IRS and Tax Practice Symposium

Wednesday, November 18, 2026
8:25 a.m. – 5:05 p.m.
Virtual
8.5 CPE Credits
6 Enrolled Agent (EA) Credits

Cost: $320 Members and Non-Members
No Early Bird

Hear from IRS and Illinois agency representatives and experienced practitioners on the rules, procedures, and agency activity affecting tax practice. Sessions cover Circular 230, Form 3911, IRS collections, partnership audits, appeals, and updates from the Illinois Department of Revenue and Department of Employment Security.

CPAs, enrolled agents, tax attorneys, and other professionals who help clients navigate tax compliance, examinations, collections, appeals, and IRS representation.

Illinois CPA Society

Internal Revenue Service

Illinois Department of Revenue

Illinois Department of Employment

Michael Singer, CPA, Michael J. Singer and Company, P.C.

Larry Wolfe, CPA, Larry J. Wolfe Ltd.

James McElligot

J.D., LL.M. (Taxation), Legal Administration Specialist, Internal Revenue Service

Mr. McElligott is an Attorney-Advisor within the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR). Mr. McElligott joined the IRS in the Employee Plans - Determination Letter Requests section of the Tax Exempt/Government Entities Division (TE/GE) in 2010 where he was a Tax Law Specialist making legal determinations regarding employee retirement plan qualification. In 2012, Mr. McElligott became an attorney-advisor with the OPR, responsible for the administration and enforcement of Title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, Subtitle A, Part 10), commonly known as Circular 230, governing practice before the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Prior to joining the IRS Mr. McElligott was in the private practice of law specializing in taxation and an instructor of accounting in the master's degree program at Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia.

Mr. McElligott received a B.A. in Economics from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, a J.D. from Regent University School of Law and an LL.M. in Taxation from the University of Missouri, Kansas City, School of Law. Mr. McElligott is admitted to the Virginia Bar.

Ola Buraimo Olabisi

CPA, Local Taxpayer Advocate, Internal Revenue Service - Taxpayer Advocate Service

Olabisi Ola-Buraimo is a seasoned tax and accounting professional with more than 22 years of experience with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). She currently serves as the Local Taxpayer Advocate in the Taxpayer Advocate Service; an independent organization within the IRS where she provides leadership to the office responsible for assisting taxpayers in resolving issues with the IRS. In this capacity, she oversees efforts to serve individual taxpayers, their representatives, and congressional offices within the area. Prior to her current role, Bisi served as a manager in the Tax Exempt & Government Entities (TEGE) Division, where she supervised revenue agents responsible for conducting tax compliance examinations of non-profit organizations. Before joining the IRS, she worked as a Senior Auditor with Arthur Andersen and held various accounting positions in the private sector.
Ms. Ola-Buraimo holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Illinois, Chicago. She is also a registered Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in the State of Illinois.

Trevor Atkins

Shannon Fangmeier

Division Manager, Illinois Department of Revenue

Shannon G. Fangmeier attended Western Illinois University. She began her career with the Illinois Department of Revenue starting in the Taxpayer Services Division in January 1996. After one year, she transitioned to the Collections Division where she has spent the past 27 years working in the various collection enforcement program areas. Shannon has been in a managerial role the past 17 years and is now a Division Manager of Collections.

Max Letterly

Program Administrator - Taxpayer Services, Illinois Department of Revenue

Max Letterly is the Program Administrator of the Audit Bureau at the Illinois Department of Revenue, where he oversees nearly 400 staff across three statewide audit divisions. With close to two decades of public service experience at IDOR, Max has led in key areas including tax processing, taxpayer services, and enterprise system development. He played a central role in the rollout of the Department's integrated tax system, GenTax, and has championed initiatives to modernize audit operations, improve internal communication, and expand workforce development through programs like IDOR's first audit internship track. Max holds a degree in Business Administration from the University of Illinois-Springfield and brings a strong focus on collaboration, fairness, and continuous improvement to his leadership style.

Kevin Denny

Sr. Public Service Administrator, Illinois Department of Employment Security

Kevin Denny is a Sr. Public Service Administrator and manager of Employer Services in the Revenue Division, and has been employed by the Illinois Department of Employment Security for 28 years. He is a subject matter expert on employer liability, rates, penalty and interest due process, SUTA Dumping (i.e. rate manipulation), and Professional Employer Organization complaince.

David Preston

BA Economics, Senior Manager, IRS/SBSE/Field Collection

Currently, Deputy Director in Field Collection leading Central and South Atlantic area. Recently Director in HCO serviving as IRSU Technical Training Director, also former Central Area Field Director and the Acting Director, Campus Collection for Philadelphia and Cincinnati responsible for two Automated Collection sites, Centralized Lien Operation, Centralized Case processing, and Compliance Services Collection Operations. My regular position is a Territory Manager in Field Collection, Central Area covering the State of Illinois. I serve as the Executive Liaison to Collection Knowledge Management and leading a team on 3rd Party payroll Fraud nationally. Most of his career has been in Collection where he held positions as a Policy Analyst, Bankruptcy Group Manager, Offer in Compromise Manager and managed various Field Groups.

