IR-2023-07, January 18, 2023
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today announced the appointment of nine new members to the Internal Revenue Service Advisory Council.
The IRSAC, established in 1953, is an organized public forum for IRS officials and representatives of the public to discuss a broad range of issues in tax administration. The Council provides the IRS commissioner with relevant feedback, observations and recommendations. It will submit its annual report to the agency at a public meeting in November 2023.
The IRS strives to appoint members to the IRSAC who represent the taxpaying public, the tax professional community, small and large businesses, tax exempt and government entities and information reporting interests.
The following individuals were appointed to serve three-year terms on the council beginning this month:
Joseph Bender – partner, Difede Ramsdell Bender PLLC, Washington, DC. Bender has practiced federal tax law for nearly 30 years. Over the last 15 years, his practice has focused on investments by tax exempt organizations, particularly leveraged and unleveraged investments, unrelated business income tax, unrelated debt-financed income and real estate investment trusts.
Christine Freeland – president, Christine Z. Freeland, CPA PC, Chandler, Arizona. Freeland has volunteered her tax services at both the local and state levels. At the national level, she has served as president of the National Society of Accountants and was the NSA presenter for the IRS Nationwide Tax Forum in 2020 and 2021. Freedland works with the Arizona Association of Accounting and Tax Professionals and has developed continuing education events for IRS Tax Security Awareness Week. She also teaches Circular 230 Ethics annually and participates in roundtables.
Aidan Hunt – student, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Hunt is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in computer science and linguistics. He has volunteered as a tax preparer through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, where he obtained an advanced level tax law certification and prepared returns for families and individuals. Hunt is passionate about helping the IRS provide accurate information to individuals and helping clients feel more aware of their tax liabilities.
John Kelshaw – director of tax compliance, Jackson Hewitt Tax Service, Sarasota, Florida. Prior to his current position, Kelshaw had almost 40 years of experience at the IRS working on complex tax issues. He has conducted audits of individuals, small businesses, large corporations and international taxes. Kelshaw has also worked as a senior appeals officer, serving as an independent arbiter to resolve unagreed, complex tax issues. He is an enrolled agent.
Anthony Massoud – vice president of corporate finance and tax, Van Metre Companies, Fairfax, Virginia. Massoud began his tax career at a CPA firm, working with high net worth individuals and international businesses. He has also served as a tax manager for a real estate company, managing over 200 partnership returns as well as trusts, foundations and high net worth individual tax returns. Massoud has lived around the world, including in the Democratic Republic of Congo, France, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
Susan Nakano – senior manager of corporate tax, Discover Financial Services, Riverwoods, Illinois. Nakano is experienced in operations, audit, risk and information technology. She helps internal business partners develop tax-compliant processes and is an expert in federal and state tax codes as well as regulations and guidance requirements. Nakano works in information reporting, focused on reporting for a bank depository and lending institution as well as for credit card settlements.
Annette Nellen – professor of accounting and taxation, San Jose State University, San Jose, California. Nellen also serves as the director of the university’s graduate tax program. For the past 30 years, she has designed and taught continuing education tax classes to tax professionals. Nellen is frequently invited to present at major conferences of tax professionals, including the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants National Tax Conference, AICPA Engage, American Bar Association Tax Section and state CPA societies. She has chaired the AICPA’s Tax Executive Committee.
Brayan Rosa-Rodriguez – senior policy analyst, UnidosUS, Washington, DC. Rosa-Rodriguez successfully executed a tax credit campaign focused on Latino taxpayers in key states such as California, Arizona, Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico. This campaign leveraged the American Rescue Plan improvements to the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credits. He has also supported the production and dissemination of research related to economic policy, poverty, tax credits and program implementation, as well as public policy briefs and educational materials regarding tax policy and the job market. Rosa-Rodriguez coordinates these advocacy efforts with local, state and national partners.
Brian Yacker – partner, nonprofit services, Baker Tilly, Irvine, California. Yacker’s career has focused on working with tax exempt organizations, and he currently serves over 1,000 different nonprofits, including public charities, private foundations, hospitals, higher education institutions, religious organizations, social clubs, business organizations and labor organizations. He is currently a member of the AICPA Exempt Organization Tax Technical Resource Panel, a board member for the IRS Tax Exempt/Government Entities EO Council and is on the National Association of State Charity Officials Public Day Planning Committee.
The 2023 IRSAC Chair is Martin Armstrong, vice president of payroll shared services, Charter Communications, Charlotte, North Carolina. Armstrong is currently the accounting and finance area chair at the University of Phoenix, where he was named 2018 Distinguished Faculty of the Year. He is a former vice president and current member of the American Payroll Association, the Society for Human Resource Management, the National Association of Tax Professionals, the American Society for Quality and the Academy of Management. Armstrong is also an advisory board member of the Bloomberg Tax Payroll Administration Library and the Workforce Institute. He is a certified payroll professional.
For more information, visit IRS.gov/irsac.