How Accounting Giants Craft Favorable Tax Rules From Inside Government
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David Enrich
@davidenrich
New @nytimes investigation: Giant accounting firms send their officials into the government, where they water down tax rules in ways that help their firms' clients. Then they return to those firms, which double their pay. @JesseDrucker @dannyhakim
The Treasury Department.
How Accounting Giants Craft Favorable Tax Rules From Inside Government
Lawyers from top accounting firms do brief stints in the Treasury Department, with the expectation of big raises when they return.
nytimes.com
5:06 AM · Sep 19, 2021
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/19/business/accounting-firms-tax-loopholes-government.html
For six years, Audrey Ellis and Adam Feuerstein worked together at PwC, the giant accounting firm, helping the worlds biggest companies avoid taxes.
In mid-2018, one of Mr. Feuersteins clients, an influential association of real estate companies, was trying to persuade government officials that its members should qualify for a new federal tax break. Mr. Feuerstein knew just the person to turn to for help. Ms. Ellis had recently joined the Treasury Department, and she was drafting the rules for this very deduction.
That summer, Ms. Ellis met with Mr. Feuerstein and his clients lobbyists. The next week, the Treasury granted their wish a decision potentially worth billions of dollars to PwCs clients.
About a year later, Ms. Ellis returned to PwC, where she was immediately promoted to partner. She and Mr. Feuerstein now work together advising large companies on how to exploit wrinkles in the tax regulations that Ms. Ellis helped write.
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