International Tax Conference (ITC)

Lawrence Chastang

Lawrence J. Chastang, CPA, TEP specializes in international taxation, assisting clients ranging from small entrepreneurs to major multi-national subsidiaries with their individual and corporate work. He advises on a wide range of domestic and international tax issues with clients that include multinational corporations, partnerships, and entrepreneurs, as well as foreign persons investing in the United States.

Having served international clients for more than 35 years, he has developed strong business ties in the international community. He is acknowledged as one of Florida's leading experts in international business and taxation and is fluent in Spanish and French.

Chastang & Partners is a boutique international practice with multiple offices in Central and West Florida.The firm is focused on serving global high net worth families, entrepreneurs, multi-national corporations and private equity firms.

Abrahm Smith

Abrahm Smith is an attorney in Miami, Florida who has practiced tax law for almost 20 years. He started as an attorney at White & Case and was a partner at Baker McKenzie before starting his own firm. He specializes in private client work for high net worth cross border families. He has a strong network of clients, service providers and professionals throughout the world.

William Sharp Sr

William Sharp is an attorney in Holland & Knight's Atlanta, Tampa and San Francisco offices (residing in Atlanta and San Francisco) with more than 35 years of experience representing clients in a wide variety of international tax planning and tax controversy cases. Mr. Sharp provides international and domestic tax advice to numerous U.S.-based and foreign-based clients, including publicly traded and closely held entities. His tax practice also focuses on globally oriented high-net-worth clients, including many U.S. and foreign-based family offices. Mr. Sharp has served as lead counsel with respect to U.S. Tax Court proceedings, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) appeals and examination cases. He also has served as lead counsel or co-counsel to more than 1,500 IRS voluntary disclosure cases.

Mr. Sharp advises financial institutions and their clients on international tax enforcement and compliance initiatives. In addition, Mr. Sharp represents several Swiss-based banking institutions in connection with the U.S. Department of Justice Swiss Bank Program, including the largest bank participating in the program and one of the major cantonal banks (both cases were resolved under Category 3 of the program). Mr. Sharp also has extensive experience in handling matters related to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and other cross-border compliance and disclosure initiatives.

Mr. Sharp has served as an adjunct professor at the Stetson University College of Law and a lecturer at the University of South Florida Executive MBA program. He is a frequent speaker on international tax and business law matters. In addition, Mr. Sharp has been featured as well as quoted in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Reuters, USA Today and other media on international tax issues.

Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Mr. Sharp was founding and managing partner of a boutique international tax law firm with offices in Tampa, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Zurich, Switzerland.

Seth Entin

Seth J. Entin is a Tax shareholder in Greenberg Traurig's Miami office. He focuses his practice on the international taxation of high-net-worth individuals and families, international corporate taxation, Internal Revenue Service international tax audits, and Internal Revenue Service voluntary disclosures.

With more than 23 years of experience, Seth has earned numerous accolades. In 2016, he was recognized as "Miami Lawyer of the Year" in Tax Law by The Best Lawyers in America guide. He has also been recognized by Chambers USA— America's Leading Business Lawyers guide since 2007. Seth is currently ranked Band 1 in Tax for Florida and has been noted by Chambers for his "practical approach" and "strong knowledge base" that is always "focused on achieving the best possible results."

Seth has written for Tax Notes, Tax Notes International, Bloomberg Tax & Accounting and Law 360, and has been quoted by The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg BusinessWeek. In addition, he is an adjunct professor of international taxation at the University of Miami School of Law and has served as Director of International Tax Law for The Florida Bar Tax Section.

A fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel, Seth regularly speaks at national and international tax conferences, including before the American Bar Association (ABA), International Bar Association (IBA), International Fiscal Association (IFA), Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants (FICPA) and The Florida Bar. He also passed the Certified Public Accountant exam.

Daniel Price

Dan's legal practice focuses on federal tax and Title 31 matters including civil and criminal defense of IRS audits and investigations. Dan also assists taxpayers in navigating the process of coming into compliance, especially international taxpayers who have for one reason or another failed to comply fully with U.S. tax and Title 31 laws. Dan's deep expertise concerning the IRS' voluntary disclosure practice, the Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures, and international penalty regimes allows him craft strategies to mitigate civil penalties and criminal exposure.

For over 19 years Dan served as an attorney for the Office of Chief Counsel of the Internal Revenue Service. Dan's prior government service included extensive work in the arena of international enforcement and included assisting the IRS in completely revising the Voluntary Disclosure Practice. Dan also worked with the various Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Programs, the Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures, foreign bank account reporting, Bank Secrecy Act investigations, various LB&I compliance campaigns, expatriation issues, international collection of taxes, and much more.

