Treasury Attorney Advisor Elinor Ramey Returns to Steptoe’s Tax Group

Steptoe & Johnson LLP is pleased to announce that Elinor Ramey has returned to the firm as a partner in its esteemed Tax Group. Ramey rejoins Steptoe from the US Department of Treasury’s Office of Tax Policy, where she has served as an attorney advisor for the past four and a half years. Ramey will be based in Steptoe’s Washington office, where she worked as an associate from 2008-2015, and she will build upon the firm’s tax-exempt organizations practice.

At Treasury, Ramey counseled the assistant secretary of tax policy and the general counsel on all tax matters involving tax-exempt organizations and charitable contributions. Her primary responsibility was the development of regulations and other tax guidance on a variety of projects that affect tax-exempt organizations and charitable giving. Most notably, Ramey worked on numerous projects resulting from the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) including guidance on the state and local tax deduction limitation, qualified transportation fringe benefits, unrelated business income tax, executive compensation, and the net investment income tax on colleges and universities. In addition, she worked on guidance relating to private foundations, donor-advised funds, conservation easements, substantiation of charitable contributions, and supporting organizations.

Ramey also gained Capitol Hill experience while at Treasury working with the House Ways and Means Committee staff, Senate Finance Committee staff, and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation on the development of proposed legislation, including the TCJA. She worked closely with IRS officials on the development and review of exempt organization guidance, and worked with other parts of Treasury, such as the Office of Domestic Finance and the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence on matters that impact the nonprofit sector.

Steptoe’s Tax Group advises businesses, high-net-worth individuals, and tax-exempt organizations on their most significant federal and state tax planning, tax controversy, and tax policy issues. The group includes former senior government officials from Treasury, the IRS, the Justice Department, and congressional tax-writing committees. Steptoe’s highly regarded Tax Group has earned top rankings and recommendations from the prestigious legal directories Chambers USA and The Legal 500, among other publications. In 2019, the group’s tax-exempt organizations practice received a top-tier ranking from The Legal 500 US.

Ramey earned her B.A., magna cum laude, from Wellesley College. She received her J.D. from Georgetown University, magna cum laude, where she was elected to the Order of the Coif and served as a staff editor for The Tax Lawyer.