
Steven Dean
Professor of Law
Paul Siskind Research Scholar
BA, Williams College
JD, Yale Law School
Biography
Steven Dean is internationally recognized for his work on the political economy of taxation, philanthropy, and social enterprise. He has published several books, including the award-winning For-Profit Philanthropy: Elite Power and the Threat of Limited Liability Companies, Donor-Advised Funds, and Strategic Corporate Giving (Oxford 2023), coauthored with Dana Brakman Reiser. He has also published articles in a variety of traditional and popular venues, including the NYU Law Review and The Nation.
In addition to his work as a scholar, Dean has been outspoken about the impact of bias in tax law. He has spoken at the United Nations about the impact of anti-Black racism on global tax policy and testified before the US House Ways and Means Committee about the shortcomings of race-blind domestic tax rules. Dean’s interventions prompted President Biden to pivot his messaging about tax havens and forced the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to change the marketing materials for its two-pillar proposal for global tax reform.
His current book project, Global Jim Crow: Taxation and Racial Capitalism (forthcoming with Oxford), explores the impact of Africa’s decolonization on the trajectory of the global tax regime. Dean has also published Social Enterprise Law: Trust, Public Benefit, and Capital Markets (Oxford 2017) with Dana Brakman Reiser; Social Enterprise Law: A Multijurisdictional Comparative Review (Intersentia 2023) with Dana Brakman Reiser and Giedre Lideikyte Huber; and Federal Taxation of Corporations and Corporate Transactions (Aspen 2018) with Brad Borden.
Dean serves on the steering committee of BU’s Global Development Policy Center and is a core Faculty member of its the Global Economic Governance Initiative. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute. While on the faculty at Brooklyn Law School, he served as vice dean. Dean also led NYU Law School’s Graduate Tax Program, serving as faculty director while a visiting professor.
Dean has served as a member of the executive committee of the New York State Bar Association Tax Section, the board of directors of the National Tax Association and the American Tax Policy Institute, and the board of regents of the American College of Tax Counsel and the Tax Notes Federal Advisory Board. He has worked as a consultant to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and served as a general rapporteur for the International Academy of Comparative Law.
Dean created and hosted two seasons of The Tax Maven, a podcast featuring influential tax law experts discussing their scholarship and answering questions about tax.
Dean practiced tax law at Debevoise & Plimpton and Cravath, Swaine & Moore. Before attending law school, he worked at KPMG. Dean is a graduate of Yale Law School and Williams College, and also studied at the University of Trier in Germany. Dean spent his childhood in Nassau, Bahamas.
- Profile Types
- Faculty, Full-Time Faculty, and Tax Law Professors
Publications
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Dana Brakman Reiser, Steven Dean & Giedre Lideikyte Huber, Social Enterprise Law: A Multijurisdictional Comparative Review (2023)
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Dana Brakman Reiser & Steven Dean, For-Profit Philanthropy: Elite Power and the Threat of Limited Liability Companies, Donor-Advised Funds, and Strategic Corporate Giving (2023)
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Steven Dean, Surrey's Silence: Subpart F and the Swiss Subsidiary Tax that Never Was 86 Law and Contemporary Problems (2023)
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Steven Dean, Filing While Black: The Casual Racism of the Tax Law 2022 Utah Law Review (2022)
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Steven Dean, Beyond the "Made in America Tax Plan": GILTI and International Tax Cooperation's next Golden Age 18 Pittsburgh Tax Review (2021)
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Steven Dean, A Constitutional Moment in Cross-Border Taxation 1 Journal on Financing for Development (2021)
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Steven Dean, Predatory Cooperation: Reaction to L. Ahrens, L. Hakelberg & T. Rixen 49 Intertax (2021)
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Steven Dean & Dana Brakman Reiser, Chapter 27: Trust and For-Profit Philanthropy: from Surrey’s Private Foundation to Zuckerberg’s Limited Liability Company, in The Routledge Handbook of Taxation and Philanthropy (Henry Peter and Giedre Lideikyte Huber,2021)
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Steven Dean & Attiya Waris, Ten Truths about Tax Havens: Inclusion and the "Liberia" Problem 70 Emory Law Journal (2021)
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Steven Dean, Lawrence M. Solan & Lukasz Stankiewicz, Text, Intent and Taxation in the United States, the United Kingdom and France The Routledge Companion to Tax Avoidance Research (2020)
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Steven Dean, FATCA, the U.S. Congressional Black Caucus, and the OECD Blacklist Tax Notes International (2020)
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Steven Dean & Dana Brakman Reiser, The Social Enterprise Life Cycle, in The Cambridge Handbook of Social Enterprise Law (Benjamin Means and Joseph W. Yockey,2018)