Dan received his J.D., with honors, from the University of Texas School of Law. While attending law school, he passed the Uniform CPA exam (not licensed as a CPA) and was a staff member on two law journals.  

Abrahm Smith

Abrahm Smith is an attorney in Miami, Florida who has practiced tax law for almost 20 years. He started as an attorney at White & Case and was a partner at Baker McKenzie before starting his own firm. He specializes in private client work for high net worth cross border families. He has a strong network of clients, service providers and professionals throughout the world.

Mathew Slootsky

Matt is an associate in Baker McKenzie’s Private Capital Group. He sits in the Miami office and focuses his practice in the areas of international tax planning, reorganizations, inbound real estate investment, trust and succession matters, and wealth management.  

Steven Hadjilogiou

Steven Hadjilogiou focuses his practice on international inbound and outbound international tax planning for multinational companies and high net worth individuals. Steven has represented various Fortune 500 companies and major privately held businesses in their tax planning and supply chain projects, and also has substantial experience advising on transfer pricing, tax-related intellectual property matters, Subpart F and foreign investment in US real property. Steven also advises clients on pre-immigration planning and cross-border wealth succession. Steven has also worked on the taxation of partnerships and corporations, and international corporate reorganizations.

Steven is an adjunct professor of International Inbound Taxation at the University of Miami Graduate Tax Program. He is the co-chair of the annual Florida Bar/FICPA International Tax Conference. Steven has written numerous articles and presented on topics related to tax. He was a primary drafter of the amicus curiae brief submitted to the US Supreme Court on behalf of the Florida Bar Tax Section in Knight v. Commissioner in 2008.

Leslie Share

Leslie A. Share is Of Counsel in Packman, Neuwahl & Rosenberg, P.A., specializing in the areas of domestic and international tax, estate and wealth preservation planning. Mr. Share has advised clients in numerous and diverse areas such as Broadway theatrical productions, domestic and foreign real estate like-kind exchanges, Internet sales, services and licensing tax planning, advanced domestic and foreign wealth preservation techniques, U.S. tax treaties, Internal Revenue Service examinations and voluntary compliance programs and preferred structures for inbound and outbound business and investment planning. Mr. Share has written for publications such as Checkpoint Catalyst, Florida Bar Journal, Asset Protection Journal, Estate Planning, Entertainment Law & Finance, the University of Florida Law Review, and an American Bar Association book entitled Foreign Investment in U.S. Real Estate—A Comprehensive Guide, along with several times being recognized as an FICPA Outstanding Discussion Leader. He has served as an Adjunct Professor and Guest Lecturer at the University of Miami Law School Graduate Program in Taxation. Les is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell, and listed in Best Lawyers in America and Florida Super Lawyers in the field of tax law. Mr. Share received his B.A. from Northwestern University, his J.D., with honors, from the University of Florida, and his Master of Laws in Taxation from New York University.

Peter Blessing

Mr. Blessing is the Associate Chief Counsel (International) in the office of Chief Counsel, Internal Revenue Service, Department of the Treasury. He oversees an office of approximately 95 attorneys and other professionals responsible for legal advice, guidance, and support to the IRS, Treasury, and the public on international tax issues in all procedural postures.

Prior to joining Counsel, he practiced at Shearman & Sterling LLP for many years and subsequently at KPMG LLP.

Hal Webb

Hal J. Webb is a trusted advisor and counselor to high-net-worth international families. He is Head of Bilzin Sumberg's International Private Client Services and Partner in the Firm's Tax & Estate Planning Group. Hal's practice focuses on advising high-net-worth private clients in all aspects of international tax and estate planning. He also advises family offices and trust companies. Hal frequently deals with foreign trusts with U.S. beneficiaries, pre-immigration planning for foreigners moving to the U.S., large gifts and inheritances being received by U.S. persons from foreign persons or foreign estates, tax compliance and voluntary disclosures, structuring a foreign person's investment into the U.S. (particularly the acquisition of business interests and residential and commercial real estate), and expatriation planning. He also handles matters involving tax planning for foreign companies doing business in the U.S. Hal's technical expertise helps him tailor a solution which best fits the needs of his clients. Hal is discreet and highly professional. 
Hal is a frequent author and lecturer on various topics of international tax and estate planning. Additionally, he is Chair of the International Tax In-Bound Committee of The Florida Bar Tax Section, and the immediate Past Chair of the Miami Branch of STEP. Hal has consistently been recognized by legal publications and by his peers as being a top tax and estate planning lawyer, including being named in Florida Super Lawyers, Best of the Best USA, Citywealth Leaders List, Legal Week International Trusts & Private Client Elite, and Guide to the World's Leading Trusts & Estates Practitioners.

