The Gem State Tax Symposium brings top national and Idaho speakers to Boise State to discuss current tax issues, law changes and policy issues professionals are facing. Participants can earn up to 9 CPE credits or 7.5 CLE credits (MCLE 26-1977) The 2026 Gem State Tax Symposium will be held on Friday, May 15, 2026.
We look forward to seeing everyone on Friday May 15, 2026.
Registration is now closed – We look forward to seeing you soon!
CPE/ CLE certificates will be distributed in the first few weeks of June.
Each year, the Gem State Tax Symposium brings together industry professionals and top speakers to address policy issues, law changes and issues that you face each day in the profession. In addition to the educational benefits, your attendance has also helped to support student success. Over the last couple of years, the Gem State Tax Symposium has provided thousands of dollars in scholarships for accountancy students at Boise State and law students at the University of Idaho who are concurrently earning graduate degrees in taxation at Boise State.
You can help make a difference in the lives of our students. Please consider making a gift to support scholarships for Boise State accountancy and JD/MSAT students. To deserving students, these awards are needed now more than ever.
To make your gift, please visit Give.BoiseState.edu and search for “Gem State Tax Symposium.” Gifts can be completed using a credit or debit card. Thank you for your consideration!
Gem State Tax Symposium
The Symposium
Presented by Boise State University Department of Accountancy and University of Idaho College of Law
For CPAs, attorneys and other tax professionals
The Gem State Tax Symposium brings top national and Idaho speakers to Boise State to discuss current tax issues, law changes and policy issues professionals are facing. The 2026 Symposium will be held on Friday, May 15, 2026. Participants earned up to 9 CPE credits or 7.5 CLE credits.**
2026 Plenary Speakers:
- Scott Schiefelbein, Deloitte
- Brian Knox, Boise State University
- John Mitchell, M & H Economic Consultants
- Skip Newberry, Tech Oregon, & Teresa Coats, LearnAIR
2026 Breakout Speakers:
- Nick Gaudioso, Deloitte
- Adam Sweet, Eide Bailly
- Nicholas Brown, NC State
- Justin Coats, LearnAIR
Sponsors
Thank you to our 2026 Sponsors
Platinum Sponsors: Ahrens DeAngeli Law Group • Deloitte LLP
Gold Sponsors: Eide Bailly LLP • Hawley Troxell • Ripley Doorn & Company CPAs • Woolston & Tarter P.C.
If you have questions about the conference please contact the event coordinator, David Klungle at Davidklungle@boisestate.edu. For sponsorship opportunities, please contact Morgan Harris, morganharris@boisestate.edu.
** for more information concerning CPE and CLE credits see fine print tab
2026 Gem State Tax Symposium Agenda
| Time | Session | Presenter | Topic |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7:00 – 7:30 a.m. | Registration check-in and Continental Breakfast | NA | NA |
| 7:30 – 7:45 a.m. | Welcome and Overview of Sessions | NA | NA |
| 7:45 – 9:00 a.m. | Session #1 | Brian Knox | Ethics |
| 9:00 – 9:10 a.m. | Transition | NA | NA |
| 9:10 – 10:25 a.m. | Breakout 1A | Nick Gaudioso Jr. | Transfer Pricing/Tariffs |
| 9:10 – 10:25 a.m. | Breakout 1B | Adam Sweet | Pass-Thru Update |
| 10:25 – 10:40 a.m. | Refreshment Break | NA | NA |
| 10:40 – 11:55 a.m. | Session #2 | Skip Newberry & Teresa Coats | AI Applications in Business |
| 11:55 a.m. – 12:40 p.m. | Lunch Break | NA | NA |
| 12:40 -1:55 p.m. | Session #3 | Scott Schiefelbein | State Tax Update |
| 1:55 – 2:05 p.m. | Transition | NA | NA |
| 2:05 – 3:20 p.m. | Breakout 3A | Nicholas Brown | Advising the Farmer |
| 2:05 – 3:20 p.m. | Breakout 3B | Justin Coats | AI Applications in Business: Hands on Demonstration |
| 3:20 – 3:35 p.m. | Refreshment Break | NA | NA |
| 3:35 – 4:50 p.m. p.m | Session #4 | John Mitchell | Economic Update |
| 4:50 – 5:00 p.m. | Closing Remarks | NA | NA |
Location
The Gem State Tax Symposium will be held in the Micron Business and Economics Building at Boise State University, 2360 W. University Drive, Boise, ID 83706 (on the corner of University Drive and Capitol Blvd).
