2011 Fall Meeting & Education Conference

Nov 02, 2011 3:00pm -
Nov 06, 2011 10:00am
(GMT-5)

Event Type: Fall Meeting
Category: Fall Meeting

Speaker Information

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2011

7:30AM–8:30 AM

Breakfast with Dean Richard L. Revesz and Joshua D. Blank, J.D., LL.M., New York University School of Law

Visit with Dean Revesz and Joshua D. Blank, Faculty Director of the Graduate Tax Program during breakfast and learn of the school’s successes and current developments at the Graduate Tax Program.

 

 

8:30AM–9:30 AM

State Nexus for Individuals

Mark S. Klein, Esq., Hodgson Russ LLP

Faced with growing deficits, states are aggressively targeting out-of-state individuals who might be liable for taxes. This program will discuss the rules that allow states to tax nonresidents and provide guidance on how to reduce taxes, protect assets andavoid pitfalls when moving among multiple states.

 

 

9:30AM–10:30 AM

New Initiatives and Challenges Facing the IRS

Beth Tucker, Deputy Commissioner for Operations Support, Internal Revenue Service

Deputy Commissioner Tucker will discuss how the IRS is strengthening its partnership with tax professionals to respond to today’s challenges. She will touch on several of the new initiatives the IRS is facing as well as the challenges, including workforce issues and enhanced technology. She will share how the IRS is helping taxpayers meet their responsibilities during economic hardship, while promoting fairness in the tax system by employing enforcement tools when appropriate.

 

 

10:45AM–12:00 NOON

Planning for Clients with Chronic Illness

Martin Shenkman,Esq., CPA, Martin M. Shenkman, PC

For tens of millions of clients, chronic illness affects every aspect of planning: their income tax issues,financial and investment planning, insurance, charitable giving, estate planning and business succession. This session will provide a practical understanding of the special planning considerations for clients living with chronic illness. Specific tax and planning strategies you can use to help themand their families/loved ones will be presented.

 

 

1:15PM–2:20 PM

Unreported Foreign Bank Accounts and Voluntary Disclosures: Advising Clients Now that the Amnesty is Over

Sidney Kess, Esq.,CPA, LL.M., Of Counsel, Kostelanetz & Fink, LLP

Bryan Skarlatos,Esq.,Partner, Kostelanetz & Fink, LLP

The 2011 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative ends on August 31, 2011. However, many practitioners still have clients with unreported foreign bank accounts. Is there anything that clients can do to mitigate penalties? What advice can you give? This program will review the IRS current approach to unreported foreign bank accounts and the IRS’ long-standing voluntary disclosure program and provide practical tips on how to advise clients with unreported foreign accounts.

 

 

2:20PM–3:25 PM

Fundamental Tax Reform: Can, Should, and Will the U.S. Federal Income Tax Be Replaced by a National Consumption Tax?

Daniel Shaviro,J.D.,the Wayne Perry Professor of Taxation at NYU Law School

Dissatisfaction with the U.S. federal income tax has led to widespread discussion of fundamental tax reform including the possibility of replacing it with a consumption tax. What different forms could such a reform take? What are the best arguments for it and against it? And what are its political prospects for enactment? Among the alternatives that Professor Shavirowill discuss are a national retail sales tax, X-tax or flat tax, and a consumedincome tax, and he will consider how these proposals’chances might be affectedboth by Congressional politics and by the long-term budgetary problems facing the U.S.

 

 

3:40PM–4:30 PM

Auditing Smaller, Less Complex Entities

Philip J. Santarelli, Chief Risk Officer, ParenteBeard LLC

Using guidance from the newly clarifiedstandards, the participant will benefit from real world experiences and examples. This session will review a survey of tips and techniques for efficiently auditing smaller entities while still being compliant withgenerally accepted auditing standards.

 

 

4:30PM–5:20 PM

Financial Reporting and Audit Issues Related to the Great Recession

Philip J. Santarelli, Chief Risk Officer, ParenteBeard LLC

This session will discuss theimportant questions: What must auditors do to address the unique risks presented by times of economic uncertainties. How do you deal with difficult audit issues? What happens to asset valuation work when the economy is introuble?


FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2011

8:30AM–12:00 NOON

Helping Your Clients Prevent or Survive an IRS Audit

Frank Agostino,J.D., LL.M., Agostino & Associates

James A. DiGabrieleD.P.S., CPA/ABV, CFE, CFSA, FACFEI, Cr.FA, CVA, DiGabrieleMcNulty

Campanella & Co.LLC

Matthew Magnone,J.D., LL.M., Ernst & Young

Richard Sapinski,Esq., LL.M., Sills, Cummis & Gross, P.C.

