Takeshi Fujitani
![[candidate photo]](picture.jpg)
S.J.D. Candidate
| Status: | Not In Residence |
| Email: | tfujitan@law.harvard.edu |
Dissertation
Does the Timing of Charity Matter? -- A Theoretical Reexamination of the U.S. Tax Policy for Endowed Nonprofit Organizations
It’s puzzling why we maintain income tax exemption for endowed nonprofits, the wealth accumulation of which even appears excessive. It becomes more perplexing when one sees that income tax exemptions hardly help small, financially troubled nonprofits (because they have no taxable income anyway). How should we make sense of this? One answer would be that charitable accumulation will be eventually spent out for the charitable goals to which the society has committed itself, thus concern over charitable wealth accumulation is pointless. However, tax-subsidized endowment accumulation often contradicts with fulfillment of current charitable needs. This dissertation focuses on this issue – “Timing of Charity.” It involves many issues such as intergenerational equity, efficiency on charitable resource allocation, and desirable level of autonomy and accountability of nonprofits vis-à-vis the public. Through introducing different perspectives into the field of tax law and policy, this dissertation will explore the tax policy implications with due consideration of the complexity of nonprofit sector.
Fields of Research and Supervisors
- Tax Law and Policy for Nonprofit Organizations, with Professor Daniel Halperin, Harvard Law School, Overall Faculty Supervisor
- Political and Social Theory of Civil Society, with Professor Martha L. Minow, Harvard Law School
- Economic Analysis of Nonprofit Firms, with Professor J. Mark Ramseyer, Harvard Law School
Additional Research Interests
- Taxation and Budget Process
- Economic Analysis of Organizations
- Political Theories on Associations
Education
- Harvard Law School, S.J.D. Candidate 2002-Present
- Harvard Law School, I.T.P. 2003
- Harvard Law School, LL.M. 2002
- University of Tokyo, Japan, LL.B. 1999
Appointments and Fellowships
- University of Hokkaido, Japan, 2004-present, Associate Professor of Law (on leave)
- University of Tokyo, Japan, 1999-2004, Research Associate
Additional Information
- Languages: English (fluent), Japanese (native), German (read)