President’s Letter

Meeting the Challenges of COVID-19, Supporting Our TEI Family

Challenges confront us personally and professionally all the time. And, for the most part, we cope with or overcome them through a mix of luck, smarts, grit, and faith, which, over time, better prepare us for when the next challenge comes around. And then came COVID-19. The new coronavirus has… Read more »

Fortifying TEI’s Future

When Paul Smith and his colleagues founded Tax Executives Institute (TEI) in 1944, the global economic landscape was almost exclusively on a war footing, with industrial productivity (in the United States and elsewhere) focused on supporting the Allied war effort. Smith’s vision for an organization dedicated to supporting industry tax… Read more »

A Really, Really Interesting Year Ahead

If we were celebrating only TEI’s seventy-fifth anniversary, it would certainly be an exciting year. Or, if 2020 were merely a presidential election year, characterized by a touchy debate about digitalization, Pillars One and Two, and Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) implementation, the year would certainly be interesting. But… Read more »

Milestones for Taxes and TEI

As TEI’s Annual Conference in New Orleans came to a close, I could not help reflecting on the fact that we had just concluded our seventy-fourth such gathering during one of the most consequential periods in U.S. tax history as well as in TEI’s history. Let me explain. First, we,… Read more »

TEI at 75: Recognizing the Individuals, Departments, and Tax Systems We Serve Around the World

Happy seventy-fifth birthday, Tax Executives Institute! This milestone in the evolution of TEI belongs to everyone associated with the Institute, and I am greatly honored and humbled to serve as your international president during TEI’s seventy-fifth year. Seventy-five years ago (August 8, 1944, to be exact), under the leadership of… Read more »

Thank You for the Opportunity to Serve

I cast my year as TEI president in terms of a challenge to the Institute: Elevate TEI’s profile and communicate its value. The dynamic and sometimes volatile global tax and regulatory landscape presented TEI with tremendous opportunities to show its mettle and reaffirm its position as the leading voice of… Read more »

How Prepared Are You?

As we gaveled to a close TEI’s 69th Midyear Conference, I wanted to express my gratitude and appreciation to the 500-plus in-house professionals who joined us in Washington, D.C., to our outstanding speaker and moderator cadre who guided us through our program agenda, and to our sponsors for their continuing… Read more »

TEI’s 69th Midyear Conference: Maximizing Your Tax Smorgasbord!

As I write this, TEI is on final approach to deliver its 69th Midyear Conference, themed “Navigating the TCJA Regulatory Framework: Questions and Quandaries.” To help you analyze more than 1,200 pages of Tax Cuts and Jobs Act-related regulations, as well as examine the state and local tax, tax management,… Read more »

Divided Government

Welcome to 2019 and the uncertain political environment that awaits us in the 116th Congress. Is this what American democracy has come to? Could this be what our founding fathers really contemplated more than two centuries ago—all the coarse talk and uncivil behavior? Well, as I thought about our current… Read more »

The Holiday Season

To most, the holiday season usually means vacations, physical time away from the office (although being fully disconnected is a dream of the past), gatherings among family and friends, Feast of the Seven Fishes, and heated political arguments. Oh, sorry—that’s just my family. For us in the tax world, the… Read more »