They say “never mess with the IRS,” butat some point, contact with this ubiquitous agency is inevitable.

However, with careful preparation, anaudit doesn’t have to be a taxing experience! This panel of leading

IRS experts will tell you exactly what you need to know to prepare your individual or small business clients for the audit process, from information on preventing one in the first place to getting through the process unscathed. What you learn could save your clients countlesshours (and headaches).

 

 

1:30PM–3:00 PM

Current Tax Administration Challenges for the IRS: The National Taxpayer

Advocate’s Perspective

Nina Olson, National Taxpayer Advocate, Internal Revenue Service

In her 2010 Annual Report to Congress,the National Taxpayer Advocate identified three major challenges for the IRS over the next 10 years: the overwhelming complexity of the Internal Revenue Code, the delivery of social and economic program delivery into an IRS revenuecollection structure, and the movement toward greater automation at the expense of personal interaction with taxpayers.

 

 

3:10PM–4:00 PM

Representative from New York Stock Exchange (tentative)

 


SATURDAY,NOVEMBER 5, 2011

8:00AM–9:15 AM

Some Powerful Estate Tax Planning Opportunities with Long Term Benefits and Short Term

Availability

Leonard Weiner,J.D., CPA, MBA, AEP, Weiner & McCulloch, PLLC

Thomas J. Pauloski,J.D., Bernstein Global Wealth Management

For a short time, we have a perfect storm of economic conditions and legislation which permit permanent savings in futuregift, estate, and generation skipping taxes. A few of these techniques arerelatively new.

Many more of your clients than you mayrealize can implement this planning without reducing their standard of living. We will discuss and illustrate how much each technique may increase the tax savings for your clients. Using Bernstein’s proprietary Monte Carlo simulations, you can see the likely maximum, minimum, and probable amount oftax savings for clients from using each technique if they invest in securities.

 

 

 9:15AM–10:30 AM

New York’s New Tax Whistleblower Statute/ Confessions of a High Ranking

NY Tax Administrator

William Comiskey,Esq.,Hodgson Russ LLP

The new NYS whistleblower law— whichauthorizes the state and private citizen whistleblowers to sue tax evadersunder the state’s false claims act—is arguably the most significant change intax administration and enforcement in years. This session will provide an overview of the statute, focusing on the elements of the act, the penaltiesevaders face, who can sue and what awards and protections are offered towhistleblowers. How the new law compares to the IRS whistleblower statute will also be examined. Also, as New York’s top tax enforcement officer, Mr. Comiskeywas part of a remarkable period of state tax enforcement activity. He will explore the Department’s strategic objectives during the period 2007 to 2010, what theDepartment accomplished (and how) and where the Department may be going now.

 


Meet Your Faculty

Frank Agostino JD., LL.M., Agostino & Associates, PC, concentrates his practice in criminal and civil tax matters before federal and state taxing authorities. He was an attorney with the Internal Revenue Service District Counsel Office in Springfield, Illinois and Newark, New Jersey.  He also served as a Special Assistant United States Attorney concentrating in criminal tax prosecution.   Agostino frequently lectures on tax controversy and litigation matters at the American Bar Association and New Jersey Continuing Legal Education seminars. 

Joshua D. Blank, J.D., LL.M., New York University School of Law, is an Associate Professor of the Practice of Tax Law and Faculty Director of the Graduate Tax Program. His focus is on tax administration and compliance, taxpayer privacy, and taxation of business entities. His recent publications include What’s Wrong with Shaming Corporate Tax Abuse, 62 Tax L. Rev. 539 (2009), Overcoming Overdisclosure: Toward Tax Shelter Detection56 UCLA L. Rev. 1629 (2009), and When Is Tax Enforcement Publicized?, 30 Va. Tax Rev. 1 (2010) (with Daniel Z. Levin). Blank is Vice Chair of the Teaching Taxation Committee of the Tax Section of the American Bar Association and member of the Academia Tributária das Américas (ATA)—Tax Academy of the Americas.

