2026 CalTax Foundation Webinar Series

Dylan Waits

Andrew Wilford is Director of State Policy at National Taxpayers Union Foundation, where he writes research reports and authors op-eds in various outlets. A columnist for and the ,Andrew has also been published in , , and , and , as well as numerous other outlets. Andrew has also written frequently for , the , and the . 

Following his graduation from American University with a B.A. in Political Science, Andrew interned with NTUF in the fall of 2016. He has also completed internships with the Foundation for Government Accountability and the Heritage Foundation. 

Madiros “Marty” Dakessian founded Dakessian Law to build the premier law practice dedicated to representing California taxpayers. This strong sense of purpose, combined with Marty’s deep and abiding commitment to his clients, drives him to relentlessly defend their interests with loyalty, integrity and distinction. And the results he has achieved for his clients speak for themselves. Marty not only has a track record of success both at the administrative level and in court, he has shown an unprecedented ability to hold taxing agencies accountable. Over the years, Dakessian and his team have forced California tax agencies to pay attorney fee awards to several clients totaling over $3 million.

Immediately before starting Dakessian Law, Marty ended a successful run as equity partner at Global 20 law firm Reed Smith LLP where he led his team to numerous, impactful administrative and judicial victories. For his efforts, Marty was named “Tax MVP” in 2013 and 2014 by legal publication Law360, which lauded him as “a top-flight litigator.” He received three more Law360 Tax MVP awards in Dakessian Law’s first four years of operations—earning him a total of five Law360 Tax MVPs—more than any other California state and local tax lawyer. Marty’s efforts have even attracted the attention of the California Legislature, with legislative staff referring to him as a “.”

Marty has more than 20 years of California tax experience, beginning his career with the State Board of Equalization, which at the time was California’s administrative tax court and the world’s second-largest taxing agency. Marty worked for two of the five members who ran the Board—first as graduate research assistant to the Honorable Dean F. Andal, and then as legal counsel to the Honorable Claude W. Parrish, who was Chair of the Board in 2000 and thus served on the three-member Franchise Tax Board, and who is the current Orange County Tax Assessor.

During Marty’s time at the State Board of Equalization, he was responsible for advising Mr. Parrish regarding California franchise and income tax, sales tax and pro

Aaron is a Managing Director in the Tax Controversy and Dispute Resolution Services group for the KPMG Washington National Tax practice. He handles controversies at all levels of the IRS, including exams and appeals, and represents both foreign and domestic taxpayers on a wide range of technical and procedural issues.

Aaron joined KPMG in 2017 after nine years as an attorney in the IRS Chief Counsel’s Large Business & International division. In the government and at KPMG, he has handled tax disputes in a broad range of industries, including technology, real estate, banking, mining, and pharmaceuticals.

Aaron advises clients in federal examinations and IRS appeals on a wide range of domestic and international tax issues, including transfer pricing disputes, valuation disputes, foreign tax credits, research credits, civil penalties, and information returns. He has particular expertise in federal tax procedures and IRS policies that apply to federal income tax controversies, including alternative dispute resolution procedures such as Pre-Filing Agreements, Fast Track settlement, and Advance Pricing Agreements.

While with the government, Aaron provided legal and strategic advice to IRS examiners, economists and Appeals Officers in tax disputes involving large and midsize corporations. He also represented the IRS in complex multimillion and multibillion dollar litigation, including Amazon.com v. Commissioner(transfer pricing) and Altera v. Commissioner (transfer pricing and regulatory validity), Aries Communications v. Commissioner (executive compensation), A Plus International v. Commissioner(transactions with international affiliate), Korea Times Los Angeles v. Commissioner (business valuation) and Moskowitz v. United States (variance doctrine and TEFRA limitations periods). He received the Attorney General’s award for Special Contributions to the Department of Justice Tax Division in 2012, and the Chief Counsel National Award for Outstanding Litigation in 2014.

Annette Nellen, CPA, CGMA, Esq., is a professor in and director of San José State University's graduate tax program (MST), teaching courses in tax research, accounting methods, property transactions, high tech tax matters, employment tax, ethics, and tax policy.

Professor Nellen served on the AICPA Tax Executive Committee for over six years (rom October 2016 to May 2019). She serves on the AICPA SALT TRP and is a past chair of the AICPA Individual Taxation Technical Resource Panel. Professor Nellen was the lead author of the AICPA tax policy concept statement #1,  (2001, updated 2017 & 2025), still in use today. Professor Nellen is the of the 2013 Arthur J. Dixon Memorial Award given by the Tax Division of the AICPA, the highest award given by the accounting profession in the area of taxation. In fall 2013, Professor Nellen completed a three-year term on the Executive Committee of the Taxation Section of the California Bar and in 2024 completed a 4-year term on the CLA Tax Section Executive Committee, and continues to serve as an adviser. She was the first co-chair of the CA Bar Tax Section's Women in Tax Committee. Prof. Nellen is the recipient of the 2019 Benjamin F. Miller Award from the Taxation Section of the California Lawyers Association for achievement and contribution in the filed of state and local taxation law. She chairs the ABA Tax Section's Tax Policy & Simplification Committee and is a former chair of the ABA Tax Section’s Sales, Exchanges & Basis Committee.

In 2023, Professor Nellen was appointed to the IRS Advisory Council to a 3-year term and served as chair of IRSAC for 2024.

Professor Nellen is the author of Bloomberg BNA Tax Portfolio #533, . She is an editor for the four Southwestern Federal Taxation (Individual Income Tax; Corporations, Partnerships, Estates & Trusts; Comprehensive; and Essentials of Taxation). She is a regular  (Moving Forward?) for Tax Analysts’ .

<p style="line-height: 1.5; padding: 0; margin: 0 0 12px; background-color: rgba(255,

Joe Bishop‐​Henchman is Executive Vice President at the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, leading our work to protect taxpayer rights through research, litigation, and outreach. He has worked with elected officials and stakeholders to achieve major state‐​level tax changes, advised on the interplay between federal and state policy changes, and authored over 100 studies on tax policy and tax law. Bishop‐​Henchman is a class plaintiff in a major lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service seeking refund of $300 million of illegally collected fees, was lead counsel in NTUF’s litigation that successfully prompted reform of Louisiana’s complex local sales tax practices, and his brief in  was cited twice by the U.S. Supreme Court majority opinion.

Bishop-Henchman joined NTUF from the McDermott Will & Emery law firm, where he counseled clients on tax policy and compliance, and prior to that, 14 years at the Tax Foundation, where he co-authored 8 books on tax policy. He has testified to Congress seven times, in 36 state houses around the country, and on anti-corruption tax reform efforts in-person in Kyiv, Ukraine in 2023. He was educated at the University of California, Berkeley and received his J.D. from the George Washington University Law School and a certificate in International Legal Studies from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge and the University of Salzburg. He is admitted to practice law in New York, Maryland, the District of Columbia, and before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Tax Court, and the 4th, 5th, 6th, 9th, and D.C. Circuits.

He serves on the State Advisory Board for Bloomberg Tax, the Board of Directors of the Rainey Center, and is an Adjunct Scholar at the Cato Institute. He lives in Washington, DC with his husband Ethan and their dog, Ulysses. Follow him on Twitter at @jbhenchman. 

Jared Walczak is Vice President of State Projects at the Tax Foundation. He is the lead researcher on the annual  and , and has authored or coauthored tax reform guides on Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Nevada, New  York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Jared’s work is regularly cited in 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. In his free time, Jared enjoys hiking and has a goal of visiting all 63 national parks.