Fresh Start Tax, LLC

Michael D. Sullivan
Former IRS Revenue Officer

Michael D. Sullivan is one of the founders of Fresh Start Tax LLC. He had a distinguished career with the Internal Revenue Service for 10 years. As a veteran IRS Revenue Officer / Agent, he served as an Offer in Compromise Tax Specialist and Large Dollar Case Specialist. He also collaborated with the U.S. Attorney’s office in many undercover operations. Michael received several awards for his work and dedication as a Revenue Officer. During his tenure with the IRS, he was a Certified Tax Instructor who taught out of the Atlanta Regional IRS Training Offices. He also taught out of the local and district offices of the IRS. Mr. Sullivan trained many of the new IRS Agents.

Michael has been in private practice for the last 29 years in the field of Taxpayer Representation / Consultation for IRS tax resolution issues. He often consults with corporations and individuals, which involves a wide range of tax issues. Michael has worked many large complex cases for high net worth individuals and large corporations. Mr. Sullivan is a committed professional with dedicated involvement in the tax profession community as a frequent speaker on the South Florida circuit and also served as an officer and on the Board of the Greater South Florida Tax Council. Michael has been the program host and moderator for several Internal Revenue Service forums both in the public and professional sectors. Michael is also a member of the National Society of Accountants. Mr. Sullivan is also registered with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation and has an approved class for IRS Collection Matters for Certified Public Accountants and Attorneys. Course # 0012279 expires 11/04/2013. He also is a Certified and Registered Tax Preparer with the IRS.

Michael graduated from St. Thomas University with a B.A. in Pre-Law. He also has attended Knox Theological Seminary. Mr. Sullivan has obtained a Life Time Achievement Award for Little League Baseball and currently sits on the International Board for the Walk to Emmaus. Michael also is a proud member of the Life Work Leadership program.

Michael is very active in the various ministries of his church where he can be found leading and teaching Biblical Studies. He has been the Lay Leader for five years at the church which he now serves.

Mr. Sullivan can be heard on Net Grace FM, for the Christian Business Weekly show.

He is also an avid bass fisherman, has a commercial racing license, and can be found on occasion skydiving.

*Mr. Sullivan has been in private practice since 1982 in South Florida which gave roots to Fresh Start Tax LLC. The firm began as Sullivan & Powell PA and through the years transitioned to its now current form.

Steven F. Jacob
Certified Public Accountant

Steven F. Jacob, CPA is a founder of Fresh Start Tax. His career includes over 30 years in public accounting, six years with international accounting and consulting firm, KPMG Peat Marwick.

While at KPMG he was a senior manager in the SALT, (State and Local Taxation Group), where he handled various state tax issues including multi-state sales tax and unemployment tax issues. Since 1998, Steve maintained a private practice which handled tax issues for firm clientele, including assisting clients receive tax refunds on monies lost in Ponzi schemes. With his knowledge and experience, he has saved clients millions of dollars from tax audits, OIC’s, and negotiations with the IRS and various States. Mr. Jacob currently focuses his efforts in the area of tax consulting, specializing in IRS and state tax resolution.

Steve received his Bachelor of Arts in Accounting and a Masters of Accounting with a specialization in Tax from Florida Atlantic University. He is a licensed CPA in the State of Florida, a current member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and also a member of the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants (FICPA). Steve has presented many tax seminars throughout South Florida.

Steve is a member of Christ Church United Methodist in Ft. Lauderdale. He was one of the founding board members that helped launch the Christian Community Foundation of South Florida. Steve has attended Knox Theological Seminary as an audit student and served on the International Advisory Committee for Walk to Emmaus. Steve served on the Christ Church School Board for 6 years and was Chairman for 2 years. He has coached youth sports at all levels through high school and continues to coach, play golf, and tennis in his spare time.

Stephen Wilkinson
Corporate Accountant

Steve brings knowledge and expertise to Fresh Start Tax, with involvement with large figure compliance cases and resolution of IRS tax issues for individual client cases. Steve has served as an Accounting Director for Alamo/National Car Rental, the third largest car rental company in North America. Responsible for $5 billion in vehicle inventory and sales, and management of a corporate accounting department. He has a strong operational background to provide management of the entire Fresh Start Tax process between staff and client issues and needs.

Steve holds a USCG captain’s license and is a member of the Florida Guides Association.

Susan Moss
Former IRS Audit Supervisor

Susan Moss began her career with the Internal Revenue Service in the Office Audit Division in 1973. As an Office Auditor she examined individual and small business tax returns. In 1978 she was promoted to Office Audit Group Manager. As a Group Manager she supervised a group of 25 IRS agents. Susan received numerous awards for accomplishments with Fraud Discovery and Awareness; Examination of Business Returns; and The Tax Shelter Audit Program.

