Biographies of the Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee (ETAAC) Members

 

2023-2024

Jared Ballew – Ballew is Director of Government Relations at Drake Software, where he has developed his tax industry experience over 18 years. He currently serves as the President of the National Association of Computerized Tax Processors ("NACTP"), promoting standardization and simplification between government tax agencies and the tax processing industry. Ballew is also actively engaged in Council for Electronic Revenue Communications Advancement ("CERCA") and the Security Summit, serving as a co-lead for the Tax Pro Working Group. He holds a Master of Business Administration from East Carolina University.

Peter Barca – Barca is Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Revenue and an active member and officer of the Federation of Tax Administrators Board of Trustees. Barca has served in the Wisconsin State Assembly, the United States House of Representatives, and the United States Small Business Administration. He was also a business owner and President of Aurora Associates International.

Vernon Barnett (Vice Chair) – Barnett began his service as Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Revenue in May 2017. He has worked in state government for 25 years and served as a Deputy Solicitor General, Legal Advisor to the Governor, Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Corrections and Executive Counsel of the Department of Environmental Management. Barnett is current Chair of the Multistate Tax Commission and a member of the Federation of Tax Administrators Board of Trustees.

Austin Emeagwai – Dr. Emeagwai is an Associate Professor of Accounting at LeMoyne-Owen College, Memphis. He is the president of ABC Accounting and Tax Services, P.C., a full-service CPA firm. His research interests include small business and community development by Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Dr. Emeagwai is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants, National Society of Accountants, and is a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) volunteer.

Jerry Gaddis – Gaddis is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Tropical Tax Solutions, a boutique firm headquartered in Florida providing tax consultation, preparation and representation solutions for individuals and small businesses. He began his 20-year tax career at the VITA/Tax Counseling for the Elderly clinic in the Key Largo public library. He is a former H&R Block Franchisee, a former Dave Ramsey ELP and a graduate of the National Tax Practice Institute. Gaddis served on the board of directors for the National Association of Enrolled Agents for seven years including three years as an officer and one year as President/CEO. He is an Enrolled Agent.

Robert Gettemy – Gettemy is a full-time instructor at the University of Iowa where he teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in entrepreneurship. In addition, he consults in the tax software industry. Prior to teaching, Gettemy spent seven years at TaxAct where he was Chief Operating Officer. During his tenure at TaxAct, Gettemy was responsible for all back-office operations, government relations and competitive intelligence. While at TaxAct, he served as Vice Chair of the American Coalition of Taxpayer Rights, was on the board of directors for the Council of Electronic Revenue Communication Advancement and was an industry co-lead in the IRS Security Summit initiative which was formed to combat stolen identity refund fraud. Gettemy was also active in IRS Free File.

Ronald Gilson – Ronald Gilson is co-owner, Krkcr Inc. in Springville, Utah. He has worked in the accounting software and services industry since 1997 in various capacities including software platform implementation, project development of new software platforms, and tax and payroll compliance, including file schema updates. He is experienced in payroll management and project administration, implementation of software systems, electronic file creation and customer account management. He serves as vice president on the board of directors of the American Payroll Association and is current co-chair of the association’s Electronic Payments Subcommittee. 

Mark Godfrey – Prior to joining Ernst & Young's Digital Tax Administration – Government Services practice, Godfrey served as Taxation Division Director at the Missouri Department of Revenue. During that time, the Taxation Division team implemented an integrated tax system and underwent a reorganization to capitalize on processing efficiencies. Godfrey is an attorney and a certified public accountant.

Robert Grennes – Robert Grennes is commissioner of the Indiana Department of Revenue (DOR), a role he has performed since February 2020. Mr. Grennes joined the DOR as chief operating officer in 2017, where he worked with over 500 Operations Division team members designing, operating, and improving all operations and service delivery functions. Before joining DOR, he worked in the private sector, leading information technology and financial services organizations while holding a variety of management, executive, and board positions. Mr. Grennes serves on the Board of Directors of the Federation of Tax Administrators. 

