Sullivan & Cromwell attorney Donald Korb — who served as chief IRS legal advisor under President George W. Bush — has once again been nominated for the role.
President Donald Trump nominated Korb on April 29 for the position, which requires Senate confirmation. IRS Chief Counsel is tasked with advising the IRS Commissioner on the interpretation, administration, and enforcement of Internal Revenue laws.
Korb would replace Marjorie Rollinson, who left the IRS just before President Donald Trump took office. William Paul served as Acting Chief Counsel immediately after Rollinson, and Andrew De Mello took over the role in March.
Korb was previously sworn in for the IRS Chief Counsel role over 20 years ago. He came with prior agency experience, including four years as Chief Counsel attorney/advisor and two years as special assistant to former Commissioner Roscoe Egger.
He was “the overall coordinator of the Service’s involvement in the legislative process that resulted in the Tax Reform Act of 1986,” according to an IRS press release. The 1986 Act is often cited as the “last comprehensive reform” to the U.S. tax system — it both “lowered income tax rates and broadened the tax base,” explains the Tax Policy Center.
During the confirmation process for his first Chief Counsel stint, Korb testified that following the 1986 Act, he’d “developed a new approach to the published guidance process which enabled the Service to publish a significant amount of guidance in a short period of time.”
He also recounted his role in drafting Code Sec. 469, the passive activity loss rule, which he credited with “putting the individual tax shelter industry at that time out of business.”
Korb left the Chief Counsel post at the end of 2008, joining Sullivan & Cromwell as a partner. He also served as the firm’s tax controversy practice head.
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