Philip Hodgen

Philip D. W. Hodgen is the principal attorney for Hodgen Law Group, which specializes in the international tax arena. He earned his undergraduate degree from Claremont McKenna College and his law degree from the School of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles. He then went on to earn a Master of Laws degree with a specialty in taxation from the University of San Diego School of Law. Admitted to the California bar in 1982, Mr. Hodgen spent nine years in law firms and with a large U.S. bank before starting his own firm in 1991. For six years of his youth, he lived in Rhodesia, South Africa and New Zealand. Mr. Hodgen is a past chair of the International Tax Committee of the State Bar of California’s Tax Section and was a member of the Executive Committee of the State Bar of California’s Tax Section for 2004-2007. Mr. Hodgen frequently speaks on a variety of international tax, trust and estate topics to attorneys, accountants, real estate professionals and other groups.

Jeanette Moffa

Jeanette Moffa is a Florida state and local tax ("SALT") lawyer based in Fort Lauderdale. Her work includes SALT planning and consulting, with an emphasis on nexus, taxability, and the application of exemptions, inclusions, and exclusions from the tax base. She also represents clients in tax controversy matters and litigation, working with state and local agencies to resolve assessment and refund disputes, and has significant administrative law experience.

Jeanette advises both public and private business entities on a wide range of Florida tax issues across numerous industries, including e-commerce and multichannel retail; digital goods and software; transportation (automotive, marine, and aviation); shipping, security, and logistics; restaurants and hospitality; construction; and manufacturing. She is an active member, speaker, and author in the state and local tax community. In addition, she is a contributing author to the Sales and Use Tax Deskbook, CCH Sales and Use Tax Treatise, and Florida Bar's Florida Administrative Practice. Her monthly Florida tax newsletter, The SALTy Orange, can be found on ww.MoffaTaxLaw.com.

H. French Brown IV

French Brown offers clients more than fourteen years of experience practicing law and lobbying in the area of state and local taxation.  French specializes in all Florida taxes including sales tax, corporate income tax, motor fuels tax, communications services tax, property tax, and documentary stamp tax.

French began his legal career at the Florida Department of Revenue, quickly rising to the position of Deputy Director of the Office of Technical Assistance and Dispute Resolution. Additionally, French served as the Department of Revenue's Legislative and Cabinet Affairs Director and staffed the 2012 Communications Services Tax Working Group.  In this role, he worked directly with Legislators, longstanding legislative staff, and the Governor and Cabinet offices.

Over the last ten years, Mr. Brown has been deeply involved with most major tax legislation moving through the Florida Capitol.  Through his representation of some of Florida's largest trade associations and taxpayers, French has directly worked on and advocated for tax legislation to benefit both companies and taxpayers.  

During that time, Mr. Brown has passed dozens of pieces of tax legislation, which have saved his clients and Floridian's billions in reduced state and local taxes.  This includes more than a billion dollars in corporate income tax refund paid in 2020 and 2022, which was a result of unintended state consequences of the Federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.  French was also instrumental in Florida adopting remote seller and marketplace facilitator provisions after the Supreme Court's 2018 Wayfair decision. 

In 2018, Mr. Brown served as counsel to the successful constitutional proposal to permanently preserve the State's annual ten-percent cap on commercial property tax increases, which passed by 66.5%.  

He assists his clients with Florida tax planning and controversies before the Florida Department of Revenue and local Property Appraisers, while maintaining a professional and amicable relationship with those that he used to work next to at the agency.

