Leslie Book
The John H. Buhsmer Esq. '84 Endowed Professor of Law
Biography
Leslie Book is Villanova Law's inaugural John H. Buhsmer Esq. '84 Endowed Professor of Law. While at Villanova, he has served as director of the Federal Tax Clinic, director of the Graduate Tax Program and director of the Online Graduate Tax Program. He also served as a Professor in Residence with the IRS, Taxpayer Advocate Service in 2019.
Book is a national authority on tax procedure and tax administration. He is the successor author for the Thomson Reuters treatise IRS Practice and Procedure and the cofounder and one of the primary bloggers at Procedurally Taxing. He has written numerous law review articles and three research reports submitted to Congress on behalf of the Taxpayer Advocate Service, including a 2019 report containing a series of proposals to improve the administration and delivery of refundable credits.
Book has testified before Congress on the fair administration of our nation’s tax laws and on the future of tax administration. In 2007 he won the ABA Tax Section Janet Spragens Pro Bono Award, and Book continues to directly assist low income and underrepresented taxpayers through pro bono litigation. In 2018 he was the inaugural winner of the Diane Ambler Award for faculty curricular innovation for his work in creating the Villanova Online Graduate Tax Program with his colleague Joy Mullane. In 2021, Book won the Diane Ambler Faculty Scholarship Impact Award for scholarship that has had a significant impact on the law, the academy, the legal profession or policy debates
Book is a fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel, a member of the governing Council of the American Bar Association Section of Taxation, and a founding Board Member at the Center for Taxpayer Rights
Book received his BA from Franklin & Marshall College (magna cum laude), his JD from Stanford University School of Law, and his LLM (Taxation) from New York University School of Law. At Stanford Law School, he was a founding editor of the Stanford Law & Policy Review, and at New York University School of Law he was a student-editor at the Tax Law Review.
Practice Experience
- Member of Pennsylvania Bar
- Davis Polk & Wardwell, Associate, London and New York
- Baker & McKenzie, Associate, New York
Recent Publications
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Squeezing Blood from Stones: A Comparative Analysis of Tax Relief for Victim-Survivors Of Economic Abuse In Australia And The United States, Article, Australian Tax Forum, June 2024
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D.C. Circuit Reverses the Tax Court in Farhy , Blog Post, Procedurally Taxing, May 2024
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Challenges to IRS Compliance with APA’s Rulemaking Requirements, in Saltzman and Book, Book Chapter, Thomson Reuters, May 2024
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D.C. Circuit Affirms Tax Court in Lamprecht v. Commissioner, Blog Post, Procedurally Taxing, May 2024
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Case Highlights How TCJA Compounds Misery for Scam Victims, Blog Post, Procedurally Taxing, May 2024
Recent Presentations
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'9th International Conference on Taxpayer Rights', Impact of Digitalisation on the Right to Fair Treatment of the Taxpayer, Center for Taxpayer Rights, Antwerp, Belgium. June 2024
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'Race and Tax Administration', Racial Disparity in Tax Administration Beyond Audits , Center for Taxpayer Rights, Washington DC. May 2024
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'Race and Tax Administration', Racialized Burdens Within Organizations: What are they, why does it matter, and how can they be alleviated , Center for Taxpayer Rights, Washington DC. April 2024
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'Transforming Tax Administration: Toward an Effective, Inclusive & Trusted IRS ', Public Engagement in Rulemaking, Center for Taxpayer Rights, Washington DC. September 2023
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'ABA Tax Section May Meeting', IRS Multi-year Ban Authority For Refundable Credits , ABA Tax Section, Washington DC. May 2023
Office: Rm 226, John F. Scarpa Hall
Phone: 610-519-6416
Fax: 610-519-6837
Courses and Seminars
- Introduction to Federal income Tax
- Taxation of Corporations and Shareholders
- Tax Policy
- Professional Practice and Tax Procedure (Graduate Tax Program)
Education
- Franklin & Marshall College, BA (magna cum laude)
- Stanford University School of Law, JD
- New York University School of Law, LLM (Taxation)