Americans Are Moving to the Most Tax-Friendly States in the Country

Sebastián Leguizamón, Ph.D.

Director, Centre for Applied Economics, and Associate Professor, Economics at Western Kentucky University

Dr. Leguizamón is an Associate Professor of Economics at WKU and Director of the Center for Applied Economics (WKU). He received his Ph.D. in Economics in 2011 and then spent two years as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Economics department at Tulane University in New Orleans. Right after, and prior to coming to WKU in 2015, he taught economics and statistics at Vanderbilt University. His research spans many different topics but he specializes in the economics of governments and public policy, including state and local taxation.

Edward Zelinsky

Morris and Annie Trachman Professor of Law

Professor Zelinsky is the author of The Origins of the Ownership Society (Oxford, 2007) and Taxing the Church (Oxford, 2017). His articles have appeared in many publications, including Harvard Law Review, Yale Law Journal, Columbia Law Review, Virginia Tax Review, Cardozo Law Review, Tax Notes and State Tax Notes. He frequently lectures before professional groups on tax issues and has testified before Congress, most recently, before subcommittees of the House Judiciary Committee. Among his public service activities, Professor Zelinsky, who lives in New Haven, served seven terms on that community's Board of Alderman and for three and one-half years on New Haven's Board of Finance. He is now a director of the Connecticut Retirement Security Authority. He was an editor of the Yale Law Journal, a teaching fellow in the Yale University Department of Economics and law clerk to Judge J. Joseph Smith of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Sharon Ackerman

Director, State and Local Taxation at Anchin, Block & Anchin

Sharon Ackerman, CPA, is a tax director in the Tax Controversy Services Group at Anchin. Sharon has more than 20 years of experience representing both corporate and individual clients before the IRS, state and local taxing authorities. She resolves issues in a wide range of industries, including real estate, construction, professional services, manufacturing, wholesale and retail.

John Bonk

Partner and State & Local Tax Leader, Marcum Accountants and Advisors

John Bonk is a partner at Marcum Accountants and Advisors and the firm’s State & Local Tax leader. He has nearly 15 years of experience in public accounting, assisting clients with multistate tax issues. Mr. Bonk has worked with clients in a wide array of industries, including private equity, technology, manufacturing, wholesale distribution, real estate, transportation and healthcare. He is primarily focused on income tax as well as sales and use tax issues; he also has experience with state and local indirect and direct taxation. Mr. Bonk has consulted on significant state tax issues in all of the largest states in the country and many of the smaller states as well.

Jared Walczak

Vice President of State Projects, Tax Foundation

Jared is vice president of State Projects with the Center for State Tax Policy at the Tax Foundation. He is the lead researcher on the annual State Business Tax Climate Index and Location Matters, and he previously authored or coauthored tax reform books on Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Nevada, Pennsylvania and South Carolina. Jared’s work has been cited by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Politico, AP and many other prominent national and state outlets. He previously served as legislative director to a member of the Senate of Virginia and as policy director for a statewide campaign, and consulted on research and policy development for a number of candidates and elected officials. Jared grew up in rural Western Pennsylvania and attended Grove City College, where he studied political science. In his free time, Jared enjoys hiking and has a goal of visiting all 62 national parks.

Francine Lipman

Professor of Law at University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV)

Professor Francine J. Lipman brings to the Boyd School of Law an exceptional record as an accountant, a lawyer, a teacher and a scholar. After working as a CPA in an international accounting firm and as the chief financial officer for a chain of retail jewelry stores, Professor Lipman turned to law, where she served as the editor in chief of the UC Davis Law Review and was recognized as an Outstanding Law Student and a member of the Order of the Coif. Following a similarly stellar record in NYU’s Graduate Tax Law Program, where she was a Tax Law Review Scholar, she practiced law with O’Melveny & Myers LLP and Irell & Manella LLP. Professor Lipman joined the faculties of Chapman University’s School of Business and Economics in 2001 and the School of Law in 2003. Professor Lipman is an elected member of the American Law Institute, the American College of Tax Counsel and the American Bar Foundation, and she's an editor and former committee chair for the Tax Section of the American Bar Association. She has been a visiting professor at UC Hastings College of Law and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Ani Hovanessian