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Dana Brakman Reiser & Steven Dean, Social Enterprise Law: Trust, Public Benefit and Capital Markets (2017)
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Steven Dean & Bradley Borden, Federal Taxation of Corporations and Corporate Transactions (2017)
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Dana Brakman Reiser & Steven Dean, Financing the Benefit Corporation 40 Seattle University Law Review (2017)
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Steven Dean & Rebecca M. Kysar, Reconsidering the Tax Treaty 41 Brooklyn Journal of International Law (2016)
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Dana Brakman Reiser & Steven Dean, SE(c)(3): A Catalyst for Social Enterprise Crowdfunding 90 Indiana Law Journal (2015)
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Dana Brakman Reiser & Steven Dean, Creative Financing for Social Enterprise 12 Stanford Social Innovation Review (2014)
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Steven Dean, Space Madness: Subsidies and Economic Substance 99 Cornell Law Review Online (2014)
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Dana Brakman Reiser & Steven Dean, Hunting Stag with Fly Paper: A Hybrid Financial Instrument for Social Enterprise 54 Boston College Law Review (2013)
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Steven Dean, The Tax Expenditure Budget Is a Zombie Accountant 46 U.C. Davis Law Review (2012)
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Steven Dean, Neither Rules Nor Standards 87 Notre Dame Law Review (2011)
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Steven Dean, Tax Deregulation 86 NYU Law Review (2011)
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Steven Dean, More Cooperation, Less Uniformity: Tax Deharmonization and the Future of the International Tax Regime 84 Tulane Law Review (2009)
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Steven Dean, The Incomplete Global Market for Tax Information 49 Boston College Law Review (2008)
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Allison Christians, Steven Dean, Diane Ring & Adam H. Rosenzweig, Taxation as a Global Socio-Legal Phenomenon 14 ILSA Journal of International and Comparative Law (2008)
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Steven Dean, Philosopher Kings and International Tax: A New Approach to Tax Havens, Tax Flight, and International Tax Cooperation 58 Hastings Law Journal (2007)
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Steven Dean & Lawrence M. Solan, Tax Shelters and the Code: Navigating between Text and Intent 26 Virginia Tax Review (2007)
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Steven Dean, Attractive Complexity: Tax Deregulation, the Check-the-Box Election, and the Future of Tax Simplification 34 Hofstra Law Review (2005)
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In the Media
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gbh April 15, 2025
“It’s a Hot Mess”: Michelle Singletary on Tariffs, Jobs and What’s Next
Steven Dean is interviewed.
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TaxProf Blog January 14, 2025
2025 Tax Prof Rankings: Google Scholar H-Index All
David Walker and Steven Dean are mentioned.
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Tax Notes December 16, 2024
Person of the Year: Dorothy Brown, Champion for Change
Steven Dean is quoted.
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TaxProf Blog December 2, 2024
Tax Panel at the United Nations on Global Tax Reform to Produce Financing for Development
Steven Dean is mentioned.
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Tax Justice Network November 21, 2024
Joint statement: It’s time for the OECD to walk the talk on human rights
Steven Dean is a signatory.
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Tax Class October 28, 2024
Steven Dean on Business Deductions and Racial Disparities
Steven Dean is interviewed.
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September 10, 2024
Meet the 2024 GDP Center Faculty Steering Committee
Steven Dean is mentioned.
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ARNOVA August 23, 2024
2024 Award Recipients
Steven Dean is mentioned.
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Diverse Education July 24, 2024
The Law School Hiring Market Undervalues Women, Minorities
Steven Dean pens an opinion.
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Tax Justice Network June 24, 2024
G20 Blueprint Adds to Growing Wealth Tax Momentum
Steven Dean's research is featured.
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TaxProf Blog June 12, 2024
Law, Society, and Taxation Panels
Steven Dean is featured.
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Tax Justice May 28, 2024
Litany of Failure: New Briefing Sets Out OECD’s Manifold Shortcomings in International Tax Talks
Steven Dean is featured.
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Tax Policy Center April 8, 2024
Running Up That Hill
Steven Dean is featured.
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Tax Policy Center April 1, 2024
Expanded Sharing, Tough Tariff Talk, and Settling
Steven Dean is featured.
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Tax Policy Center March 20, 2024
Crossing the T’s, Dotting the I’s
Steven Dean is featured.
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Stories from The Record
Activities & Engagements
No upcoming activities or engagements.