Hale Sheppard

Hale E. Sheppard is a Partner and Co-Chair of the Tax Controversy and Litigation Group of Eversheds Sutherland in Atlanta. Hale defends individuals and businesses during tax audits, tax appeals, and tax litigation, involving both domestic and international issues.
Cases. Hale has participated in over 200 tax cases before the Tax Court, Courts of Appeal, District Courts, and state tax tribunals.
Administrative Rulings. In addition to resolving tax issues through litigation, Hale has obtained dozens of favorable Private Letter Rulings for clients from the IRS National Office.
Education. 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 Universidad de Chile. Finally, he obtained an LL.M. degree in tax from the University of Florida, where he was a graduate tax scholar.
Awards and Recognitions. During his studies, Hale received several awards for academic excellence, including the prestigious Harry S. Truman Foundation Scholarship, Janice Dawson Quinn Tax Scholarship, Tinker Foundation Scholarship, and Senator James B. Pearson International Fellowship. Hale also served as a graduate editor of the Florida Tax Review and member of the Kansas Journal of Law & Public Policy. Professionally, Chambers USA, Legal 500, Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers in America, and other groups have recognized Hale as a leader in tax litigation for many years. He was also inducted into the American College of Tax Counsel.
Publications. Hale ranks among the most active tax writers in the country. He has published over 300 major articles in top tax journals, including Journal of Taxation, International Tax Journal, The Tax Adviser, Journal of International Taxation, Journal of Tax Practice and Procedure, Taxes Magazine, Journal of Corporate Taxation, Practical Tax Lawyer, Journal of Passthrough Entities, Tax Management International Journal, Journal of Multistate Tax & Incentives, Tax Notes International, Taxation of Exempts, Practical Tax Strategies, Corporate Business Taxation, Trust and Estates Journal, Journal of Taxation of Financial Products, Real Estate Taxation, and others. He has also published major articles in more than 20 university law reviews, both in the United States and abroad.
Activities and Affiliations. Hale has held leadership positions in many professional and civic organizations, including: (i) Journal of Taxation, Editorial Board Member, (ii) IRS-Practitioner Liaison Committee, state bar representative, (iii) Journal of Tax Practice & Procedure, Editorial Board Member, (iv) Georgia Bar Tax Section, President, (v) Georgia Bar Journal, Editorial Board Member, (vi) GSU Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic, Advisory Committee Member, (vii) Atlanta Bar Tax Section Board Member, and (viii) Forbes contributor.
Licenses. Hale is a bar member in Florida, Texas, Georgia, and Washington, DC.

Caroline Ciraolo

Caroline D. Ciraolo, former Acting Assistant Attorney General of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Tax Division, is a partner with Kostelanetz & Fink and a founder of its Washington, D.C. office. Her practice focuses on complex and sophisticated civil tax controversies, including representation in sensitive audits, administrative appeals, and litigation in federal and state courts and administrative tax tribunals, providing related tax advice, conducting internal investigations, consideration of domestic and foreign compliance options including voluntary disclosures, and representing individuals and institutions in criminal tax investigations and prosecutions.

Jeffrey Neiman

Jeffrey Neiman is an experienced trial lawyer who regularly defends individuals and corporations in white collar criminal litigation, matters involving tax controversies, government regulatory enforcement matters, internal investigations, compliance counseling, and complex civil litigation. Jeff has tried more than a dozen white collar matters in federal court. Having worked at the forefront of the United States government's offshore tax enforcement efforts, Jeff has vast experience assisting clients who nd themselves with unreported or undeclared bank accounts outside of the United States. Jeff advises clients regarding the Internal Revenue Service's Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program as well as clients who face civil and Reports ("FBARS").

Prior to being a Founding Member of Marcus Neiman & Rashbaum LLP, Jeff had his own law firm that focused on white collar and tax controversy matters. An alum of the United States Department of Justice Attorney General's Honors Program, Jeff began his career working for the Department of Justice Tax Division and then the Criminal Division, Fraud Section in Washington, D.C. He then served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, where he received national recognition for handling complex, high pro le matters including the ground-breaking and historic prosecution of Switzerland's largest bank, UBS AG, for aiding American citizens to commit tax fraud. For his efforts on the UBS investigation, Jeff was awarded the Attorney General's John Marshall Award for Outstanding Legal Achievement and the Internal Revenue Service Commissioner's Award, the highest recognition a prosecutor can receive.

Raised in South Florida, Jeff graduated with honors from the University of Florida and also graduated from law school at the University of Florida where he was a member of Order of the Coif. Jeff currently serves as an adjunct professor at Florida Atlantic University, where he teaches Criminal Procedure and Tax Fraud in their graduate accounting executive program. Jeff also is a frequent lecturer, panelist, and contributor at national conferences on topics including offshore tax evasion, tax fraud, Ponzi schemes and trial practice.

Jarod Koopman

Jarod Koopman was recently named IRS Chief Tax Compliance Officer and has responsibility for oversight of the IRS compliance operations of the Large Business & International division, Small Business/Self Employed division, Tax Exempt and Government Entities division, IRS Criminal Investigation, the Office of Professional Responsibility, the Return Preparer Office, the Whistleblower Office, and Enterprise Case Management.

