Eric Solomon and John Samuels Honored for Sound Tax Policy Work
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.