Tennessee Federal Tax Conference

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Description

Join your peers at the Tennessee Federal Tax Conference, one of TSCPA's most popular events, and get up to date on the latest developments in taxation from national and state tax leaders. Co-sponsored by TSCPA and the Tennessee Federal Tax Institute, this three-day conference features a variety of educational sessions on current tax issues and legislative changes designed to set you up for success next tax season.

Need a hotel room over the course of the conference? Please visit our dedicated Hilton booking website. If you would like to call in your reservation, please call 615-771-1995 and mention TSCPA Federal Tax Conference Rate. This special $169 rate is good through October 26.

Registering for more than 5 people in your organization or firm? Save 15% off conferences and conference live stream events and 10% off all TSCPA seminars and seminar live streams! Click here to register your team.

LIVE STREAM OPTION: If you are unable to join us in Franklin - or prefer to skip the travel - you can still take part in the conference.  Our online attendance option brings the conference direct to you via live streaming. Please visit this link for more information and registration.

This year, you can select which days of the Tennessee Federal Conference you would like to attend. Pick a single day or sign up for all three days, the choice is yours! Each day is $240. You must select at least one day to attend from the session days below. There is not a free registration option for this event.

Credits

Number of Credits Type of Credits
23.00 Taxes
1.00 Economics
20.67 CLE

Prices

Member (Early Bird)
$0.00
Non-Member (Early Bird)
$0.00
Member
$50.00
Non-Member
$50.00
Your Price: $50.00

This is your base price and does not reflect any additional session fees, optional add-ons, or guest registrations.

November 20, 2024

Select One and Only One
8:05am - 4:15pm (Central Time)
$240.00

Please select this option if you would like to attend Day one of the conference. Attending this day is $240.

Day one of the conference includes sessions on international tax and estate planning.

8:05 - 9:05 a.m. - International Tax Update: Notable Cases, Rulings and Developments (Hale Sheppard, JD, LLM)

New Commissioner, new budget, and new priorities. The IRS is increasing scrutiny in the international area, focusing on unreported foreign assets and activities, repatriation taxes, foreign investors with U.S. property, FATCA violations, tax withholding on foreign payments, receipt of foreign gifts, unfiled international information returns, and much more. This presentation identifies and explains the critical international tax cases, administrative rulings, and other developments during the past year.

9:20 - 10:20 a.m. - Employee Retention Credits: Separating Fact from Fiction as IRS Disputes Get Underway (Hale Sheppard, JD, LLM)

This tax incentive has all the elements necessary to ignite a major battle: A complex law, multiple sources of administrative guidance, rules with retroactive effect, delays and oversights, reports criticizing IRS errors, large numbers of eligible taxpayers, companies advertising questionable credit claims, open assessment periods, and repeated IRS warnings of serious civil and criminal enforcement.  This presentation explains the rules, common misconceptions, positions by taxpayers, attacks by the IRS, and main issues arising in the many ERC battles getting underway.

10:25 - 11:25 a.m. - Unintended Consequences of the Everchanging Estate Tax Exemption (Bryan Howard, JD, LLM)

In this session, we will delve into the complexities and implications of the frequently shifting estate tax exemption limits. As policymakers adjust these thresholds, the impacts can ripple through personal financial planning, estate management, and charitable giving.

Participants will explore the historical context of estate tax exemptions, analyze recent legislative changes, and discuss how these fluctuations can lead to unintended consequences for individuals and families.

12:15 - 1:55 p.m. - Recent Developments in Estate Planning (Turney Berry, JD)

We will discuss Treasury and IRS rulings that are of interest to those engaged in estate planning, as well as recent Federal and state cases that suggest opportunities and highlight pitfalls for the estate planning practice. We will also spend some time reviewing planning ideas and interesting, effective strategies in view of the current planning environment.

2 - 3 p.m. - Planning for 2025 Sunset Panel (Aaron Flinn, JD, LLM, Jim Cornfeld CFP, CSLP, Josh Hedrick, CVA, Mark Patterson, CPA)

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) became effective in 2018, but some provisions sunset after 2025.  The panel will look at the provisions that are expiring and concentrate on the reduction in the estate tax exemption amount and planning opportunities taxpayers can take now in anticipation this change.

3:15 - 4:15 p.m. - Postmortem Tax Planning & Estate Administration (Anne Waters, JD, CPA, CJ Blankenship, CPA, CGMA)

8:05am - 4:15pm (Central Time)
$0.00

Please check this box if you do not wish to attend the conference this day.

November 21, 2024

Select One and Only One
8:05am - 4:40pm (Central Time)
$240.00

Please select this option if you would like to attend Day two of the conference. Attending this day is $240.

Day two of the conference includes sessions on trending issues.

8:05 - 9:05 a.m. - Tax Policy, Proposals and Prospects: A Washington Update (Jeff Kummer)

Regardless of the election outcome, 2025 will be dominated by significant tax policy issues that have the potential to impact businesses and the economy. Without congressional action, the debt limit will be reinstated in early 2025 and major portions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will sunset at the end of the year, ensuring a robust debate on corporate, individual, and international taxes. Jeff will provide the most current update on the 2024 elections, the status of the legislative process and what the potential changes could mean to you and your business.