Susan retired from the Internal Revenue Service in 1983 and for the past 26 years has worked in private practice as a tax consultant and IRS audit and collection specialist. With her practice she has worked with many accounting firms representing corporations and individuals to resolve their tax problems. Susan is self employed and not employee of Fresh Start Tax LLC. Susan has been a featured speaker at various tax industry functions. Susan is married with 3 grown children and 2 grandchildren. She graduated from Florida Atlantic University with a B.A. degree and attended Arizona State University and Florida Atlantic University graduate school.

Anthony N. Verni
Tax Attorney and CPA

Anthony N. Verni is a Tax Attorney and Certified Public Accountant with over 25 years experience practicing before the Internal Revenue Service and state tax agencies. Mr. Verni has successfully represented hundreds of taxpayers in connection with audit examinations, appeals and the collection process resulting in a substantial reduction in federal and state income taxes as well as the abatement of civil penalties and interest. Mr. Verni specializes in US Citizens or residents who reside and work in foreign countries and the problems associated with failure to file income tax returns, as well as delinquent FBAR reports and other related tax compliance issue.
Mr. Verni received his undergraduate degree from St. John’s College. Mr Verni also hold a Juris Doctorate, which he received from the University of Illinois, College of Law and a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Drexel University, Lebow College of Business.
Anthony M. Verni is admitted to practice law in the state of New Jersey and licensed as a certified public accountant in the state of Illinois.
*Fresh Start Tax LLC will refer work to Attorneys from time to time depending on the nature of the case. The attorneys will then engage Fresh Start Tax LLC under a separate retainer agreement or by use of a Koval Letter.

Edward A. Vecchio
IRS and Tax Specialist

Ed began his tax and accounting career with Firley, Moran, Freer & Eassa, PC (member of the RSM McGladrey Network) in Syracuse, New York in 1989. He has over 22 years experience in IRS representation, personal taxation, and small businesses, along with trusts, estates, sales tax, corporate taxation and financial statements. He has also assisted clients in IRS controversies (including years of unfiled tax returns), from the simplest returns to the very complex. In Syracuse, Ed had his own successful private tax practice in for 21 years doing the same type of work. For over 20 years, Ed has been a member of “The National Association of Tax Professionals”. He is a registered practitioner for the State of New York and a registered tax preparer with the IRS.

Ed has an Associate Degree in Business from Alfred State College and an Associate Degree in Accounting from Onondage Community College. He also completes 40 to 50 hours annually in continuing tax education.

For 5 years, Ed was the Treasurer for the North Syracuse Little League and a girls softball coach. He was also on the Jr. Achievement Board for 2 years.

Ed is an avid softball player, both on a local team and a traveling team. He also enjoys tennis, plays the drums, and assists his daughter with her horse shows.

Nadine Smith
Enrolled Agent

Nadine Smith, EA is licensed by the federal government to represent taxpayer’s before the Internal Revenue Service since 1996. She has been working in the field of taxation for over 23 years. She has had her own professional offices in Florida, New York, and Michigan. She has focused her career exclusively in representing taxpayers in tax controversies. She adamantly and aggressively represents taxpayers with tax controversies in collections, State and Federal Tax audits, and appeals to protect their rights.

Nadine is a faculty member of the National Tax Practice Institute (NTPI). NTPI is the premier representation education for attorneys, CPAs, and Enrolled Agents who are seeking instruction on how to represent taxpayer’s before the Internal Revenue Service. This is a three-year program in which graduates become a fellows. She has spent the past two years as the Chair of the NTPI planning committee whereas she selected the institute’s complete faculty and curriculum.

Nadine is a member of the National Association of Enrolled Agents whereas she has served as a member of the National Education Fund of Trustees and Past President of the Michigan Society of Enrolled Agents. She currently is serving as the Chair of the Education Committee for the Florida Society of Enrolled Agents. She is frequently invited to speak before tax professional groups such as attorneys, CPAs, and Enrolled Agents and has spoken to various groups across the country. Nadine is very involved with Make A Wish Foundation.

Nadine is also a member of the IRS Practitioner Liaison Committee.

Scott Szaro

Certified Public Accountant, MBA

Scott has worked in the field of accounting for over 25 years. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Rhode Island in 1987. He also began his career in 1987 in public accounting with Sparrow, Johnson & Ursillo, Inc. in Providence, Rhode Island where he worked in the auditing and tax departments. He gained extensive experience working for CPA firms through 1994, at which point he started his own tax accounting practice. He also pursued a CPA license, acquiring it in 1995; Scott currently holds his CPA license in the State of Rhode Island. For many years afterward, he worked in the tax departments of privately and publicly owned companies, during which time a corporate relocation brought him to Florida in 1998.

Scott has experience in bookkeeping, payroll, financial reporting, and tax preparation. He has worked in corporate, small business, and not-for-profit settings including various churches in Rhode Island and Florida. He also has experience in the tax resolution process of personal and business assessments issued to taxpayers by various states and the Internal Revenue Service.

