The Tax Times: Tax Litigation Official at DOJ Expects Appellate Cases To Rise

Tuesday, June 30, 2026

Tax Litigation Official at DOJ Expects Appellate Cases To Rise

According to Law360, more tax cases are likely to be appealed as textualist interpretations of statutes gain in suits and litigants increasingly invoke recent U.S. Supreme Court precedent, a U.S. Department of Justice official said on June 26, 2026.

The expected uptick in tax appeals would be in line with an increase in appeals across practice areas, driven in part by the Supreme Court's evolving administrative law jurisprudence, according to Joshua Wu, deputy assistant attorney general and head of the newly formed Tax Litigation Branch of the DOJ's Civil Division.

The move toward textualism has "created a lot of interesting litigation opportunities for the bar," Wu said, speaking at the New York University School of Professional Studies' tax controversy forum, held in New York City and online and "we are responding to that."

Wu also said he that this is the "greatest time to be a tax appellate lawyer because things are changing so much in a way that's going to impact the future of how tax is administered."

Wu's remarks came as the branch is settling in after the DOJ underwent a major restructuring effort last year, including the breaking up of the Tax Division. The outcome led to the separation of the criminal and civil tax functions and their relocation to the department's main branches. Wu became head of the branch in November.

The goal of the reorganization was to "not break anything," Wu said, adding that as of June, the branch has 129 civil trial attorneys and 23 appellate attorneys.

But roughly compared with staffing levels two years ago, he said, the branch has shrunk by 30% to 40% while there has been an increase in the trial inventory from last year.

Currently, the branch has 4,413 pending trial patterns, which is 138 more compared to last year's figure, he said. The branch also has 373 pending appellate cases, which is 56 more cases than the year before, he said.

The new branch, he added, continues to operate under many of the same protocols and systems as the former Tax Division, including its close relationship with the Internal Revenue Service, where most cases originate.

While the branch is now under the DOJ's Civil Division, it still coordinates with tax enforcement in the Criminal Division, he said.

"Everyone's on the same team in terms of tax enforcement, but they obviously have a different set of skills and different set of tools," Wu said, noting that they are still careful about keeping in place the boundaries between civil and criminal functions.