Meet the Joint Venture Team

Annette Nellen

Fellow, Silicon Valley Institute for Regional Studies

Annette Nellen is a Fellow at Joint Venture’s Silicon Valley Institute for Regional Studies. Nellen is a professor in and director of San José State University's graduate tax program (MST), teaching courses in tax research, accounting methods, individual tax, property transactions, employment tax, leadership, ethics, and tax policy. She is active in the tax sections of the AICPA (including as a former chair of the Tax Executive Committee) and chair of the Virtual Currency Task Force, ABA (including as vice chair of the Tax Policy & Simplification Committee and former chair of the Sales, Exchanges & Basis Committee) and California Lawyers Association (currently serving on the Tax Section’s Executive Committee). In 2020-2021, she served on the AICPA-NASBA CPA Evolution Education Advisory Group as co-chair of the Tax Compliance & Planning Model Curriculum Task Force. She also serves on CalCPA’s Accounting Education Committee.

Nellen is the recipient of the 2013 Arthur J. Dixon Memorial Award given by the Tax Division of the AICPA, the highest award given by the accounting profession in taxation, and the 2019 Benjamin F. Miller Award from the Taxation Section of the California Lawyers Association for achievement and contribution in the field of state and local taxation law. Nellen is a fellow in the American College of Tax Counsel. From 2006 to 2008, Nellen was a fellow with the New America Foundation.

Nellen is the author of Bloomberg BNA Tax Portfolio #533, Amortization of Intangibles, and Tax Analysts’ Tax Notes State Moving Forward column. Nellen is co-author/co-editor of four tax textbooks from Cengage (SWFT series). Nellen is a frequent speaker on tax developments, new economy tax matters including cryptocurrency, tax reform and tax policy. She has testified several times before various legislative committees and tax reform commissions on tax policy and reform. Nellen runs the 21st Century Taxation website and blog.

Prior to joining SJSU in 1990, Nellen worked at a Fortune 500 company, the IRS, and EY (10 years total). Nellen is a graduate of CSU Northridge (BS Business Administration; Accounting), Pepperdine University (MBA), and Loyola Law School (JD). Nellen was involved with the Joint Venture Tax Policy Group and chaired it from late 1990s through 2004.