Not your average tax lobbyist

Jon Talisman is no ordinary tax lobbyist. He was Clinton Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers’s top adviser on tax policy. Before that, he was chief tax counsel to Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (N.Y.) when the late Democrat was ranking member on the Finance Committee. He also served as a counsel to the Joint Committee on Taxation.

No one else on K Street can boast such a résumé. But when probed on how his background sets him apart from other tax lobbyists, Talisman is quick to deflect the question. He’d prefer to rave about his team at Capitol Tax Partners , the firm he co-founded in 2001.

{mosads}“We pride ourselves on our tax expertise and our political expertise,” he says, explaining that every lobbyist at the eight-person bipartisan firm has both government and private sector experience. “It’s not really your standard lobby shop in the sense that we take people all the way through the Washington process [pressing our clients’ case to Treasury and the IRS as well as Congress].”

Talisman has reason to be proud of his firm, which has become a magnet for chief tax counsels and other top tax staffers coming off the Hill.

Capitol Tax counts Goldman Sachs , Apple , Ford and other blue chip companies among its clients. It also represents Hollywood’s trade group, the Motion Picture Association of America , and the private equity industry, for which it helped fend off a tax hike on fund managers’ pay last year.

Talisman attributes his firm’s success to a simple credo: “We have always tried to provide our clients with an honest appraisal of what’s likely to happen on the Hill and then provide them our best technical advice.”

Yet clients and colleagues in the tax world would argue that there’s something more at work. They point to Talisman’s rare mix of policy and political sense, born out of his experience working on both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue and in the private sector.

“He’s got a nice blend of technical skills, policy skills and political skills,” says Nick Giordano, who, as a partner at Washington Council Ernst & Young , both competes with Talisman and works alongside him for shared clients.

“He’s brilliant on tax. He’s politically astute,” says Laura Lane, who heads international government affairs at Citigroup , one of Talisman’s clients.

Talisman began his career as a tax attorney at Akin Gump in 1984, just as the seeds of the giant 1986 tax reform were being planted. A Washington, D.C., native, he had long wanted to enter public service and, after eight years at the law firm, he jumped at a staff position for the Joint Tax Committee.

Later, he moved to the Senate Finance Committee, where he found the cerebral Moynihan “a fascinating person to work for.” There, he learned “how to get stuff done that was good tax policy, but that also made good political sense.” In 1997, Talisman moved to the Clinton Treasury, where he was promoted twice, ultimately rising to assistant secretary for tax policy.

A calm presence with a warm smile, Talisman is well liked on and off the Hill, where he’s known for his preparation and trustworthiness. “He’s someone you want to have as your friend and also as your close adviser,” Lane says.

Melissa Mueller, a tax counsel to the House Ways and Means Committee, argues that his high standing with members and staff in both chambers of Congress gives him an edge in the lobbying business: “He’s one of those unique lobbyists who has good friends on both sides of the Hill.”

Talisman says he is enjoying “the entrepreneurial side of things” at the helm of Capitol Tax. He is also keeping busy as a father of three teenagers.

One of his sons is an accomplished actor who nabbed a leading role in the Studio Theatre’s awarding-winning 2006 production of the musical “Caroline, Or Change.” In his spare time, Talisman volunteers as the soundman for his son’s theater group, mic-ing all the kids for performances.

A strong Democrat, Talisman doled advice on occasion to Sens. Barack Obama (Ill.) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) during their battle for the party’s presidential nomination. He says he doesn’t hide his Democratic leanings from clients, many of whom could fare worse under an Obama presidency.

The Democratic presidential candidate wants to roll back the Bush tax cuts on those making more than $250,000, hike taxes on private equity and hedge fund managers’ pay and lift the capital gains tax rate to 20 percent from 15 percent.

“Obviously as a lobbyist, you do your job,” Talisman explained. “But clients realize that they hire people because they have expertise and backgrounds. They understand my political persuasion.”

Talisman said he would be tempted to return to the Hill or to work in a Democratic administration given “the proper timing and the proper circumstances.”

Patrick Heck, who was until recently the top tax adviser to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), says Talisman would be “on anyone’s short list” for a senior tax role in a Democratic administration.

He remarks that he and Talisman share a common passion for public service, adding, “He’s a stand-up guy — a good friend who is well-liked. He will always do well because people like him.”