Tom West, former Treasury official, to join Capitol Tax Partners

We are excited to announce that Tom West, former Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy in the Biden Administration, will be joining the firm as a partner beginning in August.

Jon Talisman, Capitol Tax Partners’ co-founder and managing partner, said, "We’re all thrilled to have Tom join the firm. Tom has a singular combination of practical experience, knowledge, common sense, humor and humility that has helped him navigate difficult issues successfully in his many years both at Treasury and advising clients in the private sector. Adding his many skills to our team will help provide our clients continued best-in-class tax policy advice and is a critical step in our firm’s sustained growth.”

Having served in senior roles in the last three Administrations,  Tom is widely recognized as one of the country’s leading tax policy advisors. His leadership, judgment, and expertise have been instrumental in the passage and implementation of numerous landmark pieces of tax legislation, including the Affordable Care Act, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), the American Rescue Plan Act, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act.

For his many years of service at Treasury, Tom was awarded the prestigious Treasury Medal. The citation with his Medal notes that he “consistently demonstrated the highest standards of integrity and leadership in providing expert advice in public service to three Treasury Secretaries…” and that his “sound judgment, pragmatism, humor, and excellent rapport with his devoted staff and colleagues across the administration were hallmarks of his expert management of all aspects of Treasury's wide-ranging domestic tax portfolio.”

Tom first served at the Treasury Department for four years in the Obama and Trump Administrations as Deputy Tax Legislative Counsel and later as Tax Legislative Counsel in the Office of Tax Policy. In 2017, his service included a brief period as Acting Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy during the change of Administration where he helped advise then-Secretary Steven Mnuchin on the development of the Administration’s policies underlying the TCJA. After several years in the private sector, in 2021, Tom returned to the Treasury Department as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy, where he advised Secretary Janet Yellen and the White House on legislative and regulatory tax matters.

 During his time in the private sector, Tom was a principal in a Big 4 accounting firm and a shareholder in a large multinational law firm. For more than 15 years in private practice, he advised clients on tax policy, regulatory matters, global tax planning, and compliance. 

Tom earned his Juris Doctor degree from Temple University Beasley School of Law and an LLM degree in Taxation from Georgetown University Law Center. He lives on Capitol Hill with his wife and son.