RELIEF Act of 2021 and Taxation on Digital Products (Rebroadcast)

Jay serves as a Deputy Director in the Comptroller of Maryland's

Baltimore Compliance Division. He administers the Business Tax Field

Audit and Hearings & Appeals sections. He previously administered

the Business Tax Collections and Unclaimed Property sections.

My prior role was an Assistant Manager in the Hearings & Appeals

section. As an Assistant Manager, He supervised several Maryland

attorneys and approved withdrawals, settlements and proceeding

with litigation in appeals of tax assessments and refund denials.

He started as a Hearing Officer in the Hearing & Appeals section.

As a Hearing Officer, he resolved thousands of tax appeals from

individuals, small businesses, tax-exempt entities, and Fortune 500

companies involving individual and corporation income, sales and

use, employment, and admissions & amusement taxes.

He is a licensed attorney in Maryland and Pennsylvania. He previously

served as the Chair of the Maryland State Bar Association, Taxation

Section. He is Maryland chapter author of the ABA Sales and

Use Tax Deskbook and a chapter author for the MSBA publication

Maryland Taxes.

He received an LL.M in Taxation from Villanova University School

of Law, a J.D. from University of the Pacific - McGeorge School of

Law and Bachelor of Arts Degrees in Business Management and

Economics from Washington College.

Karen is now a sole practitioner having spent much of her career with “Big 4” international accounting

firms where she was a state and local tax services group partner, as well as with a smaller firm. She has

specialized in multi-state tax consulting services for over 35 years, working with clients in a wide variety

of industries and with headquarters from around the world, on matters of multistate tax planning and

analysis, and tax audit defense and appeals.

Experience:

Karen is experienced in the major aspects of state and local taxation, including income/franchise taxes,

sales/use taxes, transfer taxes, personal and real property taxes, payroll and unemployment taxes, and

unclaimed property reporting. Karen provides services in compliance matters, tax planning to minimize

state and local tax expenses, merger and acquisition transactions, business structure, and

representation of clients in tax audit and protest proceedings.

Throughout her career, Karen has been at the forefront of leading state and local tax issues. The

highlight of her professional career has been the initiating and developing in the early stages of the

taxpayer’s appeal the Constitutional issues that were successfully argued before the Maryland Court of

Appeals and United States Supreme Court on behalf of the taxpayer in the Wynne v. Comptroller case.

Following the success of the case in 2015, Karen has assisted both the state personnel and fellow tax

practitioners in creating and implementing the procedures for the processing of amended tax returns

and required refunds for the impacted Maryland citizens.

Ms. Syrylo has also played significant roles in the crafting of tax policy and legislation – for example by

serving on legislative commissions such as the Business Tax Reform Commission and by assisting the

Maryland Chamber of Commerce in testimony informing legislators of the implementation issues of

proposed tax legislation. In this latter role, Kathy Snyder, past President of the Maryland Chamber of

Commerce, has referred to Karen as “the CPA who speaks English.”