Tax professionals aren’t always preparers—sometimes, they are focused on tax policy work. That’s exactly the role that Zorka Milin fills as the Policy Director at the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition, a nonprofit alliance of more than 100 organization. Today, FACT says it is the leading U.S. voice working to combat money laundering, tax evasion, and the harms caused by financial secrecy.
Originally from Serbia, Zorka holds a M.A. in international relations from Yale University, as well as a J.D. and LL.M. in international and comparative law from Cornell Law School. She also holds B.A. in mathematics from Grinnell College.
A former international tax attorney, Zorka has spent much of her career navigating the complexities of cross-border corporate tax—an intellectually rich area with high financial stakes.
Outside of work, she enjoys family walks with her dog, exploring international cuisine, and cheering on her kids at tennis matches.
Here’s what else Zorka had to say:
Where are you now? I work at the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition. We’re a nonprofit alliance of more than 100 groups united around the goal of a fair tax system. In addition to tax, we also work to combat money laundering and other harms caused by financial secrecy.
What’s your job title, and what does it mean? I am the policy director: I lead our tax work, and provide support for the legal aspects of our anti-money laundering work.
Tax, law, and accounting are such broad topics. What’s your area of special interest? For most of my career, I’ve focused on cross-border corporate tax issues, starting from my early days in private practice at a large international law firm, and right now in the policy space. It’s an arcane but intellectually fascinating area of tax law, with high financial stakes. A single transfer pricing case can run into billions of dollars.
What’s the first thing you typically do while at work? Get a cup of coffee (or two or three). Just hoping these pleasures don’t get taken away by tariffs!
If you had an extra couple of hours open up in your day—outside of work—what would you do? – I’d go for a walk outside with my dog and my family. A major downside of being a tax lawyer: we tend to be too sedentary and always indoors.
What’s one tool or resource that you couldn’t live without at work? That’s easy: my amazing colleagues. We’re a small but mighty and tight-knit team with complementary skills and areas of expertise. True dream team.
If you weren’t working in the tax profession, what would your dream job be? I’d be a professor or teacher, whether tax-related or a completely different subject. But I am under no illusions that teaching is an easy job – huge admiration and props to all the educators out there!
What’s the best tax or financial advice that anyone ever gave you? The importance of having a diversified investment strategy – and not just in finances but in life in general. It’s usually not smart to go all in; much better to hedge.
What books or magazines are on your nightstand? None: night is for sleeping. During the day, most of my reading is just trying to keep up with the news, and then in the evening, I’m reading stories to my kids.
Who has been the biggest influence on your career? My first tax boss was Stephen Land, a doyen of the international tax bar in New York, now retired. He was the one who showed me the tax ropes. I look up to him for his tax expertise just as much as his deep philanthropic engagement with Oxfam America over the years. He modeled the importance of not only doing well but also doing good.
What would I be surprised to know about you? I worked as a journalist for a brief spell before law school. Even though I ultimately walked away from journalism as a career, it instilled in me the importance of always communicating as clearly and concisely as possible, even or especially on complex or niche topics.
If you had the opportunity to make one change in the tax code tomorrow—an extra credit, a disallowed deduction, whatever—what would it be and why? Corporations should open up about their taxes more, whether through the tax code or through securities regulations. Investors have been vocal in their demands for more public information about corporate taxes. It would also be helpful to educate policymakers about the impacts of tax policies, ultimately improving our tax code. Other jurisdictions are making progress: companies with a presence in Europe and Australia will soon start reporting more tax details. It’s time for the U.S. to catch up.
What was the best tax conference, continuing education (CE), or continuing legal education (CLE) event that you ever attended? International tax conferences often take place in fun, far-flung locales, but actually, my favorite is the smallish event put on by the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD) and Caplin & Drysdale in Washington, DC in mid-December, right before the big IRS international tax conference. There are always lively debates, with a great mix of perspectives from different parts of the world, and a nice cozy feel, coming right before the holidays.
What has been the biggest change that you’ve seen in the tax profession in the last five years? From my international tax corner, by far the most consequential change in the last five years is the groundbreaking 2021 global agreement requiring large corporations to pay a 15% minimum tax. This wouldn’t have happened without US international tax reforms in 2017, and it’s ironic and disappointing to see so many Republicans now opposed to it, even as it has become the law in dozens of other countries. Whatever comes next for the agreement itself, the legacy of this transformative idea – at its root, an American idea – will live on.
What are you most concerned about or excited about with respect to the profession moving forward? I am dismayed by the growing polarization and partisanship, not only on the Hill but spreading among tax policy wonks and practitioners. When people react to policy ideas, it’s more about who is proposing them, rather than their substance. But despite everything, I still believe we can find commonsense areas of bipartisan agreement, including on international tax.
If Uncle Sam handed you a huge refund check right now, what would you do with it? First, I’d put it towards renovating our historic fixer-upper home that we bought last year. That’s been a fun but expensive and time-consuming side project. Next, a long, relaxing vacation, maybe a sailing trip in the Mediterranean.
You can find Zorka at the FACT Coalition. She can also be found on social media on LinkedIn, BlueSky and X (formerly Twitter).
This article is part of our Getting To Know You Tuesday series—a chance to get to know all kinds of tax professionals and understand that the field of tax is bigger than April 15. If you’d like to nominate tax professional to be featured, send your suggestion to kerb@forbes.com with the subject: Getting To Know You Tuesday.