9:20 - 10:20 a.m. - A Section 1202 Primer: The Qualified Small Business Stock Gain Exclusion (Brian Masterson, JD, LLM, CPA and Scott Dolson, JD

Section 1202 provides for a 100% exclusion from federal income tax when qualified small business stock ("QSBS") held for more than five years is sold in a taxable sale, subject to a gain exclusion cap of $10 million per stockholder per issuing corporation or, if greater, 10 times the aggregate tax basis of the QSBS held by the selling stockholder. If the Section 1202 gain exclusion applies to the taxable sale of QSBS issued after September 27, 2010, there is no capital gains tax, no 3.8% net investment income tax and no alternative minimum tax. This session will cover the issuer-level and shareholder-level requirements under Section 1202, including the specific types of businesses that are excluded from qualification, and how these requirements impact the applicability of the exclusion. Attendees will learn how to effectively advise clients on structuring investments to maximize the benefits of Section 1202, including strategic planning for holding periods and the use of Section 1045 as a helpful tool. The presentation will also explore case studies.

10:25 - 11:25 a.m. - IRS Technology and Initiatives Update (Dennis Bell)

In today's digital landscape, the security of sensitive tax information is paramount. This session will delve into the evolving threat of data breaches affecting tax practitioners and the IRS. Participants will explore recent incidents, the technology that underpins these breaches, and the implications for both tax professionals and their clients.

12:15 - 1:15 p.m. - Fixing Federal Tax Mistakes (Mary Slonina, JD)

Mistakes happen. Errors can be discovered at any point in time: simply reviewing a prior filed return, preparing a subsequent year’s return, or even during an IRS examination. Taxpayers often want to be forthcoming with an oversight and self-correct, as self-correction is encouraged under our system of tax administration, which depends on voluntary compliance. And, as professionals, we generally counsel our clients to fix material mistakes. In this presentation, we will discuss how to handle tax mistakes in a variety of contexts and points in time; the presentation will also highlight overarching rules and standards in addressing tax mistakes.

1:20 - 2:20 p.m. (Concurrent Session) - Partnership Issues and How to Correct (John Rose, JD)

1:20 - 2:20 p.m. (Concurrent Session) - Ethics in AI (Robert Guth, JD, LLM and Jason Epstein, JD)

2:25 - 3:25 p.m. (Concurrent Session) - Corporate Transparency Act Rollout and Updates (John Bunge, JD, LLM)

We will discuss the ongoing implementation of the Corporate Transparency Act’s beneficial ownership reporting requirements, including the year-end deadline for reporting entities that existed before 2024. We will also discuss some common thorny issues that have come up in practice.

2:25 - 3:25 p.m. (Concurrent Session) - The Coming Death of the S Corp and Rise of the C Corp (David Fredrick, JD, LLM)

This session will review recent and pending tax code changes that will signal the end of the S Corp as a viable entity structure and the rise of the C Corp to replace it.  In this session we will discuss, S Corp restrictions, tax comparisons, upcoming law changes, and planning options for business owners in light of these considerations.

3:40 - 4:40 p.m. - Tax Sunsetting Provisions (Dr. Marilyn Young, CPA)

This session will explore the expiring provisions from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and the proposals for extending these provisions.

4:40 - 5:30 p.m. - Conference Reception

8:05am - 4:40pm (Central Time)
$0.00

Please check this box if you do not wish to attend the conference this day.

November 22, 2024

Select One and Only One
8:00am - 3:55pm (Central Time)
$240.00

Please select this option if you would like to attend Day three of the conference. Attending this day is $240.

Day three of the conference includes sessions of Federal Tax and SALT updates.

8:05 - 9:45 a.m. - Recent Developments in Federal Income Taxation Part 1 (Bruce McGovern, JD, LLM and Cass Brewer, JD, LLM)

This session will review the most significant statutory enactments, judicial decisions, IRS rulings, and Treasury regulations promulgated during the last twelve months that affect the federal income tax treatment of individuals, corporations and their shareholders, partnerships and partners, and tax-exempt organizations. Significant procedural developments also will be covered. 

10 - 11:40 a.m. - Recent Developments in Federal Income Taxation Part 2 (Bruce McGovern, JD, LLM and Cass Brewer, JD, LLM)

This session will review the most significant statutory enactments, judicial decisions, IRS rulings, and Treasury regulations promulgated during the last twelve months that affect the federal income tax treatment of individuals, corporations and their shareholders, partnerships and partners, and tax-exempt organizations. Significant procedural developments also will be covered.

12:30 - 1:30 p.m. - Economic Update (Dr. Chris Kuehl)

Chris will provide an economic update relating to changes in federal taxes.

