2025 Tax Conference: Day 2 Afternoon Sessions
Available Until
Online
4.20 Credits
Member Price $139.00
Non-Member Price $189.00
Overview
Sessions covered in this On-Demand replay of the Tax Conference:
One Big Beautiful Bill Act: Its Effect on Life Insurance Policies in Estate Planning
In the past three decades, the estate exemption has changed multiple times, disappeared altogether, and will now reset again on Jan. 1, 2026. In this session, you will learn what to do with policies that are no longer needed-- whether in an estate planning, survivorship or buy-sell context. This session will cover life insurance policy valuation, the transfer-for-value rules and their exceptions, and why life settlements are so important in today's estate planning environment.
SALT Essentials: Making Sense of State & Local Taxation
This training session will provide a comprehensive overview of key state and local tax concepts and best practices for businesses. You will gain an understanding of nexus and the states' authority to impose taxation, including income, franchise and other business taxes. The session will also address IRC conformity, highlighting how states adopt or decouple from federal tax provisions and the resulting impact on state tax filings. Additional topics include recent developments in state tax legislation, compliance challenges, and practical strategies for managing state tax obligations. This session is designed to equip tax professionals with the knowledge needed to navigate the evolving SALT landscape and optimize their organization's state tax position.
The One Big Beautiful Bill: 8 Key Takeaways for Estate Planners
The passage of the OBBBA provides certainty to clients and, more importantly, new opportunities. This session will cover the most critical changes for estate planners and provide actionable ideas to provide value for clients. Topics will include the basic exclusion amount, bracket structure, new limitations on itemized deductions, Section 199A for trusts and estates, increased business expensing, and more.
NOTE: Certificates of attendance showing the CPE credit earned from this On-Demand program will be sent to your primary email on file approximately 2 weeks after viewing as we receive attendance reports from our streaming service provider. Members will also see this program reflected in their CPE tracker.
Leader(s):
Leader Bios
Katie Girmscheid, Managing Director, State & Local Tax, BDO USA LLP
EXPERIENCE SUMMARY Katie is a Managing Director in BDO Chicago’s State and Local Tax Practice with over 18 years in public accounting. Katie specializes in multi-state organizations, providing tax consulting, compliance, provision and planning services for corporate, pass-through, and individual clients.
Katie consults on all aspects of state income tax, including participating in mergers and acquisition transactions, due diligence reviews, representation on state tax controversy matters, assisting companies with state tax compliance and ASC 740. She has worked with Fortune 500 and mid-size companies in industries such as manufacturing, retail, consumer services, financial services, real estate, technology, and transportation. Most of her clientele are corporate entities with heavy state and international presence.
Specific experience includes: Overlooking and managing the tax compliance function of multiple types of clients. Working directly with clients to provide quality results from a variety of tax arenas. Handling tax controversies with the state authorities. Preparation and review of ASC 740 income tax provisions.
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Illinois CPA Society
EDUCATION M.S., Taxation, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee B.A., Accounting, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Michael Michlitsch, Vice President, Valmark Financial Group
Michael Michlitisch, MBA, LACP, FLMI®. Mr. Michlitisch is a Vice President at Valmark Financial Group. Mr. Michlitisch is in charge of In-Force policies for Valmark, a national invitation-only financial services company based in Akron, Ohio.
Robert Keebler, Partner, Keebler & Associates LLP
Robert S. Keebler, CPA/PFS, MST, AEP (Distinguished) is a partner with Keebler & Associates, LLP and is a 2007 recipient of the prestigious Accredited Estate Planners (Distinguished) award from the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils. He has been named by Forbes as one of the 2024 America’s Top 200 CPAs, by CPA Magazine as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Practitioners in the United States, and one of the Top 40 Tax Advisors to Know During a Recession. His practice includes family wealth transfer and preservation planning, charitable giving, retirement distribution planning, and estate administration. Mr. Keebler frequently represents clients before the National Office of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the private letter ruling process and in estate, gift, and income tax examinations and appeals, and he has received more than 350 favorable private letter rulings including several key rulings of “first impression.” He is the author of over 100 articles and columns and is the editor, author, or co-author of many books and treatises on wealth transfer and taxation. Mr. Keebler has been a speaker at national estate planning and tax seminars for over 30 years including the AICPA’s: Estate Planning, High Income, Advanced Financial Planning Conferences, ABA Conferences, NAPEC Conferences, The Notre Dame Estate Planning Conference, and the Heckerling Estate Planning Institute. He also served as chair of the AICPA’s Advanced Estate Planning Conference from 2014-2020. Mr. Keebler received an award from CPAacademy for Top Presenter 2022. This award honors those who are committed to the education of accounting professionals and shares their knowledge in an open and easily accessible format. He also received an award for Top Tax Educator of the Year for 2021-22 from myCPE for outstanding contributions in the field of tax education and exceptional dedication to the field. Robert S. Keebler, CPA/PFS, MST, AEP (Distinguished) Robert.Keebler@KeeblerandAssociates.com
Robert Mathers, Partner, Quarles & Brady LLP
Bob Mathers provides trusted tax advice to businesses and business owners with a focus on tax planning and opportunities, as well as taxramifications on corporate transactions and individuals’ private wealth. He is recognized nationally for his knowledge in the public accounting, registered investment advisor, insurance and broker dealer industries. Through his multi-jurisdictional practice, Bob represents:
- Executives
- Closely held businesses and business owners
- Individuals and families seeking to create personalized succession plans, wealth transfer plans and asset protection strategies.
Bob is a certified public accountant, AICPA accredited in business valuation (ABV) and is an AICPA personal financial specialist (PFS). He leverages his prior experience as one of the country’s largest CPA firm’s national tax director and CEO of its wealth management subsidiary to provide business and legal guidance to CPA firms, financial services firms, and the accounting and investment advisory industries. He also has significant manufacturing and distribution industry experience.
Prior to his careers in law and public accounting, Bob was an expatriate financial executive working on capital market transactions for a Fortune 100 global company, where he gained substantial international business, tax and legal experience.
Scott Ambrosino, Principal, State & Local Tax, BDO USA, LLP
Scott is a principal with BDO providing multistate tax consulting in all areas of state and local tax including - income, franchise, sales, use, controversy, credits, incentives, employment, and general property. Scott has worked for 19 years helping multistate and multinational clients with comprehensive state and local tax consulting, compliance and controversy and effectively and efficiently manage their state tax exposure. Scott works closely with his clients to truly understand their business, their historical state tax activities, and their focus and priorities going forward. Scott provides his clients with continual assessment of their state tax footprint through identifying risks and opportunities. Scott then works with his clients to develop and implement various plans to manage their state tax exposure that are consistent with their overall business objectives and states’ applicable tax laws and rules.
Scott’s experience covers State and Local tax issues in all 50 states and DC including, but not limited to; strategy, mergers, acquisitions, dispositions and structuring, identifying refund opportunities and exposures, filing methodology, sourcing, apportionment, alternative apportionment, nexus, private letter rulings, state tax controversy, tax due diligence, reorganizations, audit defense, documentary/transfer tax, credits and incentives, and administrative appeals. Further, Scott has provided State and Local tax consulting to various industries including, but not limited to; pharmaceutical, logistics, health care, transportation, real estate, construction, manufacturing, software technology, hospitality, telecommunications, wholesale and retail.
Non-Member Price $189.00
Member Price $139.00