Sania Ilahi, Senior Manager, Ernst & Young, Toronto
Sania has specialized in the area of sales tax for over 18 years, focusing on the financial services sector. She is a frequent speaker on commodity tax matters at industry conferences and the CICA Commodity Tax Symposium, and was the 2005 recipient of the Normand Guerin Award for her presentation on asset securitization. Sania is a member of the GST/OST Harmonization Strategic Advisory Group of the Investment Funds Institute of Canada, providing advice in connection with technical issues affecting the investment industry and the impact of sales tax harmonization. She has provided advice on tax harmonization to the financial services industry, as well as to public sector bodies and retailers/manufacturers.
 
  Bruce Goudy, CMA, Partner, Ernst & Young, Toronto
Bruce is a partner with Ernst & Young’s Canadian commodity tax practice in Toronto. He has more than 19 years of experience advising and assisting clients globally on issues involving GST/HST and provincial sales taxes. In addition, he develops ideas and leads projects to secure overpayments of taxes using Ernst & Young’s trademark electronic review processes, and assists clients with assessing, monitoring and mitigating tax risks. Bruce presents frequently to clients and audiences on sales tax harmonization, is co-author of Carswell’s GST Guide for Municipalities, and is a contributing editor to Ernst & Young’s Complete Guide to the Goods and Services Tax.
 
  Mike Robillard, CA, Partner, Ernst & Young, Toronto
Mike is the leader of Ernst & Young’s Central Canada Commodity Tax practice. He has over 24 years of experience in commodity tax, with a particular focus on the public sector. Mike has been actively assisting organizations with the implementation of HST in Ontario. He assisted many institutions in the MUSH sector with the implementation of the GST in 1990 and 1991. Mike oversees commodity tax reviews of clients’ operations, typically resulting in substantial refunds and savings. He develops and presents commodity tax workshops for clients and generally advises them on commodity tax issues. Mike has developed and presented seminars and courses (including the CICA GST in-depth course and the CICA Commodity Tax Symposium) to various groups and clients, including clients in the public sector. Mike is editor of the CICA Commodity Tax News.
 
  Alison Pavlin, CMA, Executive Director, Ernst & Young, Toronto
Alison has worked in the commodity tax area for more than 18 years, and focuses on performing sales tax reviews to support compliance and to identify refund opportunities for growth-oriented companies. She works with clients in dealing with tax auditors, providing guidance throughout the assessment and appeal process. Alison primarily serves clients in the retail, distribution and manufacturing sectors, identifying the sales tax status of their products and transactions, implementing new enterprise systems, and carrying out full-scale opportunity reviews to obtain refunds. Alison is a frequent contributor to the CICA Commodity Tax News and speaks at various conferences, including the CICA Commodity Tax Symposium. She is authoring the transitional rules chapter in Ernst & Young’s new HST publication, and giving planning workshops on the proposed Ontario HST.