The additions to the Internal Revenue Service Advisory Council (IRSAC) have lengthy experience in areas such as academia, appraisal, tax compliance and accounting, tax controversy and accounting regulation, for large and small businesses, individuals and tax-exempt organisations.
After a number of meetings during the year, IRSAC submits its annual report to the agency, usually in November. IRSAC members generally serve a three-year term with a possible one-year extension. The eight new members will join 13 returning members in 2015.
The new members are:
Patricia Atwood is an accredited senior appraiser in the field of personal property and the owner of Timely Antique Appraisals, in Rockford, Illinois.
Eunkyong Choi is a lecturer in law and supervising attorney for Washington University School of Law’s Low Income Taxpayer Clinic in St. Louis.
Thomas Cullinan is a partner with Sutherland Asbill & Brennan in Atlanta. He advises corporations, partnerships, and high net-worth individuals on tax controversies against the IRS.
Estarre Fischer, a certified public accountant (CPA), is a partner with Moss Adams, in Everett, Washington. She mainly provides clients with tax consulting services regarding R&D expenditures.
Neil Fishman, another CPA, is vice-president/co-owner of Fishman Associates CPAs, in Boynton Beach, Florida. He specialises in the preparation of federal, state and local corporate, partnership, fiduciary, gift, estate, not-for-profit and personal income tax returns.
John McDermott, is an attorney/partner with Taylor, Porter, Brooks & Phillips, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. His primary area of practice is tax planning and advice, including business and individual income tax, payroll tax, franchise tax, excise tax, ad valorem tax, sales and use tax and gift and estate tax.
Walter Pagano, a CPA, is a tax partner with EisnerAmper, Accountants and Advisory in New York City. He concentrates his practice in tax controversy examinations and investigations, commercial and civil litigation, accounting investigations, internal investigations, financial statement omissions, misrepresentations and fraud, with an emphasis on civil and criminal tax controversy, white collar defence, corruption, professional conduct and tax standards, accounting errors and irregularities, post-closing adjustments, management and employee fraud, and third-party asset misappropriation.
Donald Read, is an attorney and is certified as a taxation law specialists by the Board of Legal Specialisation of the State Bar of California. A former attorney-adviser in the Treasury Department’s Office of Tax Legislative Counsel, he has been a tax partner in firms in Honolulu, San Diego and San Francisco. He owns the Law Office of Donald H Read, in Berkeley, California and is tax counsel to both Lakin-Spears in Palo Alto and Severson & Werson in San Francisco. His recent practice focuses on advising family law attorneys on tax issues related to divorce and the tax problems of same-sex couples. He also advises clients on general individual and business tax matters and has obtained private letter rulings for his clients in areas as diverse as partnerships, S corporations, stock redemptions, like-kind exchanges, stock options, deferred compensation and community property income of registered domestic partners.
Fred Murray is the IRSAC chairman for 2015. He is managing director, Tax Accounting, Risk Advisory and International Tax Services, Grant Thornton in Washington, DC. His responsibilities include managing policy, procedures, and risk in relation to Grant Thornton’s US Tax Services practice, including evaluation of tax return positions and penalty concerns; risk analysis; reportable transactions and material adviser concerns; disputes and controversies with tax authorities, Sarbanes-Oxley, SEC, GAO (Government Accountability Office) and PCAOB (Public Company Accounting Oversight Board) matters; and SFAS 109/FIN 48 (ASC 740) financial accounting matters.
