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Global Tax 50 2015: Tamara Ashford

Judge, US Tax Court

Tamara Ashford

Tamara Ashford is a new entry this year

As a sitting judge of the US Tax Court, Tamara Ashford is one of the few people who can say that they were hired by the President. Not a bad accolade.

Ashford decides cases between taxpayers and the IRS and is just over 12 months into her 15-year term, having been appointed by Obama on December 19 2014, making 2015 her first full year in the role.

Ashford – one of 19 judges on the US Tax Court – holds a unique position in that she is the only female African-American judge; there are five women judges active on the US Tax Court.

Before becoming a judge, Ashford held roles at the US Department of Justice, Tax Division, as well as at the IRS and in practice with Dewey & LeBoeuf and Miller & Chevalier.

On appointment to the Tax Court, Ashford testified before the US Senate Finance Committee that her past experiences had enabled her to amass "the temperament and skills to be an independent arbiter".

Aside from her day-to-day activity in the robe, Ashford has been vocal during 2015 in discussing the role of the judiciary in protecting taxpayer rights and promoting voluntary compliance.

The Global Tax 50 2015

View the full list and introduction

The top 10 • Ranked in order of influence

1. Margrethe Vestager

2. Pascal Saint-Amans

3. Wang Jun

4. Arun Jaitley

5. Marissa Mayer

6. Will Morris

7. Ian Read

8. Pierre Moscovici

9. Donato Raponi

10. Global Alliance for Tax Justice

The remaining 40 • In alphabetic order

Brigitte Alepin

Andrus Ansip

Tamara Ashford

Mohammed Amine Baina

Piet Battiau

Elise Bean

Monica Bhatia

David Bradbury

Winnie Byanyima

Mauricio Cardenas

Allison Christians

Rita de la Feria

Marlies de Ruiter

Judith Freedman

Meg Hillier

Vanessa Houlder

Kim Jacinto-Henares

Eva Joly

Chris Jordan

Jean-Claude Juncker

Alain Lamassoure

Juliane Kokott

Armando Lara Yaffar

Liao Tizhong

Paige Marvel

Angela Merkel

Zach Mider

Richard Murphy

George Osborne

Achim Pross

Akhilesh Ranjan

Alan Robertson

Paul Ryan

Tove Maria Ryding

Magdalena Sepulveda Carmona

Lee Sheppard

Parthasarathi Shome

Robert Stack

Mike Williams

Ya-wen Yang

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