
CPA and former Big 4 associate, Afshin Khazaeli joins Pillsbury SALT!
Afshin advises clients on a variety of state and local tax matters, including controversy, planning, and audit defense, across all state and local tax types, including sales and use, income, franchise, and property tax. Pillsbury SALT is thrilled to welcome him to our award-winning team. Afshin is based in Pillsbury’s Sacramento office.
5 Questions with Afshin
- Who inspires you?
I’m inspired by my father and his relentlessness. - What drew you to the law?
I love being a trusted advocate for my clients. - What aspect of State and Local Tax law do you find most interesting?
State and local tax is constantly changing, evolving and adapting. - What has been your most challenging or rewarding case?
Each case has been uniquely challenging, and the most rewarding cases are when I help my clients achieve unexpectedly great results. - What is your go-to comfort food?
Persian food! Reminds me of my mother’s cooking and being back at home.
Welcome to Pillsbury SALT, Afshin!
SeeSALT Blog


Tax Executives Institute’s New York Chapter presents its 56th Annual Tax Symposium on December 12! The Symposium offers three concurrent technical tax sessions for Federal, State and Local and International Taxes with a wide range of important topics and great speakers. The State and Local Tax session will feature a New York Update Session with Michael Schmidt, New York State Commissioner – Department of Taxation and Finance and Deborah Liebman, Deputy Counsel, New York State DTF. In addition, acting Director, Division of Taxation, John Ficara will be joining for a New Jersey Tax Reform 2019 Edition discussion.
Pillsbury has earned a total of 154 national and regional practice rankings in the latest U.S. News – Best Lawyers 2020 Best Law Firms survey.
There were two competing bills regarding tax sharing agreements (TSAs) this legislative session: SB 531 and SB 485. The former would have barred all TSAs at the local level as of January 1, 2020. The latter would not bar TSAs but instead would require the locality to report certain information pertaining to the agreement that would be made publicly available. On October 12, 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed the bill that would have barred TSAs altogether and instead signed the other bill that requires publicly reporting certain information pertaining to the TSAs.