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

Timothy Blevins — Mr. Blevins is an executive consultant with CGI’s Tax, Revenue, and Collections Center of Excellence (CoE) and is from Mayetta, Kan. He is responsible for providing expertise to clients to enhance their tax operations and collections management systems. Mr. Blevins serves as a business and technical solutions architect for the design of integrated tax solutions. He also helps in the development of State Medicaid Management System solutions. Mr. Blevins has over 30 years of experience in the implementation, management, and modernization efforts of government information technology solutions with the Kansas Departments of Transportation, Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS), and Revenue which includes the Divisions of Taxation, Property Valuation, Motor Vehicles, and Alcohol and Beverage Control. He was CIO for Kansas SRS for five years and the Kansas Department of Revenue for 11 years. Further, Mr. Blevins has a strong background in information system management security aspects of tax administration and tax software. He earned a B.A. in Management Information Systems from Washburn University and is a former Co-Chair of the Federation of Tax Administrators-Internal Revenue Service Tactical Advisory Group (FTA-IRS TAG).

Leann Boswell — Ms. Boswell is a public service executive for the Iowa Department of Revenue (IDR) from Van Meter, Iowa. She is currently responsible for the Department of Revenue’s customer service team. This team answers general and technical tax questions, continually makes improvements to the IDR Web site, is actively involved in marketing electronic filing of individual income tax where 85 percent of Iowa income tax returns were voluntarily eFiled last year, and maintains the eFile & Pay application where 96 percent and more of all business tax returns are voluntarily eFiled. Ms. Boswell played a lead role in the development of TeleFile and WebFile for individual income tax, as well as eFile & Pay for business tax. She was also tasked with forming a new customer service area called the eFile Service Unit. Ms. Boswell earned a B.S. in Business Management, an Applied Management Series Certificate, and completed the Certified Public Management Program. She also participates on a national committee to increase Free File participation.

Sean J. Brennan — Mr. Brennan, CPA, MBA, is the president of Brennan and Associates and Brennan and Company, CPA, PC from West Chester, Pa. Mr. Brennan founded his Company, in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1996, and provides Tax, Accounting, Payroll and Attest services to clients. He has taught Federal Taxation and Accounting at Philadelphia area colleges for the past 14 years. Mr. Brennan earned a B.S. in Accounting from St. Joseph's University and an MBA in Economics and Finance from West Chester University. He serves on the Pennsylvania IRS/Practitioner Liaison Committee and is a member of the American Institute for Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Pennsylvania Institute for Certified Public Accountants and National Association of Tax Professionals (NATP).

Alice Burnett — Ms. Burnett is the owner and president of Burnett and Associates, LLC from Lawrenceville, Ga. Her company offers support to both public and private sector clients, primarily covering programs that contain a financial component. Prior to starting her own practice, Ms. Burnett held a senior manager level position within a major financial institution for over 20 years, and she was a manager for the implementation and operation of the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS). Certifications include Project Management Professional (PMP), BAI Certified Risk Professional in Operations, Certified Supplier Manager, and Six Sigma Green Belt. Ms. Burnett is a member of the Project Management Institute (PMI), American Management Association (AMA), and American Society for Quality (ASQ).

Cyrus Daftary — Mr. Daftary, JD, LL.M., is a partner with Burt, Staples & Maner, LLP from Newton, Mass. He is responsible for consulting with multi-national corporations and financial institutions on their compliance in the IRS tax withholding and information return reporting rules. Mr. Daftary assists clients in obtaining a Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) from the IRS for the electronic W-8 software application. His experience includes developing and implementing tax software solutions for withholding and information return reporting, representing clients before the IRS under Form 1042 audits and Form 1042 voluntary disclosures, and designing an online course “Cyberlaw: Legal Research, Issues and Practice in Cyberspace.” Mr. Daftary earned a B.A. in Economics from Indiana University. a Juris Doctorate from University of Dayton School of Law and an LL.M. from Temple University in Tax.

Ned Drinker — Mr. Drinker is the tax manager of Oberthur Technologies of America Corporation and is from Conshohocken, Pa. He is responsible for all US tax matters including preparation and e-filing of the federal income tax return as well as the preparation and filing of all state income/franchise tax returns. He manages federal and state audits, information reporting, tax depreciation and sales and use tax compliance. He has implemented sales tax software for diverse businesses. Mr. Drinker earned a B.A. in Economics from Hamilton College, an MBA in Econometrics from Temple University, and a Master of Taxation from Villanova University School of Law. He is a member of Tax Executives Institute and chairs the Philadelphia Chapter’s IRS Administrative Affairs Committee.

