Thomas A. Barthold is the chief of staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation.

Mr. Barthold joined the Joint Committee staff as a staff economist in 1987. He subsequently has served as senior economist, deputy chief of staff, and acting chief of staff. He was named chief of staff in May 2009. Over the past three decades he has worked on a wide variety of issues for the committee, including capital gains taxation, savings incentives, environmental and energy taxes, estate and gift taxation, the taxation of multinational enterprises, the low-income housing tax credit, tax-exempt bonds, and tax-exempt organizations.

Prior to his arrival in Washington he was a member of the economics faculty of Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire. His publications include studies of capital gain realizations, charitable bequests, and measuring the distribution of the tax burden. Mr. Barthold is a graduate of Northwestern University and received his doctorate in economics from Harvard University.

For his work at the Joint Committee on Taxation the Tax Council Policy Institute has awarded Mr. Barthold its “Pillar of Excellence” and the National Tax Association has awarded Mr. Barthold its “Bruce Davie - Albert Davis Public Service Award.”