Partner and Chair of the New York Tax and Wealth Planning Group at Venable LLP

Ani Hovanessian is co-chair of Venable's East Coast Estate Planning Group. Ani focuses on estate planning, business succession planning and charitable gifting. She serves as personal general counsel to high-net-worth families and individuals, including private equity, hedge fund and venture capital principals; executives of privately and publicly held businesses; family business owners; entrepreneurs; real estate investors; and art collectors. She advises her clients on the complexities of strategic wealth transference, business succession and asset protection planning, which includes premarital and postmarital planning.

Daniel Lee

Senior Wealth Manager at Plancorp

Daniel joined Plancorp in 2019 after spending over a decade with a local Bay Area firm. He leads the Silicon Valley office and specializes in helping busy professionals optimize complex retirement and equity compensation plans. Daniel also researches socially and environmentally responsible investing for the firm. Daniel earned a BS in economics and biopsychology from the University of Michigan and completed the UC Berkeley Extension Personal Financial Planning program. He is an award-winning instructor at the UC Berkeley Extension program and also serves on their advisory board.

Nancy Anderson

National Director of Wealth Planning & Trust Services, Calamos Wealth Management

After beginning her career as a bank trust officer, Nancy Anderson earned a law degree in 1991 from William Mitchell College of Law and has been an active member of the Minnesota Bar Association, Illinois State Bar Association, Chicago Bar Association and the Financial Planning Association (FPA). She engaged in private practice, focused on estate planning, before bringing her law and trust backgrounds together as a vice president and trust director with American Express (formerly IDS Trust Company).

Jeff Zhou

CEO & Co-Founder of Fig Loans

Jeffrey Zhou is the CEO and Co-Founder of Fig Loans, a lender offering socially-responsible financial products to the underbanked. He runs a finance technology company that builds risk models and lending software for nonprofit organizations. Since the pandemic started, team members have moved to remote work in multiple states. Jeff helps people navigate how moving states can impact taxes. He is a New York Times Visionary and has an MBA from Wharton School at UPenn and a Bachelor of Science from MIT.

Henry Grzes

Henry Grzes, Lead Manager for Tax Practice & Ethics American Institute of CPAs

Henry Grzes is a Lead Technical Manager in the Tax Practice & Ethics group at the AICPA. He assists with creating resources for members in various areas of taxation involving specialized guidance including international issues and the Affordable Care Act. He is also the staff liaison to the AICPA’s Tax Practice Responsibilities Committee, which acts as a subject matter expert on issues related to tax practice standards and ethics. Prior to joining the AICPA, he held leadership positions at in a number of regional, national and international accounting firms.

James Guarino, CPA, PFS, CFP®

Managing Director, Tax Practice at Baker Newman Noyes

Jim is a Managing Director in the tax practice at Baker Newman Noyes. He specializes in serving high-net-worth individuals and families and closely held businesses and their owners. Clients turn to Jim for trusted tax, financial planning, and wealth management advice and guidance, including tactical tax strategies, estate planning coordination and oversight, retirement planning and gifting strategies. He also assists owners of closely held businesses with succession planning, exit strategies, and retirement transitions.

Dr. Brandon Di Paolo Harrison

Assistant Professor of Accounting at Austin Peay State University

Dr. Di Paolo Harrison is an Assistant Professor of Accounting at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee. He has over 20 years of accounting expertise, specializing in Healthcare Accounting as a consultant and Chief Financial Officer. His areas of research interest are financial reporting accuracy, healthcare accounting, accounting information systems, governmental and non-profit accounting, and data analytics for accounting.

Sutirtha Bagchi, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Economics at Villanova University

Sutirtha Bagchi is an Associate Professor of Economics at Villanova University, having received tenure in 2021. His research interests are in the areas of political economy, state and local public finance, regulation, and public-sector labor markets. He graduated from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, with a Ph.D. in Business Economics in 2014. His dissertation committee was comprised of Profs. Joel Slemrod (Chair), James Hines, Dana Muir, and Jagadeesh Sivadasan.