The Tax Foundation will today present its Distinguished Service Awards to Eric Solomon, who served in the U.S. Treasury Department as Assistant Secretary (Tax Policy) from December 2006 to January 2009, and John Samuels, former Treasury Department Deputy Tax Legislative Counsel and Tax Legislative Counsel from 1976-1981.
The awards will be presented at the Tax Foundation’s Annual Dinner celebrating the 72nd anniversary of its founding on Thursday, November 19, 2009, at the Four Seasons Hotel, 2800 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC. The reception begins at 6 p.m., and dinner starts at 7 p.m.
Solomon has more than 30 years of tax experience in private practice and government service. As a principal in [private] Ernst & Young LLP’s National Tax Department in Washington, DC, he advises clients on a wide range of transactional and tax policy issues. Solomon joined the Office of Tax Policy in 1999 and served as Senior Advisor for Policy, Deputy Assistant Secretary (Tax Policy) and Deputy Assistant Secretary (Regulatory Affairs) prior to his confirmation as Assistant Secretary. In recognition of his accomplishments as a Treasury executive, Solomon received the Distinguished Executive Presidential Rank Award, as well as the Alexander Hamilton Award, the highest award for service to the Treasury Department. He previously served as Assistant Chief Counsel (Corporate) at the IRS, heading the IRS legal division responsible for all corporate tax issues. Prior to his service and the U.S. Treasury Department, Solomon was a principal in Ernst & Young LLP’s National Tax Mergers and Acquisitions Group in Washington, DC. Prior to his service at the IRS, he was a partner in the law firm of Drinker, Biddle & Reath in Philadelphia. He is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, where he teaches a course in corporate taxation. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel.
As Vice President and Senior Tax Counsel for GE, Samuels is responsible for GE’s worldwide tax organization and for the company’s global tax planning, tax policy, and tax compliance operations. Samuels joined GE in 1988, and over the past 20 years has helped build GE’s widely respected global tax organization, which now has almost 1,000 tax experts located in more than 20 countries around the world. He is a member of GE’s Corporate Executive Council, the GE Capital Corporation Board of Directors and the GE Pension Board. He is Chairman of the International Tax Policy Forum, a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel, and a member of the University of Chicago Law School Visiting Committee. In recognition of his role in formulating U.S. tax policy while at the Treasury Department, Samuels received the Exceptional Service Award. Prior to joining GE, Samuels was a partner in the law firm of Dewey, Ballantine in Washington, D.C. and New York City. Samuels is currently a Visiting Lecturer at Yale Law School, where he teaches courses in international taxation.
“Eric and John are two of the most respected individuals in the tax profession today and have made a lasting impact in the field of tax policy,” Tax Foundation President Scott Hodge said. “While at Treasury, Eric was a stalwart defender of sound tax policy and worked tirelessly to make the U.S. more competitive in the global economy. With his reputation for fairness and integrity, Eric earned the respect of everyone in the tax community on both sides of the aisle.”
“John’s leadership in facilitating a rational debate on international tax policy is without peer,” Hodge continued. “Through his work with the International Tax Policy Forum in particular, John has fostered a body of economic research that continues to shape our understanding of how tax policy affects global business, economies, and living standards.”[/private]
The Tax Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that has monitored fiscal policy at the federal, state and local levels since 1937.
David A. Lifson is the recipient of the 2009 Arthur J. Dixon Memorial Award, the highest award given by the accounting profession in the area of taxation. The award, given by the Tax Division of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, was presented at the AICPA’s Fall Tax Division Meeting in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 28 by Alan R. Einhorn, chairman of the AICPA Tax Executive Committee.
Lifson has dedicated his career to tax planning, management and business advisory services for small and medium sized businesses and for high net worth individuals. Lifson was co-managing partner of [private]Hays & Company LLP for nearly 30 years, until the firm joined Crowe Horwath LLP earlier this year.
Lifson has been a dedicated volunteer leader for the AICPA for almost 20 years. He is a former chairman of the AICPA Tax Executive Committee, a former member of the AICPA’s board of directors and is currently serving his third term as a member of the AICPA Council. He served as chairman of the AICPA’s Individual Tax Committee, as well as four tax task forces that dealt with such issues as tax shelters and independent contractors and on the Editorial Advisory Board of The Tax Adviser. Lifson has served on numerous other AICPA Tax Division task forces and committees.
He is a current member of the Internal Revenue Service’s Advisory Council and recently completed a term as president of the New York State Society of CPAs.
Lifson is an author and frequent lecturer, speaker, panelist and media commentator on various tax and business topics.
He resides in New York City with his wife and two sons.
