Meet the 2026 Sales Tax Nerd of the Year

In 2026, she built Fix My Books' U.S. sales tax research and setup service line, which guides clients through nexus research, registration, and tax-engine setup. She also created the firm's sales tax research vault: more than 200 notes, every one traced back to a cited source, built on a seven-step research method she wrote herself.

Arielle is a dedicated student of the field, continually pursuing sales tax education and applying what she learns directly to her firm's client work.

One project she's especially proud of involved a client whose years of staff turnover had left its sales tax obligations a mystery. Rather than accept that the company no longer qualified for standard voluntary disclosure programs, Jessica worked directly with state revenue departments to find alternative relief, turning what looked like an unsolvable problem into a clear, manageable path forward.

Jessica is a dedicated student of the field, regularly attending sales tax conferences and continuing education programs, and applying what she learns directly to client work and to developing her growing team.

With 15 years in the field, she is currently leading a self-driven initiative to modernize how sales tax is calculated across multiple billing platforms that were never built to support a traditional tax engine, building middleware solutions and working directly with software providers to close the gap.

Laurel is a dedicated student of the field, regularly pursuing continuing education on tax law, audit defense, and tax technology, and putting that knowledge to work training her team and improving compliance processes across the business.

Her transition began while training construction and government contractors to become “contract ready,” where she discovered that many businesses were overlooking Sales & Use Tax obligations. Recognizing the connection between state tax compliance, federal tax responsibilities, and business growth, she began expanding her expertise to help businesses navigate these challenges more effectively.

Since then, Malikah has developed intake questionnaires, nexus research workbooks, registration trackers, and reconciliation processes to support her growing e-commerce and SaaS-focused compliance practice. She is also pursuing Avalara implementation training alongside her son and business partner, combining tax compliance expertise with technology-driven solutions.

Malikah is a dedicated student of Sales & Use Tax, using the Sales Tax Jumpstart program as the foundation of her transition. She is already incorporating what she learns into client service processes and educational curricula designed to help construction contractors, Enrolled Agents, and other tax professionals better understand multistate tax compliance.

Over 11 years at Avalara, she has moved from tax content research into product leadership, and along the way earned a law degree specifically to better interpret the statutes and DOR guidance behind the rules she builds into software. Early in her career, she led the initiative that automated more than 50 percent of Avalara's monthly return filings within six months, scaling India's research team from two people to seventeen in the process.

Tripti is a dedicated student of the field, continuously tracking legislative and policy developments and applying that research directly to the products she builds and the engineering and design teams she mentors.