15th International Conference Tax Administration

James Alm's research has focused mainly on behavioral responses to taxes, in such areas as tax compliance and tax evasion, the marriage tax, opportunity zones, the determinants of state economic growth, and corruption. He has worked extensively on fiscal and decentralization reforms in many countries around the world. His research has been published in leading economics journals such as The American Economic Review, The Journal of Economic Perspectives, The Review of Economics and Statistics, Economic Inquiry, Southern Economic Journal, Kyklos, Journal of Public Economics, Journal of Urban Economics, Journal of Development Economics, Journal of Human Resources, National Tax Journal, Public Finance Review, International Tax and Public Finance, Public Choice, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Regional Science and Urban Economics, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Journal of Economic Psychology, Economics of Education Review, Economic Analysis and Policy, and Journal of Development Studies, among others. He has also published 11 books. He was the long-serving Editor of Public Finance Review, and he has served on numerous editorial boards.

Prior to coming to Tulane University as Chair of the Department of Economics, Alm was Regents Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University, where he served as Chair of the Department of Economics and also as Dean of the Andrew Young School. He has been the President of the Southern Economics Association, and he became the President of the National Tax Association in November 2020. He has recently been named Professor Emeritus of Economics.

Professor Book is a Professor of Law at the Villanova Charles Widger School of Law. While at Villanova Professor Book has served as Director of the Federal Tax Clinic, Director of the Graduate Tax Program, and Director of the Online Graduate Tax Program. He also served as a Professor in Residence with the IRS, Taxpayer Advocate Service in 2019.

Professor Book is a national authority on tax procedure and tax administration.  He is the successor author for the Thomson Reuters treatise IRS Practice and Procedure and the cofounder and one of the primary bloggers at Procedurally Taxing. He has written numerous law review articles and three research reports submitted to Congress on behalf of the Taxpayer Advocate Service, including a 2019 report containing a series of proposals to improve the administration and delivery of refundable credits.

Book has testified before Congress on the fair administration of our nation’s tax laws and on the future of tax administration.  In 2007 he won the ABA Tax Section Janet Spragens Pro Bono Award, and Book continues to directly assist low income and underrepresented taxpayers through pro bono litigation. In 2018 he was the inaugural winner of the Diane Ambler Award for faculty curricular innovation for his work in creating the Villanova Online Graduate Tax Program with his colleague Joy Mullane. In 2021, Book won the Diane Ambler Faculty Scholarship Impact Award for scholarship that has had a significant impact on the law, the academy, the legal profession or policy debates

Book is a fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel, a member of the governing Council of the American Bar Association Section of Taxation, and a founding Board Member at the Center for Taxpayer Rights

Professor Book received his B.A. from Franklin & Marshall College (magna cum laude), his J.D. from Stanford University School of Law, and his LL.M (Taxation) from New York University School of Law.  At Stanford Law School, he was a founding editor of the Stanford Law & Policy Review, and at New York University School of Law he was a student-editor at the Tax Law Review. 

Deputy Director, Centre for Tax Policy and Administration at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

David Bradbury is Deputy Director of the OECD’s Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, where he plays a key role in the OECD’s work on taxation.

David, who is an Australian national, joined the OECD in April 2014 as the Head of the Tax Policy and Statistics Division, a position he held up until 31 October 2022.

David was a key contributor to the OECD’s work in securing the ground-breaking international tax agreement to address the tax challenges arising from the digitalisation of the economy in October 2021 and has led the Secretariat’s work on the economic impact assessment of the reforms.

Before this, David was part of the team that delivered the OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project.

David is a key member of the OECD’s cross-directorate team involved in establishing and supporting the Inclusive Forum on Carbon Mitigation Approaches. 

Prior to joining the OECD, David had been a corporate tax lawyer, a Member of the House of Representatives in the Australian Parliament and a Minister in the Australian Government. As a Minister, David held a range of portfolios in areas such as taxation policy, competition policy and consumer affairs, foreign investment policy, corporate governance, financial literacy and the regulation of the not-for-profit sector.