 

William Comiskey, Esq., Hodgson Russ LLP has held top-level government positions with New York State agencies responsible for tax enforcement and for investigating and prosecuting health care fraud, physician misconduct, complex financial fraud, and official misconduct. Prior to joining Hodgson Russ LLP, Comiskey was the deputy commissioner for tax enforcement at the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, where he served as New York's top tax enforcement officer in charge of approximately 2,500 auditors, collectors, and criminal investigators. In the health care area, Comiskey served as the deputy attorney general in charge of New York's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, the largest state law enforcement unit in the nation dedicated to fighting Medicaid fraud and patient abuse, and, in a prior appointment, as director of the Bureau of Professional Medical Conduct in New York's Department of Health, where he was counsel and chief prosecutor for New York's physician disciplinary board. As a prosecutor, Comiskey held leadership positions in the attorney general's Criminal Division prosecuting fraud, corruption, and organized crime cases. He also served as chief assistant district attorney in Rensselaer County and as an assistant district attorney in the Manhattan district attorney's office. He has also been an adjunct instructor at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law on appellate advocacy and legal writing and at Brooklyn Law School on corporate criminal prosecutions. He began his legal career at the New York Court of Appeals, where he clerked for Associate Judge Hugh R. Jones.  Comiskey is a frequent lecturer on tax enforcement and related topics. His recent presentations and panel discussions for tax professionals and business groups include "New York's Amended Whistleblower Law," New York State Bar Association State and City Tax Institute, April 2011; "Sales Tax Enforcement, New York's Efforts to Increase Sales Tax Compliance," Erie County Bar Association, June 2010; "Enforcement, Audit Policy, and Practice," New York State Business Council Conference on State Taxation, May 2010; "The NYS Yin-Yang of Increased Enforcement and the Taxpayer Advocate," New York State Bar Association State and Local Tax Institute, April 2010; "Sales Tax Audits," New York State Society of CPAs Taxation Conference, December 2009; and "Enforcement Initiatives to Curb Tax Fraud," National Conference of CPAs Tax Symposium, November 2009.

 

James A. DiGabriele, Ph.D.,DPS, CPA,ABV,CFF,  DiGabriele, McNulty, Campanella & Co., LLC, is the managing director of an accounting firm specializing in forensic/investigative accounting and litigation support. DiGabriele is accredited in Business Valuation, a Certified Fraud Examiner, Certified in Financial Forensics, a Certified Financial Services Auditor, a Certified Forensic Accountant, a Certified Valuation Analyst and is a Fellow of the American College of Forensic Examiners Institute. He also holds two Master of Science degrees; one in Taxation from Seton Hall University and the other in Finance from New Jersey Institute of Technology and two Doctoral Degrees; Doctor of Professional Studies degree with concentrations in Economics and Management from the Lubin School of Business at Pace University New York and Doctor of Philosophy with a concentration in Accounting from Middlesex University Business School, London, United Kingdom. James is an Assistant Accounting Professor at Montclair State University, School of Business, Department of Accounting, Law and Taxation where he teaches Fraud Examination and Forensic Accounting on the graduate level.

 

Sidney Kess, Esq., CPA, LLM, of Counsel, Kostelanetz & Fink, LLP, recently selected “Most Influential Practitioner” by CPA Magazine, is a nationally renowned tax expert and author/coauthor of hundreds of tax books on financial and estate planning.  Having lectured to more than 725,000 practitioners on tax, financial and estate planning, he is one of the nation’s best known lecturers in continuing professional education.  Kess is consulting editor of CCH Incorporated’s Financial and Estate Planning Reporter, and consultant for the CCH Estate Planning Guide.   Kess was chairman of the advisory board of Tax Hotline and is a member of the PPC Tax Action Panel.  He has edited a column on “Tax Tips” for the New York Law Journal for the past 41 years.  Kess edits the AICPA’s CPA Client Bulletin and CPA Client Tax Letter.  He is Executive Editor Tax of CPA Magazine.  He has also written hundreds of AICPA tax workshops, audio and video programs, and is the recipient of the AICPA Distinguished Lecturer Award.  Kess is often quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and other national publications.  He was included in Accounting Today’s “100 Most Influential CPAs in the U.S.” for several years as well as CPA Magazine’s “Most Influential CPAs in the U.S”.  Kess was the National Director of Tax at KPMG Main Hurdman and a tax partner at KPMG Peat Marwick.  Kess is the recipient of the AICPA’s “Special Recognition Award” for his many years of contributions to the AICPA’s continuing professional education program and was elected to the Estate Planning Hall of Fame by the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils for his distinguished service to the field of estate planning.  The AICPA established the Sidney Kess Award for Excellence in Continuing Education to recognize individual CPAs who have made significant and outstanding contributions in tax and financial planning and whose public service exemplifies the CPA profession’s values and ethics.  Kess was the first recipient of this Award.  Kess was inducted into the New York State Society of CPA’s Hall of Fame.  He received his JD from Harvard University School of Law, LLM from New York University Graduate School of Law and BBA from Baruch College.

