Semiannual Full Day Seminar (E1611839)

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.

Glenn has worked for the Internal Revenue Service for 33 years. He began in Taxpayer Service in 1989 as a Taxpayer Service Specialist answering account and tax law questions on the IRS’s toll-free phone line until becoming a Revenue Agent in 1994. During his 11 years as an Agent, Glenn worked in the Examination Problem Resolution Unit as a caseworker, a cooperating Agent for Criminal Investigations and was a Taxpayer Advocate at the model walk-in office in Edison. Glenn is also a certified instructor for the IRS and has spent four years training the new incoming Revenue Agents from 2001 to 2005.

Additionally, Glenn worked in the former Taxpayer Education & Communication division during its stand-up in 2001 before it was eventually realigned into Communications & Liaison. His current assignments include the Annual Federal State Tax Workshops, North & South Jersey Working Together, AARP, multilingual associations, school districts and the underserved community.

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.

Christina started with the Division in 2007 in the Customer Service Call Center. During her 8 years in the Division’s Customer Service center she gained a vast knowledge of all taxes and programs administered by the Division. She assisted not only the taxpayers of New Jersey during her time in the Customer Service center but also the practitioners and business community through the Pratitioner Hotline. Christina joined Taxation University in 2015 where she became a strong part of our employee training program and continued to assist the practitioners and business communities by providing valuable tax information through seminars and education. In April of 2020 Christina moved to the Office of Legislative Analysis to assist in navigating the legislation that impacts the Division. As of the spring of 2023 Christina is the newest addition to the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate. Christina has served on various projects over the course of her career including the planning and implementation of the Division first ever New Hire Boot Camp training program in 2017, the Intergrated Tax System training plan implementation, and most recently the ANCHOR Program advertising and outreach campaign. Christina’s tax knowledge, customer service experience, and project management skill set is a strong assest to the Division of Taxation. Christina is a loving mother of three and an avid baker.

John oversees the industry specific expertise and risk management for McGowanPRO’s accounting and financial clients. Mr. Raspante is the former Director of Compliance and Risk Management as well as the Director of Education for Graf Repetti & Co. LLP, Certified Public Accountants & Business Advisors. Prior to joining Graf Repetti, Mr. Raspante worked nine years for CAMICO Mutual Insurance Company, a provider of accountants’ professional liability insurance. Mr. Raspante’s primary responsibility at CAMICO was providing loss prevention services to the organization’s largest insured’s. Mr. Raspante is a frequent speaker within the accounting profession on issues relating to risk management and professional ethics. He presents regularly at different conferences for accounting firm associations and CPA State Societies. He is a published author and contributor for accounting firm periodicals such as Journal of Accountancy and Accounting Today.