Faculty: Kirk Paxson

Kirk Paxson

Kirk Paxson is the Deputy Division Counsel Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division Counsel (TEGEDC) for the Internal Revenue Service’s Office of Chief Counsel. He supervises the IRS Counsel Attorneys responsible for advising the IRS in the areas of Employee Plans (including Executive Compensation and Health and Welfare), Exempt Organizations, Tax Exempt Bonds, Indian Tribal Governments and Federal, State and Local Government issues. In addition, TEGEDC attorneys advise the IRS on employment tax issues, including worker classification. Since joining Chief Counsel in 1995, Mr. Paxson has taught numerous Continuing Professional Education courses to IRS lawyers and accountants.

In addition to his position with Chief Counsel, Mr. Paxson was the Director of Golden Gate University’s School of Taxation for Southern California from 2000-2012, and the Core Adjunct for Southern California through 2017.  He has been an Adjunct Professor for Golden Gate University’s School of Taxation since September 1997.  He taught Tax Research and Decision Making from 1997 through 2014.  He has taught and teaches Federal Tax Procedure at the Los Angeles and San Francisco Campus through the present.  In 2001 and again in 2015 Mr. Paxson received Golden Gate’s Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Award for teaching.   

Prior to joining Golden Gate University's School of Taxation, Mr. Paxson was an Adjunct Professor of Law for Golden Gate University's LL.M. (Tax) program in San Francisco. There, he taught Comparative Tax Systems and Tax Research and Decision Making.  

Mr. Paxson has an LL.M. (Taxation) from Golden Gate University School of Law, a J.D. from Seattle University School of Law, and a B.A. from Stanford University.