 

Mark S. Klein, Esq., Hodgson Russ LLP has over 25 years of experience with federal, multistate, state, and local taxation. He may be best known for his public speaking on tax topics. He has lectured extensively throughout the United States and Canada and teaches courses on state taxation and tax practice and procedure at the State University of New York at Buffalo, School of Management Tax Certificate Program. His articles have appeared in The CPA Journal, the Journal of Multistate Taxation and Incentives, and in other publications devoted to multistate tax issues. He is a member of The CPA Journal Editorial Review Board.  Klein has written numerous books, articles, and treatises on the subject of multistate taxation. He is the general editor of LexisNexis Tax Practice Insights: New York, 2010 edition; the editor of New York Tax Highlights; the contributing editor of CCH's 2011 Guidebook to New York Taxes; and the co-author of the 2010-2011 ABA Sales & Use Tax Desk Book, CCH's New York Residency and Allocation Audit Handbook, New York Sales and Use Tax Answer Book, Contesting New York Tax Assessments, New York Tax Handbook, and New York City Tax Handbook. He is also a contributor to CCH's New York Tax Analysis.  Klein is a member of the New York State Tax Appeals Tribunal Advisory Committee, Executive Committee of ACE Accounting Society, chair of the State and Local Taxation Section, ACE Accounting Society and chairperson, Cooperation with the Accounting Profession Committee, Erie County Bar Association.

Matt Magnone, J.D., LL.M., Ernst & Young has been with the firm since 2001, after concluding a 29 year career with the IRS Office of Chief Counsel.  During his tenure with the IRS, Matt held the position of District Counsel for the IRS for the state of New Jersey for 15 years.  As such, Matt was the Chief Legal Officer for the IRS in that state.  He supervised a staff of 30-35 attorneys who were responsible for handling all matters requiring legal representation on behalf of the IRS, including litigation before the U.S. Tax Court.  Prior to ascending to the position of IRS District Counsel, Magnone was a Senior Trial Attorney and Assistant District Counsel.  In these capacities, he personally handled many significant and high-profile cases, and also supervised attorneys assigned to the most complex and large-dollar cases involving examination and collection issues.  Magnone has extensive experience with CIC examinations and litigation involving large corporate taxpayers, as well as complex collection matters, including representing clients before IRS Appeals in collection due process proceedings.  Magnone’s practice focuses on providing advice to Ernst & Young clients regarding all aspects of federal tax controversy matters, as well as representing them before the IRS at the examination and collection divisions, and the IRS Office of Appeals.

 

Nina Olson, National Taxpayer Advocate, Internal Revenue Service leads the Taxpayer Advocate Service, a nationwide organization of approximately 2,000 taxpayer advocates who help U.S. taxpayers resolve problems and work with the IRS to correct systemic and procedural problems.  Olson’s work as the "voice of the taxpayers" at the IRS has won national acclaim: She is a member of the American College of Tax Counsel, and delivered the group's prestigious Griswold Lecture in January, 2010.  The non-profit Tax Foundation selected her to receive its Public Sector Distinguished Service Award in 2007. Accounting Today magazine named her one of its Top 100 Most Influential People in the accounting profession each year since 2004. In January 2005, Money magazine named her one of the 12 "Class Acts of 2004."   Prior to her appointment as the NTA in January 2001, Olson maintained a private law practice, concentrating in tax controversy representation. From 1975 until 1991, she owned and operated Accounting, Tax & Information Services, a tax planning and preparation firm in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She served as the chair of the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Taxation’s Low Income Taxpayers Committee as well as the Pro Se/Pro Bono Task Force of the ABA Tax Section's Court Procedure Committee. Olson is the 1999 recipient of both the Virginia Bar Association's Pro Bono Publico Award and the City of Richmond Bar Association's Pro Bono Award.

 

Dean Richard L. Revesz, Lawrence King Professor of Law, New York University School of Law is one of the nation’s leading voices in the fields of environmental and regulatory law and policy. Revesz was recently appointed to the National Research Council’s Committee on Health, Environmental, and Other External Costs and Benefits of Energy Production and Consumption to study the costs and benefits of U.S. energy production and use for parties not directly involved in energy decisions. He has testified before Congress on the reauthorization of the Clean Air Act and on reforms to the Superfund program. Dean Revesz also chaired the Committee on Judicial Review of the American Bar Association’s Section on Administrative Law and Regulatory Policy.

