2023 Tennessee Federal Tax Conference Bundle

Shane Morris is an attorney in Holland & Knight's Nashville office who assists clients in the real estate, healthcare, banking and financial services industries when navigating the complex tax issues arising throughout all stages of the business lifecycle.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Scott Nalley is a member with the risk assurance and advisory services practice at KraftCPAs. He is responsible for planning and executing engagements, building client relationships, and managing and reviewing the work of other team members, as well as preparing and presenting reports to clients’ management and boards of directors.

Scott provides a variety of risk management, internal control, and regulatory compliance consulting services, including internal audits, system and organization controls (SOC) attestation examinations, HITRUST assessments, and HIPAA risk analysis. His areas of expertise include risk assessments, network security assessments, network vulnerability assessments, IT audit, data privacy compliance, and risk management, as well as designing, implementing, and testing internal controls.

Scott works extensively with clients in the manufacturing/wholesale/distribution (MWD), government, utility, technology, healthcare, and professional service industries. He also works with internal audit departments and public accounting firms to provide quality assurance and peer reviews.

Scott has more than 15 years of experience in public and private sector accounting. His previous public accounting experience includes performing external audits for nonprofit and governmental entities, dealerships, and MWD clients, as well as audits of employee benefit plans. Scott also worked for six years as an internal auditor for Vanderbilt University.

Brian Gray, a seasoned IT professional, is the president of Kraft Technology Group, LLC (KTG), an affiliate of KraftCPAs PLLC. Brian is responsible for setting strategic directions, ensuring the efficient execution of business operations, and fostering a culture of excellence. His role encompasses operations, marketing, sales, and human resources, while also serving as a technology leader and consultant.

Holding a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Tennessee Technological University, Brian has steadily ascended the ranks from IT support specialist to his current role as president. Along the way, he’s garnered a diverse skill set encompassing IT service leadership, cybersecurity, cloud computing, and more.

Brian has more than 14 years of IT experience with managed service providers. He has worked with clients in multiple industries, including financial services, accounting, legal, healthcare, manufacturing, and retail.

Rick is a partner with Bradley in Nashville. He is a member of the firm's Tax and Trusts and Estates practice groups. Rick practices at the intersection of business, tax and estate planning.

A significant portion of his practice involves advising private companies and their owners, directors and executives on an array of state and federal tax, governance and corporate matters. Rick regularly assists with matters ranging from early-stage structure and funding to mid-stage buyouts and divorces to late-stage exits. He has substantial experience in handling all phases of closely held business acquisitions, sales, mergers, restructures and divorces, with an emphasis on Tennessee and federal tax planning in connection with such transactions. Rick advises family-owned companies with succession and exit planning matters, including preparing buy-sell agreements, stock restriction agreements and other internal governance documents.

Rick also devotes a substantial portion of his practice to estate planning. This dovetails well with his private company representation. Rick assists high net worth individuals and families with wealth preservation and transfer matters. He has significant experience helping clients tailor their estate plans to meet familial goals in a tax efficient manner. Rick advises on federal transfer and income taxes, and drafts wills, revocable and irrevocable trusts, intentionally defective grantor trusts, asset protection trusts, charitable trusts, family limited partnerships and other estate planning documents. Within this framework, Rick also represents fiduciaries and beneficiaries with trust and estate dispute and administration matters.

Jeffrey Williamson is the founder of J. L. Williamson Law Group, LLC. The firm specializes in elder law, asset protection, tax planning, and tax controversy. J. L. Williamson Law Group has offices in Savannah, Statesboro, and Atlanta and serves clients throughout the southeast.

Prior to starting his own firm, Jeffrey served as an Internal Revenue Agent, and he is an expert in the audit policies and procedures of the IRS.

A frequent lecturer, Jeffrey has presented many seminars on taxation and estate planning issues to various civic groups, investment professionals, attorneys, and certified public accountants.

Jeffrey received a Bachelor of Business Administration from Mercer University and both his Juris Doctor and Master of Accountancy from the University of Georgia.

Raghav is an associate in Frost Brown Todd’s Tax practice group. Prior to joining the firm, Raghav has worked for Big Four and middle-market accounting firms where he advised clients on federal and international tax issues involving corporate re-organizations, cross-border transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and transfer pricing. Raghav focuses his practice on developing tax-efficient planning strategies for clients and advising domestic and multinational businesses across a broad spectrum of state and local, federal, and international tax issues.

Chris is a tax partner with Aprio’s Atlanta office. He works with high-net-worth individuals and families. He helps clients identify federal, state, local and international tax credits and incentives that save money and support profitability. He has considerable experience helping private and public clients navigate the complex calculations and disclosures related to ASC 740 compliance as well as preparing financial reporting.

Rachel holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from Middle Tennessee State University and holds a Tennessee CPA license. In 2013 she was selected as one of the 35 CPA’s under the age of 35 for the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) Leadership Academy.

As a Tax Manager for Blankenship CPA Group she helps her clients with various tax compliance and bookkeeping needs. Her clients cover a broad range of industries including creative professionals and entrepreneurs looking to start a new business. She has years of experience specializing in tax within Middle Tennessee at both public accounting firms and publicly traded companies.

She has served on the Nashville Chapter Board of Directors within the Tennessee Society of CPAs; serving as president during 2018-2019. Rachel, a Nashville native, currently resides in Mt Juliet with her husband and son. She enjoys volunteering in her community and serves as the Treasurer for the Mt Juliet Help Center, a local non-profit.

Anita is a senior director of personal financial strategies at HORNE where she works closely with high net worth individuals, family groups and business owners to provide financial and tax planning services including exit planning, retirement and estate planning. Anita continues to consult in federal and state tax consulting for individuals, partnerships, corporations, trusts and nonprofit entities.

Anita has more than 25 years of public accounting experience in tax planning focused on individual, estate, gift and retirement planning.

Anita earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Union University. She is a licensed Certified Public Accountant and Personal Financial Specialist providing specialized planning in retirement, succession, business exit planning, employee benefits, estates and charitable giving. Anita also holds the Chartered Global Management Accountant designation.

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.

Brian is a member of the Tax Practice Group at Frost Brown Todd. He concentrates his practice on tax planning and tax controversies, mergers and acquisitions, and joint ventures. In addition, Brian has recently focused a significant amount of his practice on advising clients with respect to establishing Opportunity Zone Funds and Qualified Opportunity Zone Businesses.

Jerry is a Member at KraftCPAs where he serves as practice leader of the firm’s tax services. His Middle Tennessee public accounting career dates to 1996. Over the years Jerry has served clients across a wide spectrum of industries including manufacturing, construction, real estate, healthcare, professional services, and entertainment.

Jerry has extensive experience in the taxation of high-net worth individuals, corporations, and pass-through entities. This experience consists of tax planning and consulting, IRS representation, and merger and acquisition consulting in addition to routine tax compliance.