Cyrus Daftary to lead the Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee (ETAAC)

The Internal Revenue Service has announced the selection of three new members and a chairperson to the Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee (ETAAC).

ETAAC provides an organized forum for discussion of issues in electronic tax administration and supports the goal of increasing electronic transactions between tax professionals and the IRS.

The new members are:

• James Buttonow of Greensboro, N.C., is a certified public accountant and vice president of product development for Beyond415 software products. He designs and develops post-filing technology solutions and teaches post-filing topics to practitioners.
• Everard Lee Davenport of Washington, D.C., is principal at Davenport Consulting, working with a variety of organizations to create and lead programs providing free income tax services, computer access and digital learning to underserved communities. He is the architect of MyFreeTaxes.com.
• Troy Thibideau of Maple Grove, Minn., is executive vice president of marketing and client operations for Convey Compliance Systems, Inc., working with third party service providers and information returns. He is a former CPA with over 20 years of experience within the technology and finance industries.

The new chairperson is :

• Cyrus Daftary of Newton, Mass., has been elected by the members to serve as the chairperson of ETAAC for 2013-2014. He is a partner with Burt, Staples & Maner and is responsible for developing and implementing tax software solutions for withholding and information return reporting. Daftary’s experience includes representing clients before the IRS under Form 1042 audits and Form 1042 voluntary disclosures, and designing an online course “Cyberlaw: Legal Research, Issues and Practice in Cyberspace.” He earned an economics degree from Indiana University, a Juris Doctorate from University of Dayton School of Law and a LL.M. from Temple University in Tax.