1:35 - 2:35 p.m. - 2024 Multistate Nexus and Tax Policy Update (Steve Wlodychak, JD, LLM)

In this session, we will provide an update on the most significant state and local tax policy legislative, regulatory and judicial developments in 2024 and identify emerging trends in multistate taxation that Tennessee businesses and their employees will want to know about, particularly when other states aggressively pursue out of state residents for tax revenues. Other topics include the emergence and litigation relating to the imposition of new state and local taxes on the digital economy, increasing state interest in worldwide combined reporting and the continuing reverberation of state responses to various provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and what the implications for the states might be if key provisions on not extended.

2:50 - 4:30 p.m. - State and Local Tax Update (Steve Jasper, JD and Chris Wilson, JD, LLM)

In this session, Chris Wilson and Steve Jasper will walk through the latest developments in Tennessee's state and local tax laws that have taken place in this year.

8:00am - 3:55pm (Central Time)
$0.00

Please check this box if you do not wish to attend the conference this day.

$85.00

In order to select CLE credits, please login to your account or register with your applicable BPR number.

Speakers

Turney P. Berry, JD

Turney P. Berry concentrates his practice in the areas of estate planning, fiduciary matters, and charitable planning. Mr. Berry is Chair of Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs' Trusts, Estates & Personal Planning Service Team and a past member of the firm's Executive Committee.

Mr. Berry is active in the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), and has served as President of the ACTEC Foundation, Regent of the College, State Chair for Kentucky, Chair of the Estate & Gift Committee, and Chair of the Charitable and Tax Exempt Committee. Currently he serves as Vice Chair of the State Laws Committee, and a member of the Long Range Planning Committee.

As a Uniform Law Commissioner, Mr. Berry currently serves as Co-Chair of the Drafting Committee on Economic Rights of Unmarried Cohabitants Act, Member of the Drafting Committee on Revised Disposition of Community Property Rights at Death Act, Vice-Chair of the Drafting Committee on Conflicts of Laws in Trusts and Estates, and Member of the Joint Editorial Board for Uniform Trust and Estate Acts. He has served as chair of the Uniform Fiduciary Income and Principal Act (UFIPA), chair of the Uniform Power of Appointment Act, Vice Chair of the Drafting Committee on Electronic Wills Act, and as a member of the drafting committees for the Directed Trust Act, the Revised Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, the Trust Decanting Act, the Insurable Interests in Trusts Act, the Premarital and Marital Agreements Act, the Transfer on Death Deeds Act, and the Uniform Probate Code Artificial Reproductive Technology provisions, and an adjunct member of the Fundraising Through Public Appeals Act.

Mr. Berry is a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel, a member of the American Law Institute, a member of The International Academy of Estate and Trust Law, a member of the Advisory Council of the Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning, a Member of the Advisory Board of Trusts and Estates Monthly, and a member of the Bloomberg BNA Tax Advisory Board (Estates, Gifts, and Trusts). He serves as Adjunct Professor at the University of Miami Estate Planning LLM Program (teaching Business Succession Planning), and has served as Adjunct Professor at Vanderbilt University, the University of Missouri, and the University of Louisville, and regularly speaks at the nation's leading estate planning conferences. Since 1996, Mr. Berry has served as Co-Chair of the Midwest/Midsouth Estate Planning Institute at the University of Kentucky (the longest continuously run CLE event in Kentucky).

Mr. Berry has been certified as an Accredited Estate Planner® (AEP®) by the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils and is a member of its Estate Planning Hall of Fame [Kentucky does not recognize legal specialties]. He is listed in Woodward/White's The Best Lawyers in America® and in the Kentucky Super Lawyer Magazine in the area of Trusts and Estates.

Mr. Berry is the author or co-author of three Tax Management Portfolios: Estate Tax Deductions - Sections 2053 and 2054; Private Foundations - Self Dealing - Section 4941; and Taxable Expenditures - Section 4945. In addition he is co-author of Trust Law in Kentucky (in progress) and his frequent articles have appeared in numerous journals and magazines. Mr. Berry received the Texas Bar Foundation Outstanding Law Review Article award for an article he co-authored with Paul Lee titled "Retaining, Sustaining and Obtaining Basis" which was published by the Texas Tech Estate Planning and Community Property Law Journal in January 2015

Mr. Berry has been an Articles Editor of The Tax Lawyer and a past chair of the Louisville Bar Association Probate and Estate Planning Section (1989 Section of the Year). He is a member of the Louisville Estate Planning Council, Kentuckiana Planned Giving Council, and an adjunct member of the American Association of Life Underwriters.

Mr. Berry is a member of the Civilian Review and Accountability Board, Chair of the Center for Interfaith Relations, and Earth School/Carbon Nation. He is a member of Louisville Downtown Rotary, and a Member of the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels. He is a past member of the Board of Directors for the Muhammad Ali Center, Kentucky Opera, Actors Theatre, the Filson Historical Society, the Louisville Science Center, among others, as well as past President of the Daily Bread Sunday School Class at Christ Church United Methodist. Mr. Berry is the recipient of the National Philanthropy Day Baylor Landrum Award and has been recognized as a Distinguished Citizen of Louisville.