 

 

Philip J. Santarelli, Chief Risk Officer, ParenteBeard LLC is responsible for ParenteBeard LLC’s audit and accounting practice, risk management, quality assurance and consults with Partners on technical accounting and audit issues. Santarelli possesses a unique blend of practical experience with an in-depth accounting background, and he has worked with a diverse group of commercial clients throughout his long career. He serves as the firm’s primary resource for audit and accounting issues related to manufacturing and, in particular, issues related to inventory. Santarelli is an active member of the Technical Issues Committee of the Private Companies Practice Section of the AICPA.  In this role, he interfaces with accounting and auditing standards setters, providing comments and perspectives on the impact of accounting standards on private companies. Santarelli serves on the board of the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia, a regionally based, nonprofit public policy organization. Santarelli earned a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Accounting from King’s College and a Master of Business Administration from Wilkes University.

 

Richard J. Sapinski, Esq., LL.M., Sills, Cummis & Gross, P.C. practice involves white collar criminal defense on both federal and state levels and civil and criminal tax litigation, as well as international tax planning and compliance issues. Prior to joining the firm, Sapinski was employed by the Office of the District Counsel, Internal Revenue Service, Newark, New Jersey as a trial attorney from 1977 to 1984 and later with the Office of the Regional Counsel Internal Revenue Service, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as a Special Trial Attorney from 1985 to 1987. In the latter position, Sapinski was assigned responsibility for litigating in United States Tax Court on behalf of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue in large and sensitive cases and for assisting IRS international examiners in developing international tax issues for litigation. He litigates matters in the United States District Court, U.S. Tax Court and the Superior Court and Tax Court of New Jersey and the Federal and State Appellate Courts. He also represents professionals before disciplinary and licensing boards and handles administrative matters involving the Examination, Collection and Criminal Investigation divisions of the Internal Revenue Service and their state counterparts.  Sapinski has been selected for inclusion in the 2011 edition of The Best Lawyers in America.

 

Daniel Shaviro, the Wayne Perry Professor of Taxation at NYU Law School, is a graduate of Princeton University and Yale Law School. Before entering law teaching, he worked at Caplin & Drysdale, a leading tax specialty firm, and at the Joint Congressional Committee on Taxation. In 1987, Shaviro began his teaching career at the University of Chicago Law School, and he joined the New York University School of Law in 1995. Shaviro’s scholarly work examines tax policy, budget policy, and entitlements issues.  Books he has published include Decoding the U.S. Corporate Tax (Urban Institute Press, 2009), Taxes, Spending, and the U.S. Government’s March Toward Bankruptcy (Cambridge U. Press, 2006), Making Sense of Social Security Reform (U. Chicago Press, 2000), When Rules Change: An Economic and Political Analysis of Transition Relief and Retroactivity (U. Chicago Press, 2000), Do Deficits Matter? (U. Chicago Press, 1997). He is currently working on a book entitled Fixing the U.S. International Tax Rules.  In addition to his scholarly work, Shaviro has published a novel, Getting It (iUniverse 2010), and has a blog at http://danshaviro.blogspot.com.

 

Martin Shenkman, Esq., CPA, Martin M. Shenkman, P.C., practice areas include Estate Planning, Tax Planning, Closely Held Business Taxation, Business Transactions, Estate Administration. He is a widely quoted expert on tax matters, and a regular source for numerous financial and business publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Money, The New York Times, and others. He has appeared as a tax expert on numerous television and cable television shows including The Today Show, CNN, NBC Evening News, CNBC, MSNBC, CNN-FN. He is a frequent guest on radio talk shows throughout the country and has a regular weekly radio show on Money Matters Financial Network.  Shenkman has authored thirty-four books and more than seven hundred articles. His books include: Living Wills & Health Care Proxies: Assuring That Your End of Life Decisions Are Respected (in process), Inherit More, Six Hour Guide to Asset Protection Planning, Estate Planning after the 2001 Tax Act and The Complete Living Trust Program. Mr. Shenkman has served as contributing editor to a host of publications, including: New Jersey Lawyer, The Journal of Real Estate Finance, Real Estate Insight, Commercial Leasing Law & Strategy, The Journal of Accountancy, Real Estate Accounting and Taxation, and Shopping Centers Today.