Douglas Harding – Douglas Harding is tax corrections principal examiner at the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services, where he has been employed since 2013. Mr. Harding has served as the department's electronic filing coordinator, overseeing all aspects of the Modernized e-File Program, including schema development, internal testing, software vendor testing, and troubleshooting production issues. 

Andrew Jennison – Andrew Jennison is director, government relations, at CGI Technologies and Solutions. He has experience in the tax services industry, as a systems integrator, on a state tax administration task force, and has graduate accounting education. For seven years, Mr. Jennison led and directed H&R Block’s legislative and regulatory team at both the federal and state levels. During this time, he developed relationships and partnered with community organizations, non-profits and industry to promote the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child & Dependent Care Credit and reduce the impact of fraud and abuse on underserved communities. 

Jihan Jude – Jude is an attorney and counselor at law with the Davey Law Group in Maitland, Florida. She previously worked with ComplyRight, where she focused on business employment tax compliance, information return reporting requirements from the IRS and Social Security Administration and labor law legal issues. Jude also reviewed company guidance for business clients who used ComplyRight's tax solutions (paper and electronic filing of tax and information returns and proprietary tax filing software). Jude is also a Senior Tax Professional at H&R Block during the tax season and served as an IRS VITA volunteer in 2020 and 2021.

Carol Lew – Carol Lew is a shareholder of Stradling, Yocca, Carlson & Rauth in Newport Beach, Calif. She is a tax lawyer and has substantial experience with tax exempt bond audits and tax-exempt bond voluntary closing agreement program cases. She served as president of the National Association of Bond Lawyers from 2006-2007, and as chair of the American Bar Association’s Tax-Exempt Financing Committee from 2001-2003. Ms. Lew has experience as bond counsel, underwriter’s counsel, special tax counsel and borrower’s counsel for various kinds of bond issues for state and local government and non-profits for the provision of public infrastructure, housing, charter schools, performing arts facilities, hospitals, museums and other types of facilities. She served as editor-in-chief of the Federal Taxation of Municipal Bonds from 2000-2001. Ms. Lew served on the Internal Revenue Service Advisory Council from 2019 to 2022 and was chair in 2022. 

Jonathan Lunardini – Lunardini is Section Manager of the California Franchise Tax Board's ("FTB") Identity Theft/Fraud Program. He has been a member of the Security Summit since its inception in 2015, and has participated in its Information Sharing, Authentication and Financial Services working groups. Lunardini engages with the IDTTRF-ISAC as a participating member of the metrics sub-team and participates in the National Automated Clearinghouse Association and the NACTP. In his role with the FTB, Lunardini has partnered with the IRS, other states, and industry partners on nationwide anti-fraud efforts.

Amy Wang Miller – Amy Wang Miller is director, public policy, at Carta Inc. She leads initiatives to promote e-filing for small business, advises financial services member companies on strategic methods to inform business decisions as well as internal and external messaging. Ms. Wang Miller leads policy engagement strategy with both legislators and regulators related to taxation, valuation, and corporate governance. Prior to Carta, Ms. Wang Miller was employed by the AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants), where she led tax policy initiatives involving cryptocurrency, education reform, disaster relief, the digital economy, and other individual, business, and international issues. She has advocated on behalf of AICPA members in tax technical areas before Congress, Treasury, and the IRS. 

Argi O'Leary – O'Leary is a Principal in the Advocacy Practice at Ryan, LLC in New York, where she provides tax strategy and audit assistance, including tax issue negotiations and resolution, policy advice and advocacy for all tax types. Before joining Ryan, O'Leary was a Deputy Commissioner with the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, leading the Department's Civil Enforcement Division and Office of Professional Responsibility, and also served as an Assistant Deputy Commissioner, leading the Department's litigation strategy in tax controversy matters.

James Paille – Paille works for Thomson Reuters and has over 40 years of experience in the payroll industry, including front line, treasury, and management experience. Paille is a member of the board of directors of the American Payroll Association and the Independent Payroll Providers Association. He is also an active member of the National Automated Clearinghouse Association, National Association of Computerized Tax Processors, and the IRS Reporting Agents Forum.