A native of Tennessee, Mr. Berry received his B.A. and B.L.S. in 1983 from the University of Memphis and his J.D. in 1986 from Vanderbilt University.

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Aaron B. Flinn, JD, LLM

Aaron Flinn is a private wealth services attorney in Holland & Knight's Nashville office. Business owners and entrepreneurs, corporate officers and executives, and investors and families with inherited assets seek advice from Mr. Flinn for the purpose of ensuring financial stability and continued prosperity. Serving clients with trust and estate as well as wealth preservation needs, he helps craft and deliver strategies that reflect the client's values while capturing the tax benefits available under their given circumstances. He also works with assisting business owners in succession planning and other issues often encountered by closely held companies.

Mr. Flinn offers advice to clients on how to protect and retain wealth through strategic planning related to income, estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer taxes. Tax-exempt and nonprofit organizations also rely on him for day-to-day guidance in relation to taxation and governance matters.

Mr. Flinn also assists trust officers and other fiduciaries in the administration trusts and decedents' estates, and works with ultra-high-net-worth families with regard to all facets of Private Family Trust Companies in Tennessee, including the migration of trusts and other administration issues.

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Hale E. Sheppard, JD, LLM

Hale E. Sheppard is a Shareholder in the Tax Dispute Section and Chair of the International Tax Section of Chamberlain Hrdlicka. He defends individual and businesses with IRS problems, particularly those involving international issues.

Hale holds five college degrees. At the University of Kansas, he earned a B.S., with distinction, M.A., with honors, and J.D. He later received an LL.M. degree in international law, with highest distinction, from the University of Chile. Finally, he obtained an LL.M. degree in tax from the University of Florida, where he was a graduate tax scholar. During his studies, Hale served as a graduate editor of the Florida Tax Review and member of the Kansas Journal of Law & Public Policy.

Hale ranks among the most active tax writers in the country, publishing over 150 major articles in some of the nation's top law reviews and tax journals, including Journal of Taxation, International Tax Journal, The Tax Adviser, Journal of International Taxation, Journal of Tax Practice and Procedure, Taxes Magazine, Practical Tax Lawyer, Journal of Passthrough Entities, Tax Management International Journal, Journal of Multi-State Tax & Incentives, Tax Notes International, Practical Tax Strategies, Journal of Real Estate Taxation, Journal of Taxation of Financial Products, and Corporate Business Taxation.

Hale has participated in over 120 cases before the U.S. Tax Court, with recent rulings including Landow v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 2011-177 (Tax Court case regarding employee stock ownership plans and taxpayer rights in cases of involuntary conversations), Virginia Historic Tax Credit Fund v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 2009-295, rev'd 639 F.3d 129 (case of first impression regarding federal tax treatment of state tax-credit partnerships), Topping v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 2007-92 (hobby loss case in which the Tax Court ruled in favor of the taxpayer on all major issues), Vines v. Commissioner, 126 T.C. 279 (case of first impression involving use of mark-to-market accounting by securities traders).

Hale has also obtained over 20 favorable Private Letter Rulings for clients from the IRS National Office on assorted procedural, tax, and international issues.

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Joshua Hedrick, CVA

Joshua Hedrick is a member in Kraft Analytics, LLC, an affiliate of KraftCPAs, PLLC that focuses on valuation, forensics, and transaction advisory services. For nearly two decades, Josh has advised business owners, executives, investors, and attorneys on issues related to valuation, cash flow management, compensation systems, financial strategy, and economic damages. Prior to joining Kraft in 2009, Josh worked in the valuation, forensics, and transaction advisory group of a large North Carolina-based accounting firm. He started his professional career as lender and licensed financial advisor with Wachovia Bank.

Josh's practice focuses on measuring, evaluating, and communicating economic value. His valuations - which include appraisals of business enterprises, complex equity interests, debt instruments, intellectual property, and other intangible assets - are relied upon for investment, lending, managerial planning, compliance, accounting, tax, marital dissolution, restructuring, and litigation purposes.

Litigation support and forensic services include financial expert witness services in transaction, shareholder, and business disputes, marital dissolutions, and white-collar criminal matters. His reports and testimony have been relied upon in settlement negotiations, mediations, arbitrations, and trials.

Buy and sell-side transaction advisory and due diligence services include transaction feasibility analysis, fairness opinions, valuation and deal structuring, quality of earnings reports, working capital analysis, purchase price allocations, and post transaction cash flow projections. Josh's clients cover a broad spectrum of investor types and industries - ranging from venture capital and angels investing in pre-revenue tech start-ups to synergistic buyers acquiring late round healthcare companies to cautious first-time buyers acquiring single location retail businesses to the partners of service companies establishing buy/sell agreements.

Josh is frequently featured at corporate and legal industry events as a guest speaker on topics related to valuation, exit planning, mergers and acquisitions, and economic damages.

Josh manages a team of credentialed and experienced professionals who support and enhance his practice.

