IRS Top Attorney Names Priorities Post-2017 Tax Law

Michael Desmond became the Internal Revenue Service’s chief counsel earlier this year as the agency was well into implementing the complex 2017 tax code overhaul. In a wide-ranging conversation with senior editor Colleen Murphy June 27 at the Bloomberg Tax Leadership Forum in New York, Desmond expressed encouragement at the hiring of “energized attorneys” to implement the law. He recommended that companies pay attention to interrelationships among various provisions, especially in the international arena. He talked about non-tax overhaul priorities, too—including strengthening partnership audits and figuring out long-term streamlining of controversies over syndicated conservation easements. Listen to their conversation—plus a bit of Q&A with the forum audience—on a special episode of Talking Tax.