The annual award is in honor of Arthur J. Dixon, a CPA who had an outstanding record of service to the tax profession and to the AICPA Tax Division. Dixon was chairman of the AICPA’s Tax Executive Committee from 1977 to 1980 and posthumously won the first award named in his honor. The award was established after his death in 1981 to honor outstanding CPAs in the area of taxes.[/private]
The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (www.aicpa.org) is the national, professional association of CPAs, with more than 360,000 members, including CPAs in business and industry, public practice, government, and education. It sets ethical standards for the profession and U.S. auditing standards for audits of private companies; federal, state and local governments; and not-for-profit organizations. It develops and grades the Uniform CPA Examination.
CHS, a leading energy, grains and foods company, has announced that it has named[private] Josh Blaisdell to the
newly created position of vice president, Corporate Compliance.
“At CHS, stewardship is one of our core values. That means not only giving
back our time, talents and resources, but making certain we operate all of our
businesses with the utmost commitment to the environment, health and safety;
and in compliance with the laws and regulations under which CHS operates,”
said John Johnson, CHS president and chief executive officer. “This new
position consolidates our current efforts under a single leader who can take
our solid record of performance to new levels.”
Blaisdell will lead overall CHS domestic and international compliance and
audit programs, heading a team that includes CHS environmental, health and
safety, business continuity/disaster recovery and internal audit functions.
He will be responsible for corporate compliance and results including
government rules/regulations and development of company policies and
procedures, as well as implementation and maintenance of state-of-the-art
compliance programs, policies and procedures. In addition, his team will be
responsible for audit, training and related activities that promote legal and
ethical conduct. Blaisdell will report to David Kastelic, senior vice
president of the new CHS Legal and Compliance Department, effective Jan. 1,
2010.
Blaisdell joined CHS in 1990 and has served as tax director since 1995, with
responsibility for all domestic and international tax-related matters. He
also led the implementation of CHS company-wide Sarbanes-Oxley compliance
program and had responsibility for its ongoing management. He previously
worked for Dyco Petroleum, Minneapolis; served as a tax accountant and was a
commissioned officer in the U.S. Army. Blaisdell holds a juris doctor degree
from the University of Idaho and a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting
from the University of North Dakota. He is an active member of the National
Society of Accountants for Cooperatives and the Legal, Tax and Accounting
Committee of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives.[/private]
CHS Inc. (www.chsinc.com) is a diversified energy, grains and foods company
committed to providing the essential resources that enrich lives around the
world. A Fortune 200 company, CHS is owned by farmers, ranchers and
cooperatives, along with thousands of preferred stockholders across the United
States. CHS supplies energy, crop nutrients, grain, livestock feed, food and
food ingredients, along with business solutions including insurance, financial
and risk management services. The company operates petroleum
refineries/pipelines and manufactures, markets and distributes Cenex® brand
refined fuels, lubricants, propane and renewable energy products. CHS is
listed on the NASDAQ at CHSCP.
Maven Partners has announced the appointment of Matthew Leedham to its Board and as joint Managing Partner. Leedham, who trained as a chartered accountant, has worked in the recruitment industry for 18 years with Michael Page Plc where he was a founder Director and Head of the Executive Search practice in London until he resigned earlier this year.
At Maven Partners, Leedham will focus on searches for senior finance executives at both Board and Partner level for his clients. Here he will naturally complement Managing Partner Rob Stephenson who focuses on senior Tax appointments. Commenting on his appointment Leedham said: ”Maven Partners provides a wonderful opportunity to work alongside Rob who is widely regarded as one of the most talented recruiters in the tax field, and to be supported by excellent research. It will also allow me to work with far greater creativity and flexibility with my clients – which will be very important as we continue in these challenging economic conditions.”
Managing Partner, Rob Stephenson elaborates: “We are delighted to add Matthew’s extensive recruitment experience to our client offering. We are now able to offer comprehensive recruitment solutions to professional service organisations across multiple service lines”.
Maven Partners was founded earlier this year and specialises in the recruitment of both permanent and interim executives in the disciplines of finance and tax. Amongst several innovative moves Maven Partners offers clients greater risk sharing arrangements on fees beyond the typical industry standards.
For further information contact Matthew Leedham on 0207 061 6422 or 07787 574244
Reynolds Porter Chamberlain LLP (RPC) has announced a major new lateral hire: Partner,[private] Jonathan Levy.
Jonathan joins as a Partner from Berwin Leighton Paisner to head up the firm’s market leading Tax Disputes practice.
