Tax Policy is Taking Over: Spring 2024 Fogel Lecture

March 29, 2024

On February 21. 2024, Tom West (LAW ’99), former Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Treasury Department’s Office of Tax Policy, delivered this year’s Fogel Lecture at Temple Law School, titled “Tax Regulators, Mount Up!: How Tax Policy Is Taking Over, For Better and Worse.” Mr. West’s presentation discussed how tax law transcends more than just the taxes themselves, in addition to how Treasury and the legislative and judiciary functions of government all implicate tax policy.

Before joining Treasury, Mr. West was a Principal at KPMG and Shareholder at Greenberg Traurig. Mr. West was also a Manager at both Ernst & Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers. In addition to his most recent role as a Deputy Assistant Secretary at Treasury, Mr. West has also served as Tax Legislative Counsel and Acting Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy. Below is a narrative summary of Mr. West’s lecture.

It is no secret that tax law transcends more than just the taxes themselves. In the United States, there are tax benefits and consequences associated with significant life decisions like having children, owning a home, and getting married. Moreover, U.S. federal, state and local governments make their own decisions about whether to tax earned income, sugar consumption, menstrual products, gambling winnings, tobacco purchases and more for all sorts of different reasons. Regardless of the rationale behind these tax policies, there is no denying that at the end of the day, these laws influence behavior.

The legislative process of passing federal tax policy has relied on reconciliation in recent years. The 21st century’s most significant tax policy reforms—including the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act (TCJA), the Affordable Care Act, and the American Rescue Plan—have all been passed through this process. Reconciliation is, essentially, a way for Congress to enact legislation on taxes, spending, and the debt limit with only a simple majority in the Senate. Therefore, lawmakers can avoid the threat of a filibuster, which would require sixty votes in the Senate to overcome.

The consequence of the convenience of reconciliation is that Congress’ most accessible method for addressing social and economic issues has been through tax incentives. Whether it has been inflation, environmental concerns, advanced chip manufacturing, or electric car consumption, Congress has utilized tax law to advocate for social change in these areas.

Congress has also been active in delegating more authority to the Treasury and IRS through Treasury regulations. In recent years, the tax legislative process has produced statutes with more gaps. For more specific guidance, the Treasury has been tasked with drafting regulations to offer taxpayers clarity as to how to complete their complex transactions and prepare their returns year after year. For instance, i . The Treasury’s guidance can be incredibly impactful as its decisions can determine when a family receives payments through policy like the Child Tax Credit.

Working at the Treasury or with federal, state, and local governments in general is a great way for early career law students or lawyers to get meaningful tax work experience. Across the Treasury regulations, new statutes through reconciliation, revenue rulings and more new guidance is constantly being discussed and drafted for taxpayers, and this allows for the work to be complex, innovative, and ever changing.

Victor Ficarra (LAW ’24) is a Student Editor for the Temple 10-Q.