Free parking will be available in the Brady Garage next to the Micron Business and Economics Building. *Campus is currently repairing portions of the Brady Garage. Please follow all signage for parking.
Maps
2026 Speakers and Bios include:
John Mitchell
John Mitchell received his B.A. degree from Williams College and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Oregon. He is a fellow of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Oregon and a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He was a professor of economics at Boise State University for 13 years, before joining U.S. Bancorp in 1983. He was Chief Economist of U.S. Bancorp until July of 1998 and served as Economist Western Region for US Bank until July of 2007, He wrote US Bank’s economic publications and was a columnist for Oregon Business Magazine. He was Business Analyst for KPTV on Portland. He served as Sterling Bank’s economist from 2007 to 2012. He has been making economic presentations on the nation and the region for more than 52 years and currently speaks to business groups around the nation.
John was a member of the Western Blue Chip Forecast Panel, the ABA’s Panel of Economists, a Trustee of the Aquila Tax Free Trust of Oregon, and a Board member of Oregon Mutual Insurance. He is a Board member of Northwest Bank. John was Chairman of the Oregon Council of Economic Advisors from 1992 to 1998 and a member from 1984 to 1998. He currently serves on the Association of Washington Business’s Council of Economic Advisers.
John and his wife, Carol live in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. He enjoys biking, railroading, sea kayaking and his granddaughters.
Scott Schiefelbein
Scott Schiefelbein, a Managing Director in Deloitte’s Washington National Tax practice, has practiced business and tax law for over 29 years. Scott has also led Deloitte’s Portland multistate tax practice since 2008. Scott serves as the firm’s Jurisdictional Technical Lead for all Alaska, Idaho, and Oregon tax questions. Scott also is a member of Deloitte’s multistate tax controversy practice and represents taxpayers in audits and also before the Oregon Tax Court (Magistrate Division), including several software, cloud-based, and consumer products companies.
Scott joined Deloitte in 2008 after spending eight years with Portland-area law firms where he practiced tax and business law. Scott represented clients in disputes with both the Internal Revenue Service and state tax agencies.
Scott is a frequent speaker at Deloitte-sponsored seminars and trainings as well as external speaking events in addition to writing articles for various tax publications. Scott also serves on the Oregon State Bar Laws Committee. Scott graduated from the Duke University School of Law and graduated with Honors and Highest Distinction from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Adam Sweet
Adam leads Eide Bailly’s Passthrough Entity Consulting group. He has extensive knowledge in the area of partnership tax, including interpreting partnership agreements, allocation and distribution provisions, and issuing compensatory equity. He is also experienced with both the buying and selling sides of domestic and foreign joint ventures, tax credit partnerships, as well as a variety of IRS controversy matters. Adam also leads Eide Bailly’s Opportunity Zone working group.
Nick Gaudioso
Nick Gaudioso is a Senior Manager for Deloitte Tax LLP in the global transfer pricing group. With over a decade of international tax and transfer pricing consulting experience, Nick serves clients across a wide range of industries, including software, SaaS, fintech, social media, technology, energy, chemicals, industrial, real estate, private equity,
healthcare, and tax-exempt organizations.
Nick leverages his extensive experience to provide strategic guidance on a wide range of complex issues including intangible property structuring and valuation, cost sharing
arrangements, intercompany financing, supply chain restructuring, carve-out financials, headquarter or shared services cost allocations, US and global documentation, country-by-
country reporting, transfer pricing audits, and advanced pricing agreement (APA) negotiations.
Nick is a Certified Public Accountant and holds active licenses in Idaho and Texas. He holds an M.S. in Accounting and a B.B.A. in Accounting and Finance from Boise State
University. Nick has published several articles on financial accounting, management accounting, and transfer pricing topics in trade and academic journals such as:
International Tax Review, BNA: Tax Management Transfer Pricing Report, and Journal of Business Accounting and Financial Perspectives. Nick is a regular speaker at Deloitte-
sponsored seminars and trainings as well as Tax Executive Institute (TEI) and other tax conferences.
Nicholas Brown
Nicholas Brown is an assistant extension professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina. At N.C. State, Nicholas has an extension appointment where his main responsibilities include advising agricultural producers on changes in tax and law affecting their operations, and informing tax and legal professionals about developments in the agricultural sector affecting their clients. Nicholas is a member of the National Farm Income Tax Committee, a group of agricultural tax professors who advise the Internal Revenue Service on Publication 225, the primary tax guide for farmer-taxpayers.