Bryan C. Skarlatos, Esq., Kostelanetz & Fink, LLP, represents clients involved in civil and criminal tax controversies, white collar criminal investigations, complex commercial litigation, whistleblower claims and voluntary disclosures.   He also provides clients with advice on a broad range of tax, estate, and business planning issues. Skarlatos has been recognized by New York Super Lawyers 2011 as one of the Top 100 lawyers in New York and he is listed in Best Lawyers in America.  He also is ranked in Band One of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, which describes him as having a, “smart reassuring presence with insight into the government.”  Skarlatos is a Regent in the American College of Tax Counsel and an adjunct professor at New York University School of Law, where he teaches a course on Tax Penalties and Prosecutions.  He speaks throughout the country on tax-related topics and he frequently is quoted in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Forbes, Bloomberg, Reuters, the Financial Times, Tax Analysts-Tax Notes, and the BNA Daily Tax Report.  Skarlatos is co-chair of the New York University Annual Tax Controversy Forum and he is co-chair of the Compliance Practice and Procedure Committee of the New York State Bar Association Tax Section.  He is a former chair of the Civil and Criminal Tax Penalties Committee of the American Bar Association and the Personal Income Tax Committee of the New York City Bar Association and the Tax Committee of the New York County Lawyer’s Association.  Skarlatos is on the board of directors of the New York University Graduate Tax Institute, where he chairs a program on Ethics in Tax Practice, and he has been nominated to serve on several bar association task forces, including the New York State Bar Association task force on Attorney Client Privilege and the American Bar Association task forces on Tax Shelters, Circular 230, and Ethics 2000.  Skarlatos is on the board of editors of the Practical Tax Lawyer. He has written several articles for various law reviews and journals and he was co-author of a regular column in the New York Law Journal entitled, “Tax Litigation Issues.”

 

Beth Tucker, Deputy Commissioner for Operations Support, Internal Revenue Service is responsible for providing direction and oversight to the major operational and administrative functions for the IRS in support of its business units that provide taxpayer service and enforcement.  The Offices under Operations Support include: Modernization and Information Technology Services, which operates and manages the IRS technology portfolio while developing new technology capabilities to better serve America’s taxpayers; Human Capital Office, with overall responsibility for workforce policies, support and development for the IRS’ more than 100,000 employees; Agency-Wide Shared Services, which provides support services to all of the IRS’ business units, including real estate services, agency-wide procurement and numerous administrative support services; Chief Financial Office, which is responsible for accounting and control over both IRS financial operations as well as U.S. government-wide revenue accounting; and Privacy, Information Protection and Data Security, which addresses information security across the IRS, plans and executes IRS programs to help protect taxpayers from identity theft, and develops policies for the IRS to enable expanded service to taxpayers while ensuring security of their personal data.   Tucker is the former W&I Deputy Commissioner for Support. In this position, Tucker had oversight for all W&I support organizations including Electronic Tax Administration & Refundable Credits, Strategy and Finance, Business Modernization, Communications & Liaison, and EEO & Diversity. These organizations total approximately 800 employees who are responsible for supporting W&I in the modernization and management of technology, strategic planning and direction, communications and strategic human capital management, ensuring safety and security and critical infrastructure, formulation and execution of the budget, and advancing equal opportunities for employees.   In her former position, Tucker was a member of Commissioner Shulman's Senior Executive Team serving as the IRS Director of Workforce Initiatives. Appointed by the IRS Commissioner in July 2008, she led a multifunctional Workforce of Tomorrow Taskforce — the first of its kind in federal government — aimed at preparing for the future and making the IRS the best place to work in government. She led the Services and Enforcement hiring initiative to ensure strategies are in place to recruit, hire and train thousands of revenue agents, revenue officers, tax compliance officers, customer service representatives and others.

Leonard Weiner, J.D., C.P.A., M.B.A., AEP; Weiner & McCulloch, PLLC, is licensed to practice law where approximately 94% of America lives.  His practice specializes in tax and non-tax estate planning, income tax planning, asset preservation, and a multitude of trust planning issues.  Weiner is a recipient of the American Association of Attorney-Certified Public Accountants Inc. Louis Goldberg Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement and will be listed as a 2011 Texas Super Lawyer for Tax.  He was recognized by Texas Monthly as an outstanding Estate Planner in Wealth Managers and Estate Planners.  Weiner is on the board of directors for the AAA-CPA, a member of the Houston Chapter of the Texas Society of CPAs, NAELA, and SFSP.