The following faculty are available to comment to the media as tax deadlines approach in April.

Financial reporting 

Michelle Yetman, associate professor of management in the UC Davis Graduate School of Management, researches financial reporting quality, governance and taxation with a special interest in the nonprofit setting. Her research has been published in the Journal of Accounting Research, The Accounting Review, National Tax Journal, Management Science, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, and the Journal of Accounting and Public Policy. She teaches the core MBA course in financial accounting, as well as an accounting for nonfinancial managers course in the UC Davis Wine Executive Program. She is a certified public accountant in Texas. Contact: Michelle Yetman, (530) 754-7808, mhyetman@ucdavis.edu.

Tax law and policy

Dennis J. Ventry Jr. is a professor at UC Davis School of Law. He is an expert in tax policy, tax expenditure analysis, tax administration and compliance, legal and professional ethics, and U.S. economic and legal history. He is regularly cited in both the tax press and popular media for his expertise on the effects of taxation on the U.S. economy and society. His articles include: “Misinformed and Misled About the Benefits of the Mortgage Interest Deduction,” in Cityscape (2014); “The Fake Third Rail of Tax Reform,” in Tax Notes (2012); and “Americans Don’t Hate Taxes, They Hate Paying Taxes,” in U.B.C. L. Rev. (2011). Contact: Dennis J. Ventry, (530) 752-4566, djventry@ucdavis.edu.

Darien Shanske is a professor at UC Davis School of Law. He is an expert in tax policy, and in particular, state and local tax policy. He has written numerous articles in the field, including pieces on the state corporate income tax and the property tax. Shanske is also a co-author of a commentary on the California Constitution and was responsible for the sections relating to taxation and public finance, including those sections added by Proposition 13 and related initiatives. Shanske has expertise in connection with the law governing interstate taxation, and can speak to recent and upcoming U.S. Supreme Court cases regarding interstate taxation. In California, Shanske is also knowledgeable about Sen. Robert Hertzberg’s recent tax proposal (SB 8). Contact: Darien Shanske, School of Law, (530) 752-5860, dshanske@ucdavis.edu (e-mail preferred).

Response of nonprofit organizations to economic incentives

Robert Yetman, professor of management at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management, is an expert on corporate tax, financial accounting, income tax, U.S. and international financial accounting, and nonprofit accounting and tax issues. His research concentrates on the effect of taxes on business decisions and the response of nonprofit organizations to economic incentives. Yetman recently examined why some tax-exempt charities choose to be taxed on their unrelated business income, and how such behavior is not always driven by the desire to maximize profits. He has lectured on cost accounting at executive education programs for wine industry professionals. Contact: Robert Yetman, (530) 752-3571, rjyetman@ucdavis.edu.