Hallie Parchman – Parchman is currently Amazon's Senior Manager of Product Management within the Corporate Tax function focusing on the end-to-end customer experience as it relates to tax information reporting and withholding, including tax operations, tax compliance and product delivery and design. Before joining Amazon, Parchman was a Tax Analyst at Apple Inc. focused on information reporting and a Federal Tax Associate at KPMG. She is a licensed CPA in Texas.

Andrew Phillips – Phillips is a Director at the Tax Institute at H&R Block, overseeing Agency & Industry Relations, Tax Research and Tax Law & Policy Analysis. Phillips is active in the Security Summit and the Identity Theft Tax Refund Fraud Information Sharing and Analysis Center (IDTTRF ISAC), serving as an industry co-lead on the Authentication Working Group and as a member of the ISAC Metrics Committee. Phillips is also active in tax industry associations, previously serving as a co-lead of the CERCA Legislative Implementation Working group, where he helped facilitate the implementation of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. In his personal time, Phillips serves on the Avila University Alumni Association Board.

RaeAnn Pilarski – Pilarski is Senior Manager at Code for America, where she scales and supports VITA partners that participate in the GetYourRefund program. Before joining Code for America, she oversaw the VITA program at the United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona. During her tenure there, she worked closely with Code for America as one of the original partners in the GetYourRefund pilot and led the development of Valet VITA, a model that allowed clients' documents to be scanned and securely uploaded to a system through which volunteers would access the information needed to prepare the return.

Stephanie Plaza – Stephanie Plaza is senior lead product manager at Wolters Kluwer. She has worked in the tax software development and financial products industry for more than 12 years. During her tenure in the tax industry, Ms. Plaza has worked closely with The Council for Electronic Revenue Communication Advancement (CERCA) and more recently the American Coalition for Taxpayers Rights (ACTR). Through CERCA, she has worked closely with the IRS on taxpayer experience and digital services. 

Keith Richardson – Richardson has over 15 years of tax administration experience. He is Deputy Chief Financial Officer and Tax Commissioner for the District of Columbia. As the Deputy CFO, he contributed to the development of its new modernized tax system, including working with IDTTRF-ISAC and establishing strategic plans for its customer service for taxpayers. Richardson previously worked for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as the Bureau of Compliance Director and was responsible for tax compliance initiatives, clearances and creating the Gaming Control Clearance Division to oversee all tax clearances for owners, vendors, employees and winners. He has also served as Revenue Commissioner for the City of Philadelphia.

Mark Steber – Mark Steber is chief tax officer with Jackson Hewitt Tax Service, where he serves as liaison to the IRS, states, and other government authorities. Mr. Steber has been an active participant in the IRS Security Summit since its founding in early 2015. He has been involved with the Summit’s Information Sharing, Authentication, Strategic Threat Assessment and Response, and Tax Pro working groups. Mr. Steber is active with various industry groups, including ACTR and CERCA. Prior to joining Jackson Hewitt, he was a tax partner with Ernst and Young LLP. Mr. Steber previously served on the ETAAC from 2017 to 2020. 

Terri Steenblock – Steenblock is Compliance Director at the Federation of Tax Administrators. She supports state revenue agencies across the United States by providing compliance outreach, education and support to tax administrators focused on audit, collections, criminal investigations, fraud, and electronic filing. Prior to working at FTA, she spent 15 years at the Minnesota Department of Revenue where she held various roles including serving as an Assistant Commissioner. Steenblock has been active in the IDTTRF ISAC since its inception.

Timur Taluy (Chair) – Taluy founded FileYourTaxes.com 25 years ago and serves as its chief executive. Taluy is a tax return preparer participating in the IRS Annual Filing Season Program (AFSP) and actively prepares tax returns. He serves as the Board Treasurer of the Council for Electronic Revenue Communications Advancement (CERCA). As a founding member of the IRS Security Summit, he serves as the co-chair of the Summit's Strategic Threat Assessment and Response (STAR) workgroup. He develops content and speaks at tax related meetings including the IRS Nationwide Tax Forums, the Latino Tax Professionals Tax Fest, and his local colleges and universities. Taluy holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California.