DOR Advisory Council

The DOR Advisory Council is a cornerstone of DOR's 360 initiative—working together with taxpayers and representatives on a continual basis.

Updated: July 31, 2023

Table of Contents

Overview

The DOR Advisory Council is representative of a broad spectrum of the agency’s stakeholders including:

  • Seniors
  • Low-income taxpayers
  • Tax professionals
  • Leaders of industry
  • Business groups.

Advisory Council members work together with DOR on important initiatives and help DOR address the needs of Massachusetts taxpayers. 

DOR's Commissioner will meet with Council members throughout the year and looks forward to continuing to benefit from their indispensable feedback.

Meet the Advisory Council

Luz A. Arėvalo is a Senior Attorney at the Employment Law Unit of Greater Boston Legal Services and manages the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic where she represents individual taxpayers, largely made up of immigrant families, before the IRS, the Massachusetts Department of Revenue and the U.S. Tax Court. Luz also mentors volunteer attorneys and law interns for community organizations.

Susan Arkuszewski is an Enrolled Agent and a Master Tax Advisor with H&R Block, the world’s largest tax services provider. Sue has 40 years of experience as a tax professional and is a Certified Master Instructor.

Lutof Awdeh is a principal at the public accounting firm RSM US LLP. With over 20 years of experience in state and local tax (SALT) matters including Massachusetts, he advises clients on multi-state tax planning, tax audit defense and appeals, and tax due diligence. He serves on AICPA’s SALT Technical Resource Panel and previously served on the Boston Bar Association’s SALT Committee.

Christopher Carlozzi is Massachusetts State Director of NFIB. NFIB is a non-profit organization founded to give small and independent businesses a voice in governmental decision-making. For more than 11 years, Chris has advocated for small businesses on vital issues such as healthcare, taxation, regulation, and labor matters. Prior to joining NFIB, he worked for the Massachusetts General Court.

Steve Clark is President and CEO of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, with 1,800 members representing over 5,500 restaurant and food and beverage locations from across the state. The mission of the MRA is to help promote and protect the best interests of the industry.

Doug Howgate is President of Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, an organization that is widely recognized as the state's premier public policy organization dealing with state and local fiscal, tax and economic policies.

Randy Kaufman is Payroll Tax Compliance Analyst for Paychex, Inc., a leading payroll provider serving more than 600,000 businesses, including 36,000 Massachusetts employers. Paychex is a member of the National Payroll Reporting Consortium, which represents over 1.4 million employers.

David P. Klein is Administrator of Old Colony Planning Council, Area Agency on Aging and an active member of the Massachusetts Association of Councils on Aging (MCOA).  He is a former Certified Financial Planner and serves as Co-Chair of the MCOA Property Tax Relief Task Force.

Mason Klinck represents the Massachusetts Society of Enrolled Agents. He has worked as an agent for the IRS and as a partnership auditor for the California Franchise Tax Board. He now manages a VITA site, volunteers for low income tax clinics and has his own tax practice in representation and consulting.

Sam Larson is Associate Vice President of Government Affairs at Associated Industries of Massachusetts, the state’s largest employer association representing every business industry with a mission to improve the business climate and create economic opportunity in the Commonwealth.

Mollie Miller is the State Tax Director responsible for managing all aspects of state taxation for Fresenius Medical Care North America, the country’s largest integrated provider of kidney care. Mollie serves on the boards of the Council on State Taxation and the New England State & Local Tax Forum.

Brad Papalardo is Director of Government Affairs and Trust Services for the Massachusetts Bankers Association, a banking trade group representing commercial, savings and co-operative banks in addition to savings and loans across Massachusetts.

Amy Pitter is President & CEO of Massachusetts Society of Certified Public Accountants, a membership organization made up of professionals in public accounting, industry and business, government and education.

Mike Porter is Counsel with Hemenway & Barnes LLP. Mike advises clients on state income and sales and use tax matters, while assisting clients at the Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board and through all levels of the administrative appeal process. Mike also provides clients with tax opinions, ruling requests and general state tax advice.

William Rennie is Vice President, Retailers Association of Massachusetts, where he is responsible for advocating for legislative and regulatory matters that impact the organization’s 3,800 members from the retail, restaurant and service sectors.

Leanne Scott is Principal - State & Local Tax at Baker Newman Noyes. Previously, she had been Director, State and Local Tax at John Hancock Financial Services and in public accounting for fifteen years. She has served on the Boston Bar Association’s Tax Section Steering Committee and has co-chaired the BBA’s Tax Section and State and Local Tax Committee.

Michael Tetrault is an officer in Wolf & Co., P.C.’s Commercial Tax group, providing consulting, compliance and tax planning services to his clients. Mike has over twenty years of experience as a CPA and has served as a member of the Mass Society of CPA’s State and Local Tax Committee.

Contact

Maryann Merigan, Acting Director of DOR Communications 

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