He has been a Partner at Berwin Leighton Paisner since January 2008, having run his own specialist tax disputes boutique, Levy Watters, for the previous five years. Before that he was Head of Tax Litigation at Ernst & Young, which he joined after ten years with what was then the Inland Revenue Solicitor’s Office, including a spell there as Deputy Head of the International Tax Group.
He is recognised as a leader in his field by The Legal 500 and will lead RPC’s dedicated five-strong tax disputes team.
Jonathan Watmough, RPC’s Managing Partner, said: “We’re absolutely thrilled Jonathan is joining. Tax Disputes has been a fast growing area of core business for RPC for several years now, and it is important to us that this growth continues. In Jonathan we have secured a natural leader with the profile and energy to help propel the team to even greater heights.”[/private]
[private]Scott A. Gregg will joinAshland Inc. (NYSE: ASH) effective Nov. 16 as vice president, tax. The
announcement was made by Lamar M. Chambers, senior vice president and chief
financial officer, to whom Gregg will report. He will be based in Covington.
Gregg will have oversight responsibility for all matters of global taxation.
This will include income tax compliance and controversy management for all tax
jurisdictions globally, tax strategy and planning, sales and use tax, property
tax and income tax accounting.
Chambers said, “Scott is an accomplished tax professional with 20 years of
hands-on corporate tax experience. He has held progressively senior leadership
positions in the tax organizations of multinational Fortune 500 companies
including Cardinal Health and, most recently, NCR Corp. Our management team is
looking forward to working with him and utilizing his expertise and experience
in dealing with the tax issues and tax planning opportunities we face across
Ashland’s global operations.”
A native of Louisville, Ky., Gregg earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting
from Bellarmine University in 1985, a Juris Doctor degree from the University
of Louisville in 1988 and a master of laws degree in taxation from the
University of Florida in 1989. He is a member of the Kentucky Bar Association
and the Tax Executives Institute. [/private]
Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH) provides specialty chemical products, services and
solutions for many of the world’s most essential needs and industries. Serving
customers in more than 100 countries, it operates through five commercial
units: Ashland Aqualon Functional Ingredients, Ashland Hercules Water
Technologies, Ashland Performance Materials, Ashland Consumer Markets
(Valvoline) and Ashland Distribution. To learn more about Ashland, visit
www.ashland.com.
Baker & McKenzie has appointed Nigel Dolman as a Senior Economist to its Global Transfer Pricing practice in London.
Nigel joins the Firm after spending nearly ten years at [private]Ernst & Young in London, where he led the development of the transfer pricing team’s offering for intangible assets. His experience focuses on the transfer pricing of intangible assets across a range of industries, including planning, implementation and tax authority negotiations. He also has significant experience of supply chain re-organisations, the development and implementation of transfer pricing policies and the transfer pricing of financial transactions.
Commenting on the appointment, Baker & McKenzie’s UK Head of Transfer Pricing Richard Fletcher, said: ”Nigel adds to the experience and skills of our international network and the London office, and increases our finance and economics capabilities to over 40 professionals within our wider global transfer pricing practice.”
”His appointment further strengthens our capabilities in providing combined legal, tax and advisory services in the intellectual and intangible property area,” he added.[/private]
The Baker & McKenzie Transfer Pricing practice helps clients navigate complex transfer pricing issues and implement transfer pricing strategies. The practice has been global leaders in managing major tax issues for almost 50 years, giving it unique insights into anticipating and preventing tax risks.
[private]Hwuason’s Managing Partner, Liu Tianyong has been elected as a director of the Fiscal Law and Tax Law Association and vice-director of Application of Law Committee. Mr Liu’s election occurred during the Fiscal Law and Tax Law Association’s annual meeting that was held in Lanzhou on 12-13 September 2009. The annual meeting was attended by more than 200 representatives from well-known universities and law firms, the State Administration of Taxation, the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Finance and the Public Security Bureau. Additionally, prestigious finance and tax professionals from Japan and Taiwan attended as well.
Mr Liu’s election demonstrates the achievements Hwuason, the first specialist tax law firm in China, has made in the past few years. Mr Liu commented that it was “always a pleasure to receive encouragement and recognition by domestic finance and tax circles. This position will help Hwuason’s to continue promote exchange and communication with the authorities and ensure that we are able to provide our clients with the highest quality assistance.”
At the annual meeting, Mr Liu also gave a lecture entitled Tax Lawyers – Promoters of Finance and Tax Law System. Mr Liu stated that the development of Chinese tax lawyers benefits from the development of China’s economy and finance and tax legal systems. Similarly, the economy and legal system will benefit from more sophisticated tax professionals.[/private]