As a minister, David led the Australian contribution to the debate on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting and implemented key taxation reforms including landmark amendments to the General Anti-Avoidance Rule, the modernisation of Australia’s transfer pricing laws and in the area of tax transparency.

David has completed an undergraduate degree in Arts (majoring in Government and Public Administration), an Honours degree in Law, and has completed post-graduate studies in Taxation Law at the University of Sydney.

Andrew is a founding director of Chalk & Behrendt, a leading law firm representing First Nations’ rights in land and waters across Australia.  He has been recognised in this field, as well as in administrative and environmental law, for over 30 years.

Andrew has earned his personal reputation for legal and strategic advice, as well as for his dedication to advocating the interests of his clients, through playing a key role in many landmark proceedings, negotiations and policy initiatives. This includes his role in representing Indigenous bodies in relation to the enactment of the Native Title Bill 1993, and the Act's amendment in 1997-1998.  His standing in the area has been acknowledged in successive editions of Chambers, Doyles, and Who’s Who Legal.

For the last two decades, Andrew’s practice has focused on supporting First Nations groups to translate land ownership into economic independence while preserving the lands’ cultural and ecological integrity.

He has written and presented numerous papers on environmental and planning law, administrative law, cultural heritage protection, land rights and native title.

Andrew was the founding Chair of Gawad Kalinga Australia Limited, the regional arm of the international community development organisation. He is also a former Chair of the Environmental Defender's Office Ltd, and former Secretary of the NSW Chapter of the Australian Institute of Administrative Law. He is the Chair of the NSW Law Society’s Public Law Committee and is a director of the Mark Tonga Fund.

Darren is the Head of Tax at Woolworths Group Limited, a role he has held since 2005.  Prior to his role at Woolworths Darren worked in tax roles at other large, listed corporates and prior to that spent more than 10 years in tax advisory at KPMG.   Darren has vast experience on a wide range of income tax, GST and other indirect tax matters.  In his current role Darren has extensive engagement with the ATO in respect of both transaction work and ongoing compliance reviews.

Executive Director, Corporate Tax Associate

Michelle has been the Executive Director of the Corporate Tax Association since January 2015. Prior to taking on the role as Executive Director she was the Assistant Director of the Corporate Tax Association for over nine years.

Michelle has extensive experience as an external stakeholder in the development of Australia’s tax policy and law, as well as aspects of tax administration. Michelle is a member of the National Tax Liaison Group, the Australian Taxation Office’s (ATO) peak consultative group on taxation matters, the co-chair of the Large Business Stewardship Group and an executive committee member of the International Fiscal Association.

Prior to her time at the Corporate Tax Association Michelle worked at Minter Ellison in their Melbourne tax team. Michelle started her career at the Australian Taxation Office, where she worked in the Large Business and International business line and the Tax Counsel Network.

Michelle has a combined Arts Law degree from Monash University. She also holds a Masters in Taxation Law from the University of New South Wales and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Second Commissioner, Law Design and Practice, ATO

The ATO Perspective: Alternative pathways in resolving tax disputes

Kirsten Fish is ATO Second Commissioner for Law Design and Practice. In this role, Kirsten has overall responsibility for the ATO’s law practice, including law interpretation, public advice and guidance, independent dispute prevention and resolution, and the ATO’s role in policy and law design. The Law Design and Practice Group serves the community, government and clients by ensuring the tax and super laws are informed, understood, administered and applied with confidence and integrity and is the respected and trusted as the authoritative voice of the Commissioner on matters of law and revenue analysis.

Kirsten joined the ATO in 2014 and the ATO’s Chief Tax Counsel from 2015, one of the highest legal authorities within the ATO, leading the Tax Counsel Network and providing technical leadership in relation to significant tax issues, cases and rulings. Kirsten was acting Second Commissioner for 12 months before being formally appointed to the role in October 2021.

