Doug Rudolph.

• Position: Walmart Inc. director of federal controversy - Interview

You could say that Doug Rudolph's interest in a tax career was a neither a slow burn nor a fast one--more of a medium burn. When he started college, Rodolph knew he wanted to go into accounting. After all, he always enjoyed math and thought it would be a great fit.

At college, two undergraduate tax classes sparked his interest. He enjoyed the rules, the definition-based research, and "putting together the puzzle." However, Rodolph did not enter the tax field right away. "I worked for several companies doing accounting and internal financial reporting. Then after working for a few years, I decided to go to graduate school and get a masters in tax. Month-end close was not for me," he explains.

Rodolph was always intrigued by the thought of working for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), a desire that one of his professors really could not comprehend. "It just so happened that when I completed graduate school, the IRS was doing major hiring. I finished in August and started with the IRS in September," he notes.

Rodolph, now director of federal controversy at Walmart Inc., has always been fascinated by taking a set of facts and determining how the law applies. "Breaking down a transaction to calculate the tax implications," he says, "is like solving a puzzle with a complex set of instructions. Sometimes you have all the pieces, and sometimes you have too few or ones you don't need. Being a controversy professional, I love the challenge of the debate about what the rules say or how they apply."

Problematic Tax Issue

What's the most problematic tax law problem he's encountered since coming to Walmart in the compliance assurance process (CAP) audit area? "Speed of IRS decision-making," Rodolph says. "While this isn't a technical tax issue, it is key to being able to provide certainty to my internal stakeholders. This starts with being able to tell the story of a transaction or issue and then quickly being able to provide the relevant facts. My role in controversy is to help bridge the gap between the subject matter experts and the exam team to make this an efficient process. However, there are times when the wheels fall off."

Walmart has been in CAP since its inception in 2005, he says, noting that CAP is designed as a cooperative, real-time examination. Both the IRS and taxpayers want more timely and efficient audits, he adds. "There are times when there just is not clear guidance on an issue," he explains. "We had an issue that the exam team...