Navigating the Future: 2025 and Beyond - Economic & Tax Outlook for the Middle Market

Dave returned to RSM in July 2021 after serving the U.S. Department of the Treasury as its assistant secretary for tax policy from 2017-2021. As the Treasury Department’s top tax policy official, he was instrumental in designing and implementing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA). He also served as acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service from 2017-2018, making him the only person ever to serve simultaneously as the Treasury Department’s assistant secretary for tax policy and the acting commissioner of the IRS. 

 During Dave’s time at the Treasury Department, he was the senior government official responsible for implementation of the TCJA. To that end, his responsibilities included issuing all necessary regulatory and other guidance including updating all individual and business federal tax forms, instructions and publications, and reprograming of all IRS internal and public technology systems. More than 530 pieces of administrative guidance were issued to implement the TCJA. 

 Dave was a senior advisor to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on tax policies in response to the coronavirus pandemic and was the senior government official charged with implementing tax provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Relief Act and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, including issuance of the first two rounds of economic impact payments. 

 For his service to the Treasury Department, he received its highest honor, the Alexander Hamilton Award.  

 Dave first came to RSM in 2014 as partner-in-charge of Washington National Tax. As the practice’s strategic and operational leader, he cultivated a proactive, client-oriented approach supported by deep technical knowledge, standardized business processes and advanced technical tax knowledge sharing.  

 Before joining RSM the first time, Dave was the managing director of the Kogod Tax Center at American University, a nonpartisan research institute focused on tax issues affecting small businesses, entrepreneurs and middle-income taxpayers. In addition, he served as executive in residence in the department of accounting and taxation at the Kogod School of Business.  

 Prior to that, he was the director of national tax and the national director for human resource services consulting for a Big Four accounting firm, where he was also lead specialist in the taxation of compensation and benefits for more than 20 years. He has advised a wide range of clients, from Fortune 100 companies to small start-ups, on the structure and taxation of compensation arrangements and other tax matters. He also has assisted clients with monitoring, interpreting and participating in the federal legislative and regulatory process.