Pittsburgh Chapter Local Tax Update

Peter N. Calcara, CAE
Vice President, Government Relations
PICPA

Peter joined the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) in 1999. Prior to that he was the vice president of government and industry affairs for the Professional Insurance Agents Association of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware. From 1986 to 1991, he was a legislative
assistant in the Pennsylvania Senate.

Peter is responsible for developing and implementing legislative strategy, lobbying state government, and overseeing PICPA’s political action committee and Key Person programs. Peter was instrumental in the passage of the 2011 Fair Share Act, landmark legislation that reforms how damages are recovered in civil lawsuits. More recently, Peter and his team spearheaded efforts to reform Pennsylvania’s archaic tax appeals process by reorganizing the Board of Finance and Revenue (Act 52 of 2013). Peter was also instrumental in repealing the Corporate Loans Tax (Act 71 of 2013) and in enacting a general experience requirement for CPA licensure in Pennsylvania (Act 15 of 2013).

In 2011, Peter earned his Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation from the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE). The CAE program is designed to elevate professional standards, enhance individual performance, and designate association professionals who demonstrate the knowledge essential to the practice of association management. Peter is a 1986 graduate of York College of Pennsylvania. He is a past president of the Pennsylvania Association for Government Relations (PAGR) and is a member of the ASAE. Peter lives in Mechanicsburg, Pa., with his wife, Nancy, and their three daughters.

John J. Kaschak, CPA, CISA, GGAP, CGFM
Deputy Secretary for Taxation
Pennsylvania Department of Revenue

John is the Deputy Secretary for Taxation, Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. As Deputy Secretary for Taxation, John is responsible for managing the Bureaus of Corporation Taxes, Motor and Alternative Fuel Taxes, Individual Taxes, and Business Trust Fund Taxes, and also the operations of the Taxpayer Services and Information Center and Voluntary Disclosure Program. He also directs the review of corporation tax reports, motor fuel reports, personal income tax returns, inheritance tax returns, realty transfer tax documents, Property Tax/Rent Rebate claims, sales tax returns, and employer tax returns.

Previous to his current position, John was the Director of the Pennsylvania Office of Budget, Office of Comptroller Operations, Bureau of Audits. The Bureau of Audits is the primary internal audit function within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and is responsible for conducting performance audits of Commonwealth’s agencies and their subrecipients, providing systems development implementation guidance, conducting various desk reviews including those of subrecipient single audit reports, and assisting the Commonwealth’s independent auditors with financial statement and single audit procedures. Immediately preceding his role in the Office of the Budget, John was employed by the Pennsylvania Department of the Auditor General.

Before his dozen years of public service, John spent over four years in the public accounting profession, conducting financial statement and single audits of a variety of state and local government entities in both the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State of Maryland. The majority of John’s public accounting experience was spent with Ernst & Young LLP.

John holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration-Accounting from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. He is a Certified Public Accountant, Chartered Global Management Accountant, Certified Information Systems Auditor, Certified Government Auditing Professional, and Certified Government Financial Manager.

John serves on the US Comptroller General, Government Accountability Office, Green Book Advisory Committee. He is currently serving as a member of the American Institute of Public Accountants’ (AICPA) Government Performance and Accountability Committee (GPAC). He is a member of the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ (PICPA) Council, as well as their Legislative and Local Government Committees, and was named to the 2012 class of the “40 Under 40: PICPA Members to Watch.”