Mimi Nolan — Ms. Nolan is the director, Tax Forms Management with H&R Block from Parkville, Mo. She oversees the centralized process of procurement, distribution, and interpretation of all tax regulatory changes, as well as tests tax law changes for regulatory accuracy across products. She is responsible for a team that procures tax documents, monitors and analyzes changes to the federal and state income tax forms, publications, instructions, and tax notices. Ms. Nolan has directed system, product design and implementation of digital tax preparation solutions. Her experience also includes electronic filing and tax software development, tax forms management, quality assurance in systems development, and tax preparation. Ms. Nolan earned a B.S. in Computer Based Information Systems from Park University and an MBA from University of Missouri-Kansas City. She is a member representative to National Association of Computerized Tax Processors (NATCP), and serves as Chairperson of the Government Liaison Committee.

David Olsen — Mr. Olsen, CPA, is the director of Product Management for CCH Small Firm Services from Kennesaw, Ga. He is responsible for product opportunity and enhancement planning for the ATX and Tax Wise product lines, covering tax, accounting and workflow software and other supporting products. Mr. Olsen also partners with business development functions to analyze and develop proposals for products and services used by the tax community. He earned a B.A. in Business from Houghton College and is a member of AICPA.

Douglas Simon — Mr. Simon is president and founder of HS&A Payroll Services, Inc. from Lincolnshire, Ill. He is responsible for a suite of tax compliance and payroll solutions. Mr. Simon works with a wide range of companies and oversees both tax filing and compliance operations. Mr. Simon earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Northwestern University and an MBA from DePaul Kellstadt Graduate School of Business. He is a member of the American Payroll Association and the Independent Payroll Association Providers.

David Sullivan — Mr. Sullivan is a tax administrator for the Rhode Island Division of Taxation from East Greenwich, RI. where he oversees the operations of the tax division consisting of 200 employees. In 2007, he created the E-government Unit to assist in enhancing and improving their interaction with customers using new technologies. Prior to joining the State of Rhode Island, he worked for the State of Delaware Division of Revenue for 10 years. In Delaware, he served as a manager in the Business Tax Section and as Deputy Director of Revenue. Mr. Sullivan earned a BS in Accounting and Business Management from Lebanon Valley College and a MS in Taxation from Widener University. Prior memberships include Treasurer and President of the Northeastern State Tax Officials Association and Federation of Tax Administrators-Internal Revenue Service Tactical Advisory Group (FTA-IRS TAG).

Mark Steber — Mr. Steber, CPA, ETAAC chair, is the chief tax officer for Jackson Hewitt Tax Service from Sarasota, Fla. He has over 25 years of experience in the tax industry and is responsible for the overall tax service delivery compliance. Mr. Steber establishes processes and procedures to ensure the accuracy of tax returns prepared in the Jackson Hewitt system and coordinates the monitoring of each office’s compliance. He is a member of the AICPA and Alabama and Georgia Society of Certified Public Accountants.

Timur Taluy — Mr. Taluy is chief executive officer, and a founder of FileYourTaxes.com from Oxnard, Calif. He serves as the lead technical architect for the firm; responsible for the development of the user interface, the secure external interfaces, and high availability platform. He manages the development and enforcement of internal policies and controls regarding safeguarding, development, and testing of tax return and other data processing systems. Mr. Taluy oversees the process contributing to the reliability and accuracy of the final tax product. He earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California. Mr. Taluy is a member of CERCA and NACTP.

TJ Turner — Mr. Turner is a senior principal business system architect for Vertex Inc. from Cape Coral, Fla. He is responsible for leading software development of Vertex's enterprise corporate application tax product suite. Products include tax data warehouse, compliance, and tax accounting solutions across several tax domains. Mr. Turner earned a B.A. in Business Administration from Baldwin-Wallace College and is a graduate of the Thomas Jefferson School of Law.

Harris Widmer — Mr. Widmer, CPA, is a partner with Widmer Roel PC from Fargo, ND. He has over forty years experience in accounting and taxation. His responsibilities include providing tax, consulting, audit, and financial planning services to a wide variety of businesses and individual clients. Mr. Widmer earned a B.A. from Jamestown College. He is a member of the North Dakota Society of Certified Public Accountants and AICPA.