One of Scott’s passions has always been aviation, and in 2005 he earned an MBA from Lynn University with a concentration in aviation management. He also earned a private pilot’s license in 2005 and gained additional experience in small business management for many years while managing his own flight leasing company.

Scott is married and has two grown daughters, along with a grandson and granddaughter. He likes watching and playing different sports, enjoys running, likes to travel, and often returns to New England to visit family and friends.

Francis A. Andreacchi
Former IRS Revenue Agent

Former IRS Revenue Agent, Appeals Officer, Federal Tax Mediator, Gallatin Award form the U.S. Department of the Treasury

With 35 years of employment with the Internal Revenue Service, Francis A. Andreacchi has a vast amount of knowledge and experience. In 1974, he started as an Office Auditor in the Office Audit Division where he examined individual tax returns.

In 1977, he was promoted to Revenue Agent in the Field Audit Division. As a Revenue Agent, he examined high income individuals, large corporations, partnerships and trusts. In the Tax Shelter Audit Program, he specialized in the examination of complex financial transactions.

In 1982, Francis was promoted to Appeals Officer in the Appeals Division where he spent the last 35 years of his career with the IRS. As an Appeals Officer, he conducted conferences to settle cases in which taxpayers have appealed Internal Revenue Service determinations on their tax case or filed a petition in U.S. Tax Court. Francis had the authority to recommend the final disposition of the case from the government’s perspective and to prepare the final settlement.

As an Appeals Officer, he was assigned various income tax cases involving individuals, trusts, partnerships and corporations from the Examination Division. These cases involved omitted income, disallowed expenses and various penalties as substantial understatement of tax, fraud, failure to file and failure to pay. In conjunction with these cases, he had to consider innocent spouse issues raised by one of the spouses.

As an Appeals Officer, he was also assigned various collection cases from the Collection Division. Such cases included offer in compromise, installment agreements and transferor-transferee issues.

Another type of collection case assigned was the application of the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty on individuals in which the corporation did not pay the payroll taxes. In these cases, Francis was required to make a determination whether the taxpayer was the responsible person who willfully failed to pay the employment taxes and the relative litigating hazards of the taxpayer and the Internal Revenue Service.

His span of case assignment from the Collection Division included Collection Due Process for lien and levy actions. In these cases, he had to consider whether these enforcement actions were proper within the facts and circumstances of the case. Francis had to consider all other issues raised by the taxpayer on his unpaid tax liability, such as whether the liability was correct and whether any penalties should be abatement. Francis also had to consider various collection alternatives raised by the taxpayer such as installment agreements, offers in compromise and currently not collectible status.

Francis is also an IRS trained mediator. As an IRS mediator, his responsibility was to attempt to bring the Internal Revenue Service and the taxpayer to an agreement on their dispute through a conference. He was one of the first mediators to successfully mediate an offer in compromise between the IRS and the taxpayer.

Francis received many Performance Awards for his hard work in successfully resolving cases in the Appeals Division. Upon his retirement from the IRS, the United States Department of the Treasury awarded Francis the Albert Gallatin Award for his contribution to the public service.

As an Enrolled Agent, Francis is licensed by the federal government to represent taxpayers before the IRS. His 60 years as an Appeals Officer with the IRS provides him with the unique knowledge and experience to effectively represent the taxpayer before the IRS.

Annmarie Cornwall
Administrative Assistant

Annmarie Cornwall serves as the Administrative Assistant of Fresh Start Tax, working to provide the firm and its clients with optimal administrative support and assistance. She has previously worked with some of the big 4 accounting firm such as KPMG and Deloitte, and has over 20 years of experience. She is very versed in the accounting field and although she doesn’t prepare tax returns, her knowledge of the administrative functions of the accounting industry is extensive.

She is an alumnus of Essex County Vocational School and has a certificate in Secretarial Administration from Florida International University.

Born in Kingston, Jamaica and raised in Orange, New Jersey, Annmarie and daughter, Krysteena, now reside in Broward County, Florida.

Kelly Hadlock

Kelly began her career in Banking, working both in a conventional Bank and also in a Savings & Loan institution.  After spending almost 10 years in various positions in banking, she decided to apply her banking and accounting skills to Finance Management for entrepreneurs and startup companies.

For over 20 years, she has been Controller and Office Manager for several companies.  She is responsible for successfully implementing accounting systems, ie QuickBooks, in each of the entities that employed her. She has been involved in IRS Representation and State Tax Issues for various clients.
She graduated from Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, California with an Associative Arts Degree in Business Administration.

Kelly has lived in the South Florida area for over 20 years.

