Kent Cain.

• Position: The Michaels Cos. international tax director

Despite enjoying his financial accounting classes in college, Kent Cain was taking his undergraduate tax and audit classes that same semester when he realized he would probably enjoy a career in tax more than in audit. "The following spring, I had the opportunity to do an internship in the tax department of the Dallas office of one of the second-tier national firms. My experiences during the internship confirmed my interest in tax," he explains. He entered the graduate tax program the following fall and has never regretted his decision. "I enjoy tax because of the technical and complex nature of the subject matter," he says.

Cain, now director of international tax at The Michaels Companies, was approached by the firm after he spent several years working in the inbound US international tax arena for a large foreign-owned group of companies in the United States. "What attracted me to Michaels was the opportunity to work again for a publicly traded US company with significant foreign operations," he says.

What's the most interesting tax issue he's worked on at The Michaels Companies? "Implementing the international provisions of the [Tax Cuts and Jobs Act] has probably been the most interesting and challenging issue I have worked on and continue to work on with the planning opportunities offered by the CARES Act," he notes. "Our international structure continues to evolve from a business perspective, and being involved in that evolution in the wake of the changes to US international taxation, as well as the OECD and EU initiatives, is very exciting and challenging."

The TEI Experience

TEI has given Cain the opportunity to meet and collaborate with talented tax professionals from around the country. "I joined TEI a couple of years after leaving public accounting for a position with a client. I was very impressed with the work that the various committees were doing and, because of my new role as an international tax director, decided to join the US International Tax Committee. As a member of that committee, I have had the opportunity to work with some of the best tax attorneys and accountants in the country in putting together and moderating panel discussions for the annual and midyear conferences as well as the biennial international tax seminar. As an officer of the Dallas Chapter, I get to be involved in the inner workings of TEI and the programs we put on for our membership each year, including our annual Dallas/Fort Worth tax school...