The 2007 IFS Residential Conference is an opportunity to join some of the world's leading experts in tax and public economics in an effort to identify the characteristics of a good tax system for any open modern economy and to generate practical proposals for the reform of the UK tax system.

The conference will be a key milestone in the Mirrlees Review, launched by the IFS in autumn 2006. This has been inspired by the approaching 30th anniversary of the 1978 Meade Report, a landmark in the study of tax design and perhaps the most influential output of the IFS to date. The new review will take account of changes in the goals of the tax system, the way in which it affects behaviour, and the increasingly globalised economic and institutional environment in which it has to operate. This will be an opportunity for officials, policy makers, academics, business people, tax practitioners and others to hear about and discuss the preliminary thinking of the Review - and help shape its development.

The Review is chaired by Nobel Laureate Professor Sir James Mirrlees of the University of Cambridge. A core editorial team which also includes Tim Besley (LSE, IFS and Bank of England), Richard Blundell (IFS and UCL), Malcolm Gammie QC (One Essex Court and IFS Tax Law Review Committee) and James Poterba (MIT and NBER) will prepare a final report of long-term interest and relevance to policymakers, academics and civil society, aimed primarily at the UK but also of lasting interest and relevance to other countries facing similar policy challenges. A wider group of more than 50 IFS researchers and leading experts from around the world will contribute chapters, commentaries and special studies on key themes of the research.

The Review and this forthcoming conference are funded by the ESRC and the Nuffield Foundation.

Areas of discussion will include:

Key participants will include:

• James Alt (Harvard University)

• Alan Auerbach (University of California Berkeley)

• Tim Besley (LSE, IFS and Bank of England)

• Richard Blundell (IFS and UCL)

• Michael Devereux (Oxford University and IFS)

• Peter Diamond (MIT)

• Judith Freedman (Oxford University and IFS)

• Malcolm Gammie QC (One Essex Court and IFS Tax Law Review Committee)

• Chris Heady (OECD)

• James Hines (University of Michigan)

• Sir James Mirrlees (University of Cambridge)

• James Poterba (MIT and NBER)

• Joel Slemrod (University of Michigan)

• Stephen Smith (UCL)

• Peter Birch Sorensen (University of Copenhagen)

• John Whiting (PriceWaterhouseCoopers and CIOT)

The conference will commence at 2pm on Thursday 12th April and will close at 4pm on Saturday 14th April. Formal sessions will be complemented by a drinks reception and conference dinner on Friday 13th April.

Academic / not for profit: A limited number of subsidised places are available for delegates from academic and not for profit organisations. The fee for IFS members is £350 + VAT (£411.25) and for non-IFS members is £400 + VAT (£470.00)

Delegate fees include:

• Ensuite accommodation at New Hall Cambridge on 12 and 13 April

• All meals

• Drinks reception

• Conference materials