Nicholas also teaches undergraduate and associates courses in agricultural tax, agricultural accounting, agricultural law, and management of investment and retirement assets. Nicholas has published research in the Drake Journal of Agricultural Law and the Journal of Legal Studies in Business.
Nicholas is a licensed attorney in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and will soon be licensed in Tennessee as well. Before coming to N.C. State, Nicholas was involved in private practice representing a variety of agricultural clients ranging from farm succession planning to pesticide drift litigation. In addition to his duties at N.C. State, Nicholas also maintains a solo practice to stay engaged with current, real-world client matters.
Skip Newberry
Skip serves as President & CEO of the Technology Association of Oregon. Before founding TAO, Skip was an economic development policy advisor to Portland Mayor Sam Adams, where he helped create Portland’s first comprehensive economic development strategy in 16 years, recognizing software as a key industry cluster. While at the City of Portland, Skip’s projects included the adoption of the nation’s first open-source software procurement policy at the municipal level, an award-winning regional open data initiative and the development of resources to support entrepreneurship, like the Portland Seed Fund. Previously, Skip was an attorney and an entrepreneur.
Skip serves as Vice Chair of the Oregon Workforce & Talent Development Board. He also serves on the Oregon Cybersecurity Advisory Council and the advisory board for the OSU Advantage Accelerator. Previously, Skip served as Chair of the Board of Directors of TECNA, Technology Councils of North America, which is a global network of technology and entrepreneurship associations. Skip is a 2011 recipient of the Society of Professional Journalists First Freedom award, a 2012 recipient of the Portland Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 award and a 2020 recipient of the Oregon League of Minority Voters Liberty & Hope award.
Brian Knox
Dr. Brian D. Knox joined Boise State University in 2017 after obtaining a Ph.D. in Accounting from the University of Pittsburgh. He is a CPA (Arizona, Idaho) and has worked as a tax preparer, a compliance auditor, and an accountant at a Fortune 500 company. Dr. Knox’s research focuses on how accounting information and incentives affect the behavior of managers and employees.
Teresa Coats
Justin Coats
Justin Coats is the Co-Founder and Chief Innovator of LearnAIR, an AI education and enablement company helping professionals and organizations adopt artificial intelligence in practical, responsible, and human-centered ways. A Marine Corps Veteran, pilot, entrepreneur, and AI integration specialist, Justin brings a cross-disciplinary background.
Through LearnAIR, Justin helps business leaders and professional teams move beyond AI awareness into applied use of AI, focusing on tool literacy, workflow improvement, agent readiness, and responsible implementation.
Justin’s approach is grounded in a simple principle: AI should expand human capability, not replace human responsibility.
Fine Print – CPE Credit Information – Expected distribution first two weeks of June 2026
For All Sessions:
- Pre-Requisites: None
- Advanced Preparation: None
- Instructional Delivery Method: Group – Live
- Recommended CPE: 9.0 Credits*
- CLE Subject Area: Tax 6.5, Ethics 1.00 (Idaho MCLE credit – Course 26-1977)
Plenary Sessions:
Program Level: Update
Breakout Sessions (See the agenda for details):
- “A” Sessions (Advanced): Intermediate
- “B” Sessions (Basic): Basic
- “C” Sessions (Special Topic): Overview
*CPE Subject Areas and number of CPE credits are pending review. The Department of Accountancy at Boise State has made every effort to comply with the CPE requirements set forth in the joint NASBA/AICPA Statement on Standards for Continuing Professional Education, Rev. Jan. 2012 (Standards). As noted in the Standards, “it is the participant’s responsibility to report the appropriate number of credits earned” and “state boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit.” Per the Standards, CPE credits are granted based on a 50-minute hour.
Complaint Resolution Policy: Contact the Department of Accountancy at acct@boisestate.edu to register complaints related to the timeliness/accuracy of CPE credit reporting, program delivery, or program content.
Refund/Cancellation Policy: Refund less 10% for cancellations. Refunds unavailable after May 4.
CLE Credit Information:
The Department of Accountancy has applied to the Idaho State Bar for 7.5 CLE credits, based on a 60-minute hour (6.5 credits of general; 1 credit of ethics). Approval is pending. The Idaho State Bar has final authority on the approval/acceptance of individual courses for CLE credit.