Avalara (NYSE: AVLR), a leading provider of tax compliance automation for businesses of all sizes, today announced details of its keynotes and featured speakers for Avalara CRUSH Virtual, its fifth annual tax conference and industry gathering. Bringing together professionals and practitioners at the forefront of the complex world of tax compliance, commerce, and technology, Avalara CRUSH Virtual offers opportunities to participate in interactive learning experiences, exchange ideas, and engage with peers and experts.

This year’s event will be hosted by award-winning documentarian, journalist, speaker, author, and philanthropist Soledad O’Brien, CEO of Soledad O’Brien Productions, and Scott McFarlane, co-founder and CEO of Avalara.

Avalara CRUSH Virtual will present four keynote sessions spanning compliance, commerce, and technology:

• Winning the regulatory change game: Learn about current trends in tax compliance, what the future holds for tax legislation, and what your business needs to know to mitigate risk and stay compliant. This panel will be moderated by Soledad O’Brien and speakers include:
  • Diane Swonk, chief economist at Grant Thornton
  • Kim Rueben, fellow and director of the State and Local Finance Initiative at the Urban-Brookings Institute Tax Policy Center
  • Liz Armbruester, SVP of global compliance at Avalara

• Ecommerce and multichannel imperative: Hear about the macroeconomic trends influencing global commerce and understand how compliance plays a role in business growth. This panel will be moderated by Amit Mathradas, president and COO at Avalara, and speakers include:
  • Brent Bellm, CEO and chairman of BigCommerce
  • Joe Dawalt, corporate tax manager at FULLBEAUTY Brands

• The digital mandate, post-COVID-19 era: Leverage technology to navigate the complexities and challenges of doing business in a heavily regulated world. This panel will be moderated by Mickey North Rizza, head of digital commerce and enterprise applications at IDC, and speakers include:
  • Brad Caproni, senior manager of global indirect tax at Groupon
  • Lockie Andrews, chief information officer and chief digital officer at UNTUCKit
  • Nancy Harris, managing director at Sage North America

• The future of tax compliance with Avalara: Learn about products and technologies that can simplify your compliance tasks now and in the future. This keynote will be presented by Sanjay Parthasarathy, chief product officer at Avalara.

“This year, Avalara CRUSH is designed to help attendees navigate the new rules that are defining global commerce as we know it,” said Scott McFarlane, co-founder and CEO of Avalara. “We’ve assembled thought leaders and experts on the forefront of tax compliance to share their insights, views, and strategies for success. I’m confident that attendees will walk away with the knowledge and insights needed to tackle tax compliance and help ensure tax never stands in the way of opportunity.”

In addition to the keynote sessions, new for 2021 is an immersive activity center — CRUSH City — which allows attendees to select experiences to learn how to solve pain points, watch detailed product demos, use tools to determine tax obligations, and more. The event will also include a performance from Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Aloe Blacc, open to all attendees.

Follow Avalara

• Visit Avalara CRUSH Virtual at AvalaraCRUSH.com for access to special offers, updates on session topics, speaker announcements, and more. Register at no cost today.

• Twitter: For continuous Avalara CRUSH Virtual news and event updates, follow @Avalara and join the conversations using #AvalaraCRUSH21.

• Facebook: Like Avalara on Facebook for updates from Avalara CRUSH Virtual.

About Avalara

Avalara helps businesses of all sizes get tax compliance right. In partnership with leading ERP, accounting, ecommerce, and other financial management system providers, Avalara delivers cloud-based compliance solutions for various transaction taxes, including sales and use, VAT, GST, excise, communications, lodging, and other indirect tax types. Headquartered in Seattle, Avalara has offices across the U.S. and around the world in Brazil, Europe, and India. More information at avalara.com.

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