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Jim Cornfeld, CFP, CSLP

As an advanced planning advisor, Jim joined Buckingham Strategic Wealth in 2006. Prior to that, he was vice president and portfolio manager for First Bank Wealth Management Group. He spent 18 years with Mobil Oil Corporation in its marketing division, representing Mobil globally from its offices in Africa, Australia and New York.

Jim is a Certified Financial Planner professional and holds the Certified Student Loan Professional designation. Jim also chairs the firm’s Advanced Planning Committee.

He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. He serves on the board of the Financial Executives Networking Group.

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Mark C. Patterson, CPA

Mark Patterson, a member (owner) with KraftCPAs and co- practice leader of the KraftCPAs manufacturing, wholesale, distribution (MWD) industry team, has been working in public accounting since 1985. Prior to joining KraftCPAs, he worked with local and national public accounting firms. Mark's responsibilities include tax research and planning, reviewing income tax returns and supervising tax professionals. He provides tax compliance and planning for middle- market companies and their owners.

Mark has experience with the manufacturing, transportation and service industries including tax consulting and compliance for American subsidiaries of foreign owned companies. His expertise has helped numerous clients reduce their tax burden through the identification of various state and federal tax credits, deductions and other incentives, including but not limited to the Tennessee Jobs Tax Credit, the federal research and development (R&D) credit, IC-DISC for exporters, the domestic manufacturing deduction and cost segregation studies.

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Claude E. Blankenship, CPA, CGMA

CJ Blankenship is the Managing Partner at the firm and consults with clients and the BCPAG team on the most challenging tax, accounting, management and financial matters. He is a National Merit Scholar and received his Bachelor of Business Administration with honors in Accounting from Belmont University.

He has over twenty years of management experience in a variety of industries and service sectors and had worked at Crowe Chizek (currently Crowe Horwath, LLP) and RSM McGladrey, Inc. prior to joining the firm in 2007. CJ was admitted as a partner in the firm in February of 2009 and has served as the managing partner since.

Over his career CJ has performed a variety of consulting services for hundreds of clients, including serving in an outsourced CFO capacity for an international manufacturing and distribution company with operations and customers around the globe.

CJ spends his workdays on mergers and acquisitions, not-for-profit consulting and compliance matters, planning (particularly with tax favored investment strategy), management consulting, tax compliance, accounting systems and matters for businesses, not-for-profits and individuals, and manages the day to day processes and strategic direction of the firm.

CJ has a heart for Christian ministries and is the Founder and President of Christian Recovery Houses, Inc., and consults with several not for profit boards. He has also served the TSCPA Nashville Board and Federal Tax Committee, and has served as the Treasurer at the Tennessee Christian Chamber of Commerce. He used to spend a lot of hours with the guitar and Christian song-writing, playing golf, camping, hunting, fishing, writing and exercising. Now, he is blessed to have married up to his lovely wife Amanda, and spends most of his free time as a father of two wonderful sons and a sweet little girl to round out the brood.

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Anne D. Waters, JD, CPA

Anne Waters is an attorney and a CPA. She joined Blankenship in September 1998. She graduated from Vanderbilt Law School in 1994. She worked with several large law firms in Nashville prior to joining the firm. For her undergraduate work, she attended the University of Notre Dame and graduated with a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Accounting. Her primary focus area is estate planning, including estate and gift tax, wills and trusts, and trust and estate income tax work.

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Bryan Howard, JD, LLM

Bryan Howard is a tax attorney in Holland & Knight's Nashville office, where he works with ultra-high-net-worth families regarding their estate planning, closely held businesses, tax planning, philanthropy and asset protection matters. Mr. Howard assists clients to ensure an orderly and tax-efficient transmission of their wealth from one generation to the next.

Mr. Howard advises the owners of closely held businesses with respect to entity structure, federal and state income tax minimization, succession planning, as well as an exit from the business. He helps philanthropic clients to determine the appropriate vehicle for accomplishing their charitable objectives while obtaining income tax benefits. Mr. Howard was the principal drafter of the Tennessee Investment Services Trust Act that has enabled many Tennesseans to protect their assets from future creditors.

Many of Mr. Howard's clients have worked with him for a number of years. He often represents two or three generations of a family and/or siblings and cousins of his clients. Mr. Howard regularly works with formal and informal family offices, including their various advisors.

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John Rose

Congressman John Rose currently represents the 6th Congressional District.

In a rare honor for a freshman Congressman, John has been named to one of the most powerful committees in Congress, House Financial Services, which gives him a platform from which to advocate for affordable housing and push back on the onerous federal regulation of local community banks across the Sixth District.

Rose grew up in Cookeville, Tennessee in Putnam County and is a lifelong resident of Tennessee's Sixth Congressional District. As a child, he worked with his father on their family farm in the Temperance Hall community in DeKalb County to continue the family farm's 200-year legacy. John graduated from Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville with a bachelor's degree in agribusiness economics. He went on to complete his Master of Science in agricultural economics at Purdue University and his Juris Doctorate at Vanderbilt University.