Prior to joining the ATO, Kirsten was a tax Partner at Clayton Utz with a focus on the financial services industry and providing finance and investment transaction advice.

Kirsten holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting), Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours) and Masters of Law (Tax).

Australian Taxation Office

Faith Harako is an Assistant Commissioner for the Client Assurance Top 100 Program in the Public Groups and International business line.  She oversees the Top 100 Program which applies the justified trust methodology to obtain greater assurance that the largest corporate taxpayers in Australia are meeting their tax obligations in a timely and transparent manner.  She also leads the Advisor Strategy which focuses on the role that intermediaries play in supporting large businesses.

Jeremy Hirschhorn was appointed to the Second Commissioner role from 16 April 2020. He has overall responsibility for the ATO’s Client Engagement Group, which fosters willing participation in Australia’s tax and super systems through well-designed client experiences.

Jeremy has more than 20 years' experience in roles managing complex tax matters.

As Deputy Commissioner of Public Groups & International from April 2015, Jeremy was responsible for ensuring that the largest Australian and multinational companies were meeting their corporate tax obligations and providing the Australian community with confidence that these large companies were being held to account.

Jeremy also worked as Chief Tax Counsel, with responsibility for the provision of the ATO’s legal advice in relation to interpretation of the tax and super laws, when he joined the ATO in August 2014.

Prior to joining the ATO, Jeremy was a senior partner in KPMG’s tax practice.

Jeremy holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws from the University of NSW. He is a Chartered Tax Adviser and Chartered Accountant.

Deputy President and Head of Taxation, Commercial and Small Business Taxation divisions Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

Deputy President McCabe was appointed a part-time member of the Tribunal in 2001 while he was an associate professor of law at Bond University where he lectured in commercial law. He became a full-time senior member of the Tribunal in 2003 and was appointed deputy president and division head in 2016.  He was previously a member of the legal committee of the Companies and Securities Advisory Committee, the Commonwealth’s peak advisory body on corporate law.

Peter Mersi was appointed Commissioner and Chief Executive of Inland Revenue in July 2022.

Prior to this, Peter was the Secretary and Chief Executive for Transport (2016-2022), Chief Executive of Land Information New Zealand (2012 – 2016) and spent six months as the Acting Secretary and Chief Executive of the Department of Internal Affairs (2011-2012).

Peter has held senior leadership roles in Inland Revenue and the Treasury, where he spent 14 years primarily working on social policy and the public management system. He has also worked for the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Department of Labour, the Department of Trade and Industry, and the Bank of New Zealand.

Peter has an economics degree from Victoria University of Wellington.

Along with Gaye Searancke, the Chief Executive of Land Information New Zealand, Peter is the Co-Chair of Papa Pounamu, an initiative by Public Sector Chief Executives to support and grow diversity and inclusion in the public sector.

Andrew Mills is currently chair of the Financial Reporting Council, a Principal Fellow/Associate Professor at Melbourne University Law School, a member of the Australian Executive Committee of the International Fiscal Association and a member of the Tax and Transfer Policy Institute Advisory Board, among other roles.

Andrew has over forty years’ experience in a variety of roles in the tax profession, including as Second Commissioner of Taxation from 2013 - 2019 where he had overall responsibility for the ATO’s law practice. Andrew was a Director at Greenwoods & Freehills for more than 20 years and Managing Director of the firm from 2006 to 2011. He has also spent time as an in-house corporate advisor.

Andrew is a former President of The Tax Institute and a former Governor of the Taxation Research Foundation. Andrew holds qualifications in Business and Law and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Executive Director and Founder, Treasurer, Member, Board of Directors
Center for Taxpayer Rights

Nina E. Olson is the Executive Director of the Center for Taxpayer Rights.  From March 2001 to July 2019, Nina served as the National Taxpayer Advocate of the United States, an independent organization within the Internal Revenue Service, dedicated to assisting taxpayers resolve their problems with the IRS and making administrative and legislative recommendations to mitigate those problems systemically.  She has submitted 39 annual reports to Congress and testified before congressional committees over 60 times.  Before serving as the National Taxpayer Advocate, Nina founded and directed The Community Tax Law Project, the first independent Low Income Taxpayer Clinic in the US.  She also maintained a private legal practice, representing taxpayers in disputes with the IRS.

