State Tax Interest Group Meeting and Technical Session - State Residency (E1711778)

Stephen Basiaga, J.D., LL.M., CPA is a Tax Manager at WithumSmith+Brown where he works within the State and Local Tax, Tax Controversy and National Tax Services’ Groups, performing tax research and planning, drafting client and in-house memoranda, and performing a myriad of consulting services for indirect and direct state and local tax matters. Engagements have included multistate voluntary disclosure agreements, income and sales tax audits, nexus studies, the federal and state impact of the final tangible personal property regulations, mergers and acquisitions, and tax return reviews for both corporate and pass-through entities.

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Basiaga worked for both Big 4 and regional accounting firms. He served as a Legal Extern for the IRS as well as a judicial intern to the Hon. Gloria Burns, US Bankruptcy Court. He received his LL.M. in taxation from University of Florida – Fredric G. Levin College of Law, his J.D. from Rutgers School of Law and his undergraduate degrees in Finance and Accounting from Villanova University.

Neil Becourtney, CPA, is a partner at CohnReznick. With expertise in representing clients facing tax examinations by the Internal Revenue Service, as well as state taxing authorities, he heads up the firm’s Tax Controversies Group. A regularly writer on tax subjects, Mr. Becourtney regularly monitors federal and state tax developments and frequently presents tax seminars. An active member of the New Jersey Society of CPAs (NJSCPA) for many years, Mr. Becourtney is a past chairperson of the NJSCPA New Jersey Taxation committee and is currently a member of its Editorial Advisory Board. Mr. Becourtney graduated from SUNY Albany in 1982 with a bachelor’s of science in accounting and earned a master’s of science degree in taxation from Pace University in 1986.

Barry has over 30 years of professional accounting experience and works in Withum's New York office. He is the team leader of Withum’s Tax Services State and Local Tax Group and advises clients in residency and nexus issues, entity level taxes, sales and use taxes and other business and personal tax matters. He also counsels clients in strategic planning, transaction reviews, risk assessment, tax law compliance and corporate restructuring. As an active member of the New York State Society of CPAs (NYSSCPA) and the NJCPA, he lectures on tax issues to chapters and to organizations including Baruch College and CW Post College. He is a current member of the NYSSCPA’s Multistate & Local Taxation Committee and served as chairman in prior years. He is also a member of the NJCPA’s State Taxation Interest Group. He was formerly an appointed member of the Commissioner’s Advisory Council for both the NYS Department of Taxation & Finance and the NYC Department of Finance. He is a contributor for The Trusted Professional as well as several other industry and professional publications. He was also a former editor of The CPA Journal.