelenak, L., B. Bittker, and M. McMahon Jr. “A Whirlwind Tour of the Internal Reveune Code's At-Risk and Passive Activity Loss Rules.” Real Property, Probate & Trust Journal 36 (2002): 673–730.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Codifying Anti-avoidance Doctrines and Controlling Corporate Tax Shelters.” Smu Law Review 54 (2001): 177–93.
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  - Zelenak, L. “A Health Insurance Tax Credit for Uninsured Workers.” Inquiry 38 (2001): 106–20.
  - Zelenak, L. “Doing Something about Marriage Penalties: a Guide for the Perplexed.” Tax Law Review 54 (2000): 1–76.
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  - Zelenak, L. “The Puzzling Case of the Revenue-maximizing Lottery.” North Carolina Law Review 79 (2000): 1–43.
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  - Zelenak, L. “The Selling of the Flat Tax: the Dubious Link Between Rate and Base.” Tax Notes 85 (1999): 1177–95.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Radical Tax Reform, the Constitution, and the Conscientious Legislator.” Columbia Law Review 99 (1999): 833–55.
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  - Zelenak, L., and K. Moreland. “Can the Graduated Income Tax Survive Optimal Tax Analysis?” Tax Law Review 53 (1999): 51–93.
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  - Zelenak, L., and M. McMahon Jr. “Taxing Baseballs and Other Found Property.” Tax Notes 84 (1999): 1299–1308.
  - Zelenak, L. “Feminism and "Safe Subjects Like the Tax Code".” Southern California Review of Law & Women’S Studies 6 (1998): 323–27.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Taking Critical Tax Theory Seriously.” North Carolina Law Review 76 (1998): 1521–80.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Children and the Income Tax.” Tax Law Review 49 (1997): 349–418.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Do Anti-Tax Shelter Rules Make Sense? A Reply to Professor Johnson.” Texas Law Review 68 (1997): 491–507.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Thinking about Nonliteral Interpretations of the Internal Revenue Code.” North Carolina Law Review 64 (1997): 623–76.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Tax and the Married Woman.” Southern California Law Review 70 (1997): 1021–48.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Taxing women - McCaffery,EJ.” Southern California Law Review 70, no. 4 (1997): 1021–48.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Commentary: the Reasons for a Consumption Tax and the Tax Treatment of Gifts and Bequests.” Tax Law Review 51 (1996): 601–13.
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  - Zelenak, L. “I Can Sit on It, but Is it Art?” Tax Notes 70 (1996): 99–103.
  - Zelenak, L. “Flat Tax vs. VAT: Progressivity and Family Allowances.” Tax Notes 68 (1995): 1129–34.
  - Zelenak, L. “The Reification of Metaphor: Income Taxes, Consumption Taxes and Human Capital.” Tax Law Review 51 (1995): 1–34.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Marriage and the Income Tax.” Southern California Law Review 67 (1994): 339–405.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Taxing Gains at Death.” Tax Notes 59 (1993): 287–89.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Does Treasury Have Authority to Index Basis for Inflation?” Tax Notes 55 (1992): 841–45.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Reforming Penalty Reform: Congress Should Eliminate the Profusion of Accuracy Standards.” Tax Notes 52 (1991): 471–77.
  - Zelenak, L. “The Taxation of Tax Indemnity Payments: Recovery of Capital and the Contours of Gross Income.” Tax Law Review 46 (1991): 381–403.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Are Rifle Shot Transition Rules and Other Ad Hoc Tax Legislation Constitutional.” Tax Law Review 44 (1989): 563–625.
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  - Zelenak, L. “When Good Preferences Go Bad: A Critical Analysis of the Anti-Tax Shelter Provisions of the Tax Reform Act of 1986.” Texas Law Review 67 (1989): 499–589.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Should Courts Require the Internal Revenue Service to be Consistent?” Tax Law Review 40 (1985): 411–48.
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  - Zelenak, L., and M. Emory. “The Tax Exempt Status of Communitarian Religious Organizations: An Unnecessary Controversy?” Fordham Law Review 50 (1985): 1085–1112.
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  - Zelenak, L. “Serving Two Masters: Commercial Hues and Tax Exempt Organizations.” University of Puget Sound Law Review 8 (1984): 1–23.
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- Book Sections
  - Zelenak, L. “The Declining Progressivity of the Federal Income Tax.” In Law and Class in America: Trends Since the Cold War, 163–90, 2006.
  - Zelenak, L. “The Story of Seagram: The Step Transaction Doctrine on the Rocks.” In Business Tax Stories, 263–93, 2005.
- Other Articles
  - Zelenak, L. “SALT Ceiling Workarounds and Tax Shelters, Revisited,” 2018.
  - Zelenak, L. “When We Loved Form 1040.” New York Times, 2013.
  - Zelenak, L. “U.S. Income Tax -- 100 Years Old, and Almost Never Happened.” The Globe and Mail, 2013.
  - Zelenak, L. “How Congress Could Have Spared Us Tax-Day Headaches.” Bloombergview, 2013.
Teaching & Mentoring
Recent Courses
- LAW 326: Corporate Taxation 2023
- LAW 561: Tax Policy 2023
- LAW 255: Federal Income Taxation 2022
- LAW 326: Corporate Taxation 2022
- LAW 561: Tax Policy 2022
- LAW 640: Independent Research 2022
- LAW 255: Federal Income Taxation 2021
- LAW 326: Corporate Taxation 2021
- LAW 561: Tax Policy 2021
- LAW 640: Independent Research 2021

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Education, Training, & Certifications

In the News

Global Scholarship

Expertise

External Relationships

Selected Publications

Books

Academic Articles

Book Sections

Other Articles

Recent Courses