Nina has received many awards and recognitions, including the American Bar Association Section of Taxation’s Distinguished Service Award for Lifetime Service,  Pro Bono Award, and Jules Ritholz Memorial Merit Award for Outstanding Dedication, Achievement, and Integrity in the Field of Civil and Criminal Tax Controversies; the Tax Foundation’s Public Sector Distinguished Service Award; and Pro Bono Awards from the Virginia State Bar, the Virginia Bar Association, and the City of Richmond Bar Association.  In 2016 she was recognized by Tax Analysts as one of the Top 10 Outstanding Women in Tax (internationally).

Nina received her LLM in Taxation from Georgetown University Law Center, her JD from North Carolina Central University School of Law, and her AB (in fine arts) from Bryn Mawr College.

Inspector-General of Taxation and Taxation Ombudsman

Ms Karen Payne was appointed Inspector-General of Taxation & Taxation Ombudsman commencing on 6 May 2019.

She leads the Taxation Ombudsman complaints management service for taxpayers and advisers and the Inspector-General of Taxation’s review and public reporting function, both of which are directed at improving the tax administration system for all taxpayers.

Ms Payne was previously a Member of the Board of Taxation as well as the inaugural Chief Executive Officer of the Board of Taxation. She was formerly a partner with MinterEllison, specialising in corporate and international tax for mergers and acquisitions, and capital raising for the financial services, mining, energy, and utilities sectors. Her career includes a broad range of experience (legal, accounting, audit, education and tax return preparation) across a diverse range of taxpayers (including individuals, trusts, companies and partnerships).

She brings a wealth of experience and extensive networks to the role of Inspector-General having worked with a range of government and private stakeholders as well as the legal and tax profession, and many industry bodies.

Ms Payne is a solicitor admitted in New South Wales and is a member of:

• Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand
• The Tax Institute
• Australian Institute of Company Directors

Premila Roe, CTA, is currently the Global Head of Tax for BHP and she has over 28 years of tax experience. Premila’s prior corporate experience was as the Head of Tax at AGL and then Optus. She commenced her career with the ATO before leaving to join Deloitte. She as a Bachelor of Laws and a Masters in Tax Law and she is a Chartered Tax Adviser.

Andrew is an expert in indirect taxation, with a particular specialty in complex GST issues.

He is called upon to advise on all aspects of the GST for any major projects or transaction. He advises clients on financial structuring (including securitisation), property dealings and commercial transactions. Andrew has particular experience in conducting and managing disputes with revenue authorities.

Although Andrew's practice is primarily focused on GST, he has also worked in a range of other taxation areas including income tax, payroll tax, fringe benefits tax and R&D tax incentives. Before joining Clayton Utz, Andrew worked at a major accounting firm.  Andrew has taught post graduate courses in taxation for both the University of New South Wales and Sydney University.  Andrew is a member of the Academic Board of the Tax Institute's education program.

Scott Treatt, CTA is the General Manager of Tax Policy and Advocacy at The Tax Institute. In this role he oversees all tax policy and advocacy issues across The Tax Institute, including submissions, technical committees, technical support resources for members and engagement with government and other professional bodies. He has been practicing as a tax specialist since 1997, gaining his experience in large 2nd tier and Big 4 accounting firms as well as Government. Through the years he has been engaged on direct and indirect tax issues pertaining to individuals, start-ups, small businesses, private groups and multinationals, addressing issues including, but certainly not limited to, asset, business and entity transactions and disposals, insolvencies, structuring, succession and disputes (within family groups as well as with the ATO). Scott has a passion for our tax system and tax education, continuously seeking to find opportunities to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of both. He is a regular presenter at industry events and had been a lecturer for 12 years in The Tax Institute’s structured education programs.