2024 NAEA Fly-In Event

Danny Werfel serves as the 50th Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service. As Commissioner, he presides over the nation’s tax system, which collects approximately $4.1 trillion in tax revenue each year representing about 96% of the total gross receipts of the United States. Commissioner Werfel oversees an agency of about 85,000 employees and an annual budget of more than $12 billion.

Erin M. Collins joined the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) in March 2020 as the National Taxpayer Advocate. She is the “Voice of the Taxpayer” within the IRS and before Congress. TAS serves as a “safety net” for taxpayers by advocating for resolution of individual and business taxpayer issues within the IRS. She identifies and works toward systemic changes for all taxpayers while protecting Taxpayer Rights. TAS also oversees the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) federal grant program and the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP). As part of her Annual Report to Congress, she makes administrative and legislative changes to protect taxpayer rights and works toward improving the quality of taxpayer service and tax administration by being an independent voice inside the IRS. Erin has been called to testify before the Senate Finance Committee, the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee Oversight Subcommittee, and the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on a variety of subjects.

In 2022, Erin was selected as one of the top 25 Most Powerful Women in the Accounting Profession by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and CPA Practice Advisor magazine; as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Accounting by Accounting Today; a Changemaker: 50 Innovators Shaping Americans’ Finances by Money.com. In 2023, she was the recipient of KPMG’s Fifth Annual Network of Women Alumni Legacy Award, the California Lawyers Association’s Joanne M. Garvey Lifetime Achievement Award and selected as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Accounting by Accounting Today.

Erin has appeared on C-SPAN and other national media outlets and is frequently cited in tax and news publications. Erin has over 35 years of experience in tax law, spanning 15 years in the IRS Office of Chief Counsel and 20 years at the accounting firm of KPMG LLP, from where she retired in 2019 as the Tax Managing Director in charge of its tax controversy practice for the Western region. At KPMG, Erin represented thousands of individuals, partnerships, small companies, and corporate taxpayers on technical and procedural tax matters. Throughout her career, Erin represented clients in federal examinations, IRS appeals, and before the U.S. Tax Court on domestic and international tax issues.

Erin was the co-author of the Practising Law Institute’s IRS Practice and Procedure Deskbook and has spoken frequently on IRS practice, procedure, controversy, and litigation matters before many professional organizations. Before joining TAS, she represented several clients pro bono to help them resolve issues with the IRS. She was also a volunteer and board member of a non-profit organization, Step Up, whose mission was to help girls in under-resourced communities to fulfill their potential by empowering them to become confident, college-bound, career-focused, and ready to join the next generation of professional women. Erin is married to Ed Robbins, Jr., and they have two children and three grandchildren.

Samantha is a congressional reporter at Bloomberg Tax where she writes and contributes to Hill Tax Brief. She previously covered intellectual property for Bloomberg Law and graduated from Northwestern University.

Thad Inge is well-respected in Washington as a legislative and regulatory strategist with an ability to work across the aisle and drive results. His years of experience working in Congress, at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), and in the private sector have provided him with extensive policy expertise on a range of issues.

As a Vice President at VSA, Thad works with startups, nonprofits, associations, and corporations from highly regulated and emerging industries. He regularly engages on issues related to tax policy, tax administration, small business, retirement benefits, fintech, payments, and employment and labor policy. Thad has also worked on an array of economic development, emergency management, disaster relief, and appropriations issues.

Thad began his career in Washington working for the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship under former Chair Mary Landrieu of Louisiana where he focused on technology policy and access to capital, playing a central role in drafting and passing small business technology transfer legislation out of the Senate. In 2010, Thad joined the SBA, rising to the position of Associate Administrator at the Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs, where he oversaw legislative affairs for the agency. At the SBA, Thad worked closely with Congress and the White House to expand the agency’s lending authority, create new opportunities for small business procurement, provide disaster relief for hard-hit communities, and implement new programs for startups and incubators.

Eric LoPresti is a Tax Counsel with the Senate Finance Committee tax team. He is in the fourth year of a detail from the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service. His portfolio includes IRS oversight and tax administration.

Eric has had the privilege of assisting with the American Rescue Plan Act, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, SECURE 2.0, the Wyden Pass-through Reform Discussion Draft, and all of the Committee’s hearings on tax administration topics held during his tenure.

Before coming to the Hill, Eric spent 17 years as a Senior Attorney Advisor to the National Taxpayer Advocate, and 6 years as a corporate tax associate at a global law firm.

Don is a Senior Tax and Oversight Counsel at the Senate Finance Committee, where he directs tax oversight and advises on a range of tax issues, including federal tax procedure and administration. Don joined the Finance Committee in March 2021 from the Federal Policy Group, a premier DC tax legislative firm. At Federal Policy Group, he served as a Director and Tax Associate, responsible for executing all aspects of the firm’s tax legislative practice during the enactment of a variety of legislation, including the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, Tax Technical Corrections Act of 2018, Taxpayers First Act, Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020, Family First Coronavirus Response Act, CARES Act, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, and American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Prior to joining Federal Policy Group, he worked in a variety of legal and professional capacities in DC, New York City, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area for a global investment bank, several law firms, and a real estate investment firm. Don served as a law clerk and then attorney advisor to the Honorable Mark. V. Holmes of the United States Tax Court. He holds an LL.M. in Taxation from the New York University School of Law, a J.D. with specialization in Business Law – Tax, from UCLA School of Law, and a B.A. in History from Princeton University.