Treasury official to lead Tax Policy Center

Mark Mazur, assistant secretary for tax policy at the Treasury Department, will become director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center (TPC) in February.

TPC is a group that provides independent analyses on tax issues, including revenue estimates of politicians’ tax-reform plans. Mazur will succeed Len Burman as TPC director, while Burman will become a fellow at the Urban Institute.  

“I am honored by the opportunity to work with the talented staff at the Tax Policy Center,” Mazur said in a news release. “TPC makes consequential contributions to the public debate over taxes, a topic that will only grow more significant as tax issues are addressed at the federal, state, and local levels.” 

Mazur has held his current position at Treasury since 2012. In that position, Mazur coordinates tax policy for Treasury and the Obama administration.

He has spent more than a quarter-century working in the federal government and has held positions at the IRS, the Joint Committee on Taxation, and Bill Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers and White House National Economic Council.

“For more than 25 years, Mark has been a dedicated public servant, always working towards making our nation’s tax policies more effective, efficient and fair,” Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said in a statement. “At Treasury, Mark has been a key part of my team and a leading force on some of the administration’s highest priorities, including addressing corporate tax inversions, working to achieve business tax reform, implementing the tax provisions of the Affordable Care Act, and securing permanent middle-class tax cuts.”

“Mark will continue to serve the Treasury Department with distinction for the remainder of the administration, and we wish him all the best in his future pursuits,” Lew added.

Urban President Sarah Rosen Wartell said that Mazur “will strengthen TPC’s unique and essential service to America.”

Mark Prater, deputy staff director for Senate Finance Committee Republicans, said Mazur “has a well-earned reputation as a data-driven creative thinker who can completely and objectively evaluate tax policy questions no matter from which direction they originate.”  

– updated at 5:20 p.m.