A native of Upstate New York and a graduate of Nazareth University in Rochester, Chief Koopman began his law enforcement career in 2002 after completing training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC). He graduated at the top of his class in both FLETC’s Criminal Investigator Training Program and IRS-CI’s Special Agent Basic Training Program.

His first assignment was in Rochester, NY, where he investigated a wide range of complex financial crimes. These included public corruption, mortgage, investment, and healthcare fraud, domestic terrorism linked to anti-government and sovereign citizen ideologies, money laundering tied to organized crime and narcotics, and various forms of tax evasion—all in support of IRS-CI’s mission to promote voluntary compliance with the tax system.

In April 2010, Jarod was promoted to his first leadership role as Supervisory Special Agent for the Western District of New York. The following year, he was selected for the Accelerated Senior Leadership Program (ASLP) and transitioned to IRS-CI Headquarters as a Senior Analyst. There, he worked under the direction of the National Identity Theft Coordinator, contributing to the agency’s growing focus on identity theft as a national priority in 2012.

Jarod continued to advance through leadership positions of increasing responsibility, serving as Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Field Office and later as Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit Field Office. In these roles, he was a key law enforcement leader for IRS-CI in Michigan and Illinois, overseeing numerous high-profile and sensitive investigations and managing the strategic direction of CI personnel.

Since returning to headquarters in 2016, Jarod led the creation and development of both the Cyber Crimes and Cyber and Forensics Services sections, serving as Director of each. Under his leadership, IRS-Criminal Investigation has significantly expanded its capabilities and established itself as a global leader in cryptocurrency tracing and dark web investigations.

Jarod’s work has also been recognized in the bestselling book Who is Government by Michael Lewis, and featured in the Washington Post series: Cyber Sleuth - Washington Post

Robert Panoff

Bob specializes in Civil and Criminal Tax Controversies, Voluntary Disclosures, Substantive and Procedural Strategic Analysis, Compliance Investigations, Review of Proposed Tax Planning by Others for Viability, and Related Matters regarding high net worth individuals and entities.

He is a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel.

He was an adjunct Professor for 25 years at the University of Miami School of Law in Federal Tax Litigation. He is a past chair of both The Tax Section and the CLE Committee of the Florida Bar and is a member of the Tax Section’s Executive Council and Director’s Committee. He is also a member and past President of the Greater Miami Tax Institute and a member of the International Tax Group. Bob is a recipient of the Florida Bar Tax Section’s Gerald T. Hart Outstanding Tax Attorney of the Year Award. Bob was a member of the Internal Revenue Service Advisory Council ( “IRSAC”) for the 2020 to 2022 term ( SBSE Subgroup Chair for 2021 and 2022) and was also a member of IRSAC from 2005 through 2007. He was Chair of the IRS South Florida District Compliance Plan Study Group under then District Director Thomas for four years. He has been an invited guest seven times at the Judicial Conference of the United States Tax Court.

Bob is one of a select group of tax litigators who has successfully invalidated a tax regulation and may be the only person who has ever invalidated two tax regulations in the same case. See the Tax Court’s Decision in Durbin Paper Stock Co. v. Commissioner, 80 T.C. 252. Bob is also the only attorney ever to have had attorneys fees awarded and paid against the Florida Department of Revenue in a Florida corporate income tax case.

Bob is a Florida Bar Board Certified Specialist in Tax Law.

Mishkin Santa

Mishkin is a Principal of The Wolf Group and oversees the firm's international tax services in the areas of Offshore Voluntary Disclosure, US Exit Tax, foreign grantor and non-grantor trusts, nonresident alien taxation, international organization employee taxation, pre-immigration tax planning, and cryptocurrency.

He assists individuals and businesses with highly specialized and complex tax issues related to offshore corporations, family businesses, trusts, and retirement plans. As a former Attorney with the IRS Chief Counsel, Mishkin is well-positioned to guide clients on a range of reporting and disclosure issues. In addition, he speaks regularly at professional events sponsored by attorney and CPA groups in the US and abroad.

Before joining The Wolf Group, Mishkin was a Partner of the International Tax Division at the Krueger CPA Group. He split his time between the main office in Austin, Texas and the sister office in Zurich, Switzerland.

Outside of work, Mishkin's favorite activity is to spend time with his wife and two children. He also enjoys all things related to history, specifically Greek Mythology and the Argead Dynasty (Alexander the Great), Old Testament Bible, the rise and fall of the Roman Republic, the British Empire, and the Republic of the United States. He is also a big movie buff and fan of 80s and 90s pop culture.