After law school, Rose co-founded Transcender Corporation, a company that earned the prestigious Music City Future 50 Award five consecutive years. Transcender Corporation was sold in November 2000 to Information Holdings, Inc. later becoming part of Kaplan, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Graham Holdings Company, formerly known as the Washington Post Company. Rose currently owns and is the president of Boson Software, LLC, which trains IT professionals across the country.

In 2002 at the age of 37, Rose was appointed Commissioner of Agriculture for the State of Tennessee, and has chaired the Tennessee State Fair Association since 2010

John and his wife Chelsea have always been active in their community and enthusiastic supporters of Future Farmers of America, the Tennessee State Fair, and Tennessee Technological University.

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John M. Bunge, JD, LLM

John Bunge is a tax and private wealth services attorney in Holland & Knight's Nashville office. Mr. Bunge helps clients navigate the confluence of tax planning, business succession planning and estate planning, and seeks to find the most elegant solutions possible to reach their goals.

Mr. Bunge's wealth preservation experience includes income, gift, estate and generation-skipping transfer tax minimization, through the use of irrevocable trusts, sales and gifts to trusts, charitable-interest trusts and grantor-retained annuity trusts, among other sophisticated wealth planning strategies. He also advises families on the formation of investment entities, such as family limited partnerships and family LLCs.

Mr. Bunge helps clients reach their charitable goals, using charitable giving techniques to minimize income, estate and gift taxes, and advising clients on the formation and operation of tax-exempt organizations, including private foundations.

He also counsels families regarding the formation, structuring and operation of family offices and private trust companies.

Additionally, Mr. Bunge helps clients minimize income taxes through individual, partnership and corporate tax planning. He also has experience assisting taxpayers through IRS audits, appeals and U.S. Tax Court litigation.

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Marilyn Young, CPA

Dr. Marilyn Young is a Professor of Accounting at Belmont University. She joined the faculty in 2001. She has a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Master of Tax Accounting from the University of Alabama, and a Ph.D. in Accounting from the University of Mississippi.

Her industry experience includes work as a Tax Accountant for Deloitte and Frasier, Dean, and Howard and as a Tax Specialist in Corporate Finance at Empire Berol Corporation. Before coming to Belmont University, she taught at Lipscomb University. Her teaching experience at Belmont includes both undergraduate and graduate classes in taxation and financial accounting. Dr. Young also helps non-accounting students prepare to enter the Master in Accountancy program by teaching in the Summer Accounting Institute. She has presented her research at various regional and national conferences and published articles in Tax Adviser, Journal of Accountancy, State Tax Notes, Strategic Finance, Issues in Accounting Education, Tennessee CPA Journal, Economics and Politics, and Journal of S Corporation Taxation.

Dr. Young holds membership in the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants (TSCPA), American Accounting Association, and American Taxation Association. She is currently a member of the AICPA IRS Advocacy and Relations Committee and a member of the TSCPA Nashville Chapter Board. The AIPCA has twice awarded her honorable mention for the Bea Sanders/AICPA Innovation in Teaching Award. She received an Outstanding Teaching Award from Lipscomb University and Outstanding Teaching Award from the Jack C. Massey College of Business at Belmont University. Named multiple times as the Most Inspirational Professor of The Jack C. Massey Graduate School of Business and the Faculty Member of the Year by the Beta Alpha Psi chapter in the Jack C. Massey College of Business, Dr. Young was presented with Belmont's highest faculty honor, The Chaney Distinguished Professor Award, in 2005.

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Jeffrey Kummer

Jeff is the Managing Director, Tax Policy, Washington National Tax with Deloitte. He has over 25 years of experience in the tax policy arena and is currently responsible for communicating emerging tax developments in the U.S. Congress, the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department, and the federal courts to the Firm and its clients. Jeff oversees the content development of Tax News & Views as well as thought leadership publications on issues such as the U.S. deficit and fundamental tax reform.

His Capitol Hill experience includes working on tax and budget issues for former U.S. Senator and Senate Finance Committee member Steve Symms, R-Idaho.

Jeff holds a BS in Political Science from the University of Idaho and an MBA from Johns Hopkins University.

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Robert C. Guth

Robert Guth represents clients in a wide range of multistate tax matters. He helps clients plan for the future, manage compliance, navigate audits, and resolve disputes with taxing authorities. Robert is also well regarded in Nashville's nonprofit and public policy communities. He serves on the board of several nonprofits, has organized and advised community and policy organizations, and presented to law makers and public policy groups on tax topics and economic and community development.

Prior to joining Bass, Berry & Sims, Robert served as assistant general counsel for taxation and as the special counsel to the Financial Control Division at the Tennessee Department of Revenue. In this role, he served as the Department's primary attorney for corporate income and franchise taxes, the Hall individual income tax, and taxation of petroleum products. He also advised the Department on tax-increment financing and local sales tax issues. Robert earned his LL.M. in taxation and his law degree from Boston University School of Law.

