TCPI Honors Douglas O'Donnell at Annual Symposium

WASHINGTON - April 10, 2025 - PRLog -- The Tax Council Policy Institute (TCPI) announced today that Douglas O'Donnell, former Deputy Commissioner at the Internal Revenue Service, will be awarded the 2025 Pillar of Excellence Award in recognition of his substantial and meaningful contributions to the tax community and continual efforts to interpret and implement transparent tax policy. The award will be presented at TCPI's 26th Annual Tax Policy & Practice Symposium held May 15-16 in Washington, D.C.

"The Pillar of Excellence Award is given to deserving individuals who have demonstrated throughout their career a commitment to advancing tax law and policy, thereby helping further our mission at the TCPI," said Urvi Doshi Sood, Chair of TCPI's Board of Directors and Vice President of Taxes and General Tax Counsel at Lockheed Martin Corporation. "For the TCPI Board, Doug was an overwhelming and easy choice for this year's award. Having spent close to four decades at the IRS holding several leadership roles with the mission of administering and enforcing federal US tax laws, Doug will also be the first career IRS civil servant to receive the Pillar of Excellence Award honor."

"Doug has had an impactful career at the IRS and his long-standing willingness to engage in thoughtful educational dialogue with taxpayers has contributed greatly to the tax community," said Lynda K. Walker, Esq., Executive Director and General Counsel of TCPI. "When Doug first joined the IRS in 1986 as a revenue agent in Washington DC, it seems doubtful he could have imagined the subsequent consequential roles he would have at the IRS and within the tax community over the next several decades. Through his hard work and dedication to public service, he rose through the ranks to eventually take on top leadership positions, including two stints as the Acting Commissioner [January-February 2025, November 2022-March 2023], Commissioner of the Large Business and International (LB&I) Division [2015-2021] and Deputy Commissioner of Services & Enforcement. Throughout the years, we've known Doug to be a professional who does not crave the spotlight; he worked diligently behind the scenes to lead and advise ~100,000 IRS employees to ensure that taxpayers are provided with the best possible guidance and service. Doug is most deserving of this award for his contribution to the business community through his approachable willingness to engage with companies whenever there was a need for education and clarity."

Qualifications for the Pillar of Excellence Award include playing a key role in developing tax policy and actively participating in opportunities to advance the knowledge and understanding of other tax professionals, business leaders and policy makers. Past honorees have included Eric Solomon, Bernard Shapiro, John Buckley, Lawrence B. Gibbs, Janice Mays, Mark Weinberger, Thomas Barthold, Pamela F. Olson, Mark A. Prater, Martin A. Sullivan, Grace Perez-Navarro, Barbara Angus, Bob Stack, and Hank Gutman.

TCPI's 26th Annual Tax Policy & Practice Symposium, "The Competing Forces & Compromises Shaping Tax Policy," will bring together leading tax professionals and policymakers from government, academia and the private sector to consider how the U.S. tax system might evolve in response to internal and external forces. For more details, please visit www.tcpi.org.

About The Tax Council Policy Institute (TCPI)

TCPI is a non-profit, non-partisan, 501(c)(3) public policy research and educational organization. It was created to help bring about a better understanding of significant tax policies that impact businesses and the economy through careful study, thoughtful evaluation and open discussion. The annual Tax Policy & Practice Symposium is one of the programs utilized by TCPI to accomplish its mission.