Ellen Berenholz.

• Position: Comcast Corp. executive director of tax policy - Interview

When Ellen Berenholz was in college and working for a CPA firm, she could recite financial statement opinions backward and forward. You think that might have come in handy when she began her post-college career at Arthur Andersen's audit group?

Actually, Berenholz proofread financial statements at the CPA firm, checking for typos, instead of deploying yet-to-be-invented spellcheck. Those were different times, of course, but she parlayed that work along with her major in accounting (she liked math) to land the Arthur Andersen gig--and never looked back in her career in tax.

"I would like to think there was some serious substantive career planning that led me to transferring from [Arthur Andersen's] audit to tax group, but I honestly don't recall other than it was time to try something new. Regardless of the reason (or lack thereof) for the career pivot, that move set me on a path to focus my career in the tax space," Berenholz explains.

Berenholz, now executive director of tax policy for Comcast Corporation, has always been fascinated by the interplay of tax law in the larger economy and its influence on taxpayer behavior. "I also enjoy politics and how policy ideas are debated before they become law. I work in an industry where the tax law has not kept up with the pace of technological changes in service offerings, which makes for some interesting and lively debates," she adds.

Tax Reform Legislation

Speaking of policy and politics, Bernholz has a clear-cut take on the recent tax reform legislation. "Corporate tax reform in the United States was long overdue, as our law, in particular on the international side, and our relatively high tax rate had become out of step with the rest of the world," she says. "Comprehensive tax reform of course comes around quite infrequently, so being a part of the dialogue is without a doubt a major and memorable highlight of my career. Tax reform seemed to come together quickly at the end of 2017, but the actual debate of ideas happened over so many years that it often felt a bit like Groundhog Day for me, and a year later it's sometimes hard to comprehend that it actually happened. The process is not over yet, with technical corrections and regulation still to be worked out."

Berenholz is bullish on her tenure at Comcast. "From the perspective of someone working in the tax group for decades, Comcast has been an amazing company to have a career [at], as it is a dynamic organization that is constantly evolving...