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David Frederick, JD, LLM

David Frederick is a Senior Manager of Taxation in the Private Client Group of LBMC, PC. David is an attorney by background and his practice at LBMC is focused on advising high net worth individuals on matters of estate planning, business succession planning, and tax mitigation. In this advisory role, David guides his clients through the structures and strategies that will maximize their control, minimize their tax, and allow them to more fully reap the benefits of their lifetimes of hard work. These structures and strategies commonly include sophisticated estate planning trusts, advanced tax-exempt and charitable systems, family business transfer designs, gifting and timing options, real estate ownership systems, and numerous other wealth transfer frameworks.

Before coming to LBMC, David worked as a transaction attorney for several law firms of various sizes. More recently, he has served as a Director of Wealth Strategy and Trust Counsel for prominent banks and trust companies in the Midwest. Additionally, David is a trained economist and held the position of Adjunct Professor of Economics at Washington University in St. Louis for fifteen years. With this broad background in law and economics, David can provide his clients with insights and perspectives on legal, economic, and market conditions that may affect their estate plans, investments, business structures, or other important plans for the future.

David has authored and published several academic articles on income taxation, estate taxation, charitable strategies, business succession, public policy, economics, history, and estate planning.

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Mary I. Slonina, JD

Mary I. Slonina is a managing director in KPMG’s Washington National Tax’s (WNT) Practice, Procedures, and Administration (PP&A) Group, a component of WNT’s Tax Dispute Resolution & Controversy Services practice.

Mary assists clients in addressing challenging IRS procedural issues and resolving complex IRS controversies; she represents clients before the IRS Large Business and International (LB&I) division, as well as the Independent Office of Appeals and IRS Chief Counsel. Prior to joining KPMG, she was a director at PwC on the Tax Controversy and Regulatory Services team, and prior to that she was as an attorney for the IRS Office of Associate Chief Counsel (Procedure and Administration).

Mary is a director on the Council of Directors of the Tax Section of the American Bar Association, and also serves as the Section’s liaison to the American Institute of CPAs. Additionally, she is active in the Federal Bar Association Section of Taxation. Mary is a board member to the Community Tax Law Project, a low- and moderate-income taxpayer clinic based in Richmond, Virginia.

Mary earned a BA in government from The College of William & Mary and a JD from Case Western Reserve University School of Law.

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Scott W. Dolson, JD

Scott is the leader of Frost Brown Todd's tax planning team and co-chair of the firm's private equity industry team. The scope of Scott's tax practice encompasses tax planning for business formations, ownership arrangements, LLC agreements and M&A transactions. Scott's corporate practice extends to handling M&A transactions, equity compensation arrangements and general corporate law matters.

Scott is recognized for his tax planning work with founders, investors, and businesses with respect to their qualified small business stock (QSBS) issues. Scott has written numerous articles addressing QSBS planning issues, and he has developed a national practice handling Section 1202 and 1045 issues. Scott's focus is on securing and maximizing Section 1202's generous tax benefits for his clients.

Scott has represented companies, founders, investors, management teams, executives, PE sponsors, family offices and individuals across a wide variety of industries, including healthcare, direct marketing, gaming, industrial and commercial real estate development, distributorship, software and hospitality. Scott applies his expertise and experience to assist clients in achieving their business objectives, whether that means limiting an exposure to contingent liabilities or finding the most tax efficient structure for a business transaction.

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Dennis Bell

Dennis Bell is an Area Manager in the Stakeholder Liaison organization of IRS and works from Columbus Ohio.

He began his IRS career as a customer service representative in Pittsburgh, PA in 1990. Immediately before coming to Stakeholder Liaison, he was a Revenue Agent with the Tax-Exempt and Government Entities division where he worked in Employee Plans. He joined Stakeholder Liaison in July of 2001.

Mr. Bell holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh, PA.

Stakeholder Liaison (SL) is a unit that does outreach and educates taxpayers about their tax obligations by developing educational products focused on their needs.

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Jason Epstein, JD

Jason is the co-head of Nelson Mullins technology industry group. He provides legal services to buyers and sellers of technology both domestically and internationally in various industries, including fintech, health IT, energy, automotive, manufacturing, federal, state, and local government, technology, construction, and others.

Jason has experience in business and technology negotiations from both the vendor and buyer perspectives including artificial intelligence, outsourcing, technology transfer, hardware and software development and acquisition, supply chain, privacy and security, blockchain, cloud computing, cryptocurrency, and open-source code.

Additionally, he often serves as outside general counsel and relationship partner to companies in a variety of industries. His areas of focus include board governance, technology, venture capital and private equity, mergers and acquisitions, reorganizations, international commerce, and litigation. Whether advising clients of Fortune 500, mid-market, or small businesses (including under the SBA), he serves as an advisor to the C-suite and inside general counsel regarding business-related law.

Jason was an adjunct professor at the Vanderbilt University Law School in Nashville, Tennessee, teaching "Law of Cyberspace" for many years.