Larry Wolfe

CPA, Owner, Larry J. Wolfe, Ltd.

Larry J. Wolfe, CPA, is owner of Larry J. Wolfe, Ltd., a CPA firm founded in 1980 that focuses on federal and state tax controversy matters. He represents individuals and businesses before the IRS and state taxing authorities on issues including collections, examinations, appeals, penalty relief, offers in compromise, and taxpayer rights.

A past chair of the AICPA and Illinois CPA Society Tax Practice and Procedure Committees, Wolfe is a member of the ICPAS Individual Taxation Committee and has served on IRS liaison committees in the Chicago area. He received the 2024 Illinois CPA Society Lifetime Achievement Award and was recognized by Forbes as one of Illinois' Best CPAs. A frequent national speaker and author, he has presented for the AICPA, ICPAS, and other state CPA societies and has written extensively on tax controversy topics, including resources for practitioners on the AICPA website.

Bridget Ortiz

, Senior Internal Revenue Agent, IRS

Bridget Ortiz, Senior Internal Revenue Agent, IRS

I have been with the IRS for over 29 years. I have been a Revenue Agent in Exam since 2007.

In this position, I have held multiple roles, including the national AAR and TEFRA Coordinator.

I have been involved in 'BBA' since its inception.

I assisted in the creation of many of the forms and letters as well as the procedures utilized by IRS throughout these partnership audits.

I have created training materials and procedures and delivered multiple BBA classes.

In my current position, I provide technical support to revenue agents, coordinators and managers related to the entire life cycle of BBA audits.

Guinevere Moore

JD, Managing Member, Moore Tax Law Group LLC

Guinevere M. Moore solves complex tax problems for clients in significant civil andcriminal tax disputes. She is the managing member of Moore Tax Law Group LLC, a taxcontroversy and litigation boutique. She represents taxpayers before the IRS, in TaxCourt, in federal district courts across the country, the Federal Court of Claims, appellate courts, and the Supreme Court of the United States.

She takes a unique, holistic approach to representing clients, working to resolve not only the tax issue for which she was hired, but also to counsel her clients through what isoften the most difficult problem they have faced. She is an active member of her local Chicago community as well as the Tax Community. Her commitment to a more fair andjust tax system is manifested in her client advocacy, her pro bono service, her writing, and her work with the American Bar Association, Section of Taxation. Guinevere routinely publishes on topics related to tax and tax procedure. She is a contributor to Forbes, Bloomberg, Tax Notes and other publications. She is also a frequent speaker on matters relating to tax, tax disputes, and tax procedure, and was recently awarded the ABA Tax Section's Janet Spragens Pro Bono Award.

She has been recognized by her peers as one of the leading tax controversy and litigation attorneys in Super Lawyers, Best Law Firms, Chambers, Legal 500, ITR, and Crains. She lives in Chicago with her husband and their four children.

Andrew VanSingel

Esq, Territory Manager, IRS SPEC

Andrew VanSingel is a Territory Manager for the Stakeholder Partnership, Education and Communication (SPEC) Program in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). SPEC plays a vital role providing oversight in the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, which through community partners, provides free income tax preparation for low- to moderate-income taxpayers and seniors. Prior to working in SPEC, Andrew was the Local Taxpayer Advocate for Taxpayer Advocate Service's Chicago office. TAS is an independent organization within the IRS and is the taxpayer's voice at the IRS. TAS offers free help to guide taxpayers through the often-confusing process of resolving tax problems that taxpayers are not able to solve on their own. Before coming to the government, Andrew managed the Low Income Tax Clinic at Prairie State Legal Services, Inc., where he handled all Clinic activities, including client representation, supervision of interns and volunteers, community outreach, staff training, and grant preparation and reporting.

Andrew received his undergraduate degree from Western Michigan University in 2006, and his J.D., cum laude from Touro Law Center in 2010. He is admitted to practice in Illinois, New York, and the United States Tax Court.

Andrew is committed to public service and has been involved in numerous volunteer endeavors during his career. He currently is a member of the Board of Directors for Community Support Services, Inc., a Chicago-based non-profit that provides services to individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities. Andrew is also on the Board of Directors for Lagniappe Law Lab, which leverages technology to narrow the access to justice gap. He also volunteers with the Chicago English Bulldog Rescue. Previous volunteer activities include leadership positions within the American Bar Association Section of Taxation (Vice Chair, Pro Bono & Tax Clinics Committee), the ABA Young Lawyers Division (Disaster Legal Services Director 2016-2019), and the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (2014-2016).