Lauryn Charles

Lauryn Charles works with Fresh Start Tax LLC exclusively as a expert in 990, Organizations Exempt From Income. A graduate of Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, she has served clients in banking, financial services, lending, manufacturing, non-profit, professional services, retail, production companies, construction, real estate, and many other service related industries. She is qualified to aide small businesses in Federal and State & local government contracting opportunities.

Ms. Charles works closely with professionals in the community to reach her client’s goals. She is the President of the Better Business Network, an enterprise group of the Pompano Beach Chamber of Commerce. She is an active member of Have a Heart Charities, a non-profit serving South Florida communities in need. She is an instructor for the Small Biz Community & Economic Development Corporation where she teaches tax, accounting, business, and QuickBooks courses.

Joseph P. Diminio

Enrolled Agent – California Office

Joe Dimino is a Federally Authorized Tax Practitioner (FATP) who has demonstrated significant technical expertise in the field of taxation after proving in-depth knowledge of the tax code through examination, thus empowering him by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, to represent taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). He has been in the field of taxation for over 22 years, and an Enrolled Agent (EA) since 2005.

In addition to his EA designation, Joe has completed a rigorous three-year curriculum to become a Fellow of the National Association of Enrolled Agents (NAEA) National Tax Practice Institute (NTPI). This program has uniquely prepared him to effectively represent his clients before all administrative levels of the IRS, and cover all variances of examinations, audits, collections and appeals, while instructing on the entire process from both the client and IRS perspective. Joe has also been a Discussion Leader at NTPI’s Level 2 in both 2010 and 2011.

Joe is an active member of the National Association of Enrolled Agents (NAEA), the California Association of Enrolled Agents (CSEA), and the Orange County Enrolled Agents (OCEA). He is also a member of the South Orange County Chapter of the California Society of Tax Consultants (CSTC), as well as an associate member of the California State Bar Association Taxation Section. He has been active in his local chapter by volunteering as a Director on the Board of the Orange County Enrolled Agents (OCEA), and has served as Chair of the OCEA Education Committee in 2011. He was one of three individuals hand-selected by the President of NAEA to sit on the newly formed advisory board of the Schuldiner/Smollan Memorial Funds Task Force for 2011/2012. He has volunteered his time as an instructor for the IRS Small Business Workshop in Laguna Niguel, CA.

Joe proudly served in the United States Air Force from 1984 through 1988 as an Accounting Specialist stationed at bases located in Texas, Hawaii, Guam, and Australia. As soon as his military term was satisfied, he decided to move back to his home town in New Jersey to complete his college degree, and begin his tax career working at a local CPA firm James Murray & Associates. He attended Rutgers the State University and California State University receiving his bachelor’s degrees in Accounting and Finance.

Joseph has also secured the designation of Accredited Tax Advisor (ATA) by the Accreditation Council of Accountancy and Taxation. This designation is available to those who exemplify proficiency and expertise in tax preparation, along with the additional requirement of increased annual continuing education beyond that required of Enrolled Agents and other tax professionals.

An important aspect of his life is family. He currently resides in Southern California with his beautiful wife Martha of 20 years, three wonderful children Marisol, Nick, and Andrew, and domestic partner pet pals Odey the dog and Ollie the cat. When not at work, he loves to read, coach, and attend his children’s sports games, while balancing the remainder of his day being a loving husband, father, and church steward.
Joe’s greatest strengths are his integrity, preparation and presentation skills, and a secret weapon that he refers to as quiet self-confidence. He continues to provide his clients with an added comfort by letting them know that “everything will be just fine”.

Richard M. Cieri

Certified Public Accountant – New Jersey Office

Mr. Richard M. Cieri is a Certified Public Accountant located in New Jersey and New York.
Mr. Cieri received his BS degree in Accounting from Boston College and obtained his Masters in Business Administration in Taxation and Management from New York University Graduate School of Business.
Mr. Cieri has been a partner in Burton, Cieri, Del Sordi & Co., LLC since 1977. Richard has also been an adjunct professor for five years at Jersey City State College.

Mr. Cieri’s area of expertise is in individual, partnership and corporate tax. Richard has furnished expert testimony in many divorce matters as well as various other tax litigation matters.

He is active in the New Jersey Society of CPA’s and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants as a regular and tax division member. He is also a member of the Morris Chapter of the NJSCPA and on a subcommittee for cooperation with the Internal Revenue Service.

Richard has also testified in Grand Jury investigations on cases of criminal tax fraud in the New York District. His experience has also included various State Fraud investigations where he was retained to  successfully analyze the validity of the taxpayer’s case.

Mr. Cieri is a registered tax representative and financial advisor. He is also a licensed life and long-term care insurance planner which he integrates in his financial, estate and elder care planning.

Fresh Start Tax L.L.C. and Richard Cieri have teamed up together in providing quality tax relief for IRS and State Tax Resolution matters in the New York and New Jersey the surrounding areas.