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Bruce A. McGovern, JD, LLM

Bruce McGovern is a tenured member of the faculty at South Texas College of Law Houston, where he also serves as Director of the school's Low Income Taxpayer Clinic. Previously, he served for many years as the school's Vice President and Associate Dean for Academic Administration. He received his undergraduate degree from Columbia University and his law degree from Fordham University School of Law. After law school, he served as a judicial clerk for Judge Thomas Meskill on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York. He then practiced law with the law firm of Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C. He subsequently earned an LL.M. in Taxation from the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where he taught as a visiting faculty member before joining the faculty at South Texas College of Law Houston.

Professor McGovern teaches and writes in the areas of business organizations and taxation. His courses include Federal Income Taxation, U.S. Taxation of International Transactions, Partnership and Subchapter S Taxation, and Federal Tax Procedure. He frequently speaks on recent developments in federal income taxation. Professor McGovern is a member of the Council of the State Bar of Texas Tax Section, a former Chair of the Houston Bar Association Section of Taxation, and a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel.

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Christopher A. Wilson, JD, LLM

Chris Wilson is a tax attorney in Holland & Knight's Nashville office. Mr. Wilson helps nonprofit organizations and companies in a wide range of industries such as manufacturing, retail, cable television, real estate, professional services, waste management and software, with a range of state tax planning and state tax litigation matters in both administrative and judicial forums.

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Christopher Kuehl

Dr. Chris Kuehl is a Managing Director of Armada Corporate Intelligence. He provides forecasts and strategic guidance for a wide variety of corporate clients around the world. He is the chief economist for several national and international organizations, Fabricators and Manufacturers Association, National Association of Credit Management, Finance, Credit and International Business and the Business Information Industry Association. He is also the economic analyst for several state accounting societies – Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee and Kansas.

Prior to starting Armada in 1999 he was a professor of economics and finance for 15 years – teaching in the US, Hungary, Russia, Estonia, Singapore and Taiwan. He holds advanced degrees in economics, Soviet studies and East Asian studies.

Chris is the author of Business Intelligence Briefs and Executive Intelligence Briefs - both publications from Armada. He is also responsible for the Credit Manager's Index from NACM and Fabrinomics from the FMA.

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Stephen J. Jasper, JD

Steve Jasper is a member at Bass, Berry & Sims in its Nashville office. He advises clients in a wide range of tax disputes regarding Tennessee's sales and use tax, franchise and excise taxes, business tax, and property taxes. Steve represents his clients in negotiations with taxing authorities and, as necessary, guides businesses through administrative proceedings or trials. As a reflection of his experience in state tax matters, on multiple occasions Steve has been selected by the Tennessee Department of Revenue to help draft major rewrites to significant portions of Tennessee's tax statutes. Steve also assists expanding or relocating businesses in Tennessee achieve the maximum value they can through state tax incentives, payments-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) agreements and state grant programs to help grow the state's overall economic base.

Steve is a graduate of the University of Missouri where he received a law degree and bachelor's degree. Prior to joining Bass, Berry & Sims, Steve produced the evening newscast for local ABC affiliate in Columbia, Missouri, KMIZ-ABC 17.

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Cassady V. Brewer, JD, LLM

Cassady V. "Cass" Brewer, associate professor of law, teaches Basic Federal Income Taxation, Nonprofit Organizations, Taxation of Business Organizations, Corporate Taxation, Partnership Taxation, and the Law of Social Enterprise. His research primarily focuses upon the legal and tax aspects of the intersection of tax-exempt, nonprofit organizations with for-profit enterprises and commercial activity. In particular, Brewer writes and speaks extensively on recent federal income tax developments and the legal and tax aspects of the emerging "hybrid" business forms such as the benefit corporation and the low-profit limited liability company.

Brewer received his LL.M. (Taxation) from New York University, where he served as graduate editor of the Tax Law Review. He is a graduate of the University of Arkansas School of Law, where he was editor-in-chief of the Arkansas Law Review. He received his undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University.

He co-founded the Nonprofit Law Section of the State Bar of Georgia, and he is a past co-chair of the Section. Brewer also has participated in drafting and amending the Georgia Limited Liability Company and Limited Liability Partnership Acts and continues to serve as a member of the Partnerships and LLCs Subcommittee of the Business Law Section of the State Bar of Georgia.

Brewer previously was a partner in the Tax Group of Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP and remains Of Counsel with the firm.

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Steven Wlodychak, JD, LLM

Retired Principal, former Ernst & Young LLP National State and Local Tax Policy Leader for Americas Tax Policy.

Steve Wlodychak is a state and local tax columnist for Tax Analysts and a retired principal and the former State and Local Tax Policy Leader for EY's Americas Tax Policy in Washington, DC. Previously, Steve worked in EY's Los Angeles and New York offices, was a state and local tax attorney for an international insurance company and an associate attorney with a major regional law firm. In addition, he worked in state government in New Jersey, including for the governor of the state. A frequent speaker and writer on state and local tax developments, EY awarded Steve its first ever lifetime achievement award as tax educator of the year in 2017. He also was a guest lecturer on state and local tax matters for the LL.M. in taxation program at the Georgetown University School of Law.

Steve holds degrees from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, Seton Hall University’s School of Law and a master's degree in tax law from New York University's School of Law.

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