Edith Edusei Poku

Edith began her career with the IRS in 2008 as a Revenue Agent and in 2009 she joined the US Withholding Agent Program (USWA).  As a Revenue Agent with the USWA program she led and assisted various teams in conducting Chapter 3 audits of major multinational institutions dealing with complex industry issues such as pension payments, tax treaties, Section 956 transactions, etc.  In 2012, she transferred to the Financial Intermediaries Program and has worked with Qualified Intermediaries (QI) with respect to their External Auditor’s reports and most recently with the QI certifications including Consolidated Compliance Groups (CCGs).  Edith conducted QI workshops on the QI system and QI Agreement in Europe to hundreds of FFIs and their representatives within the information reporting & withholding industry on the QI, WP, WT certifications and periodic review process.

Edith helped transition the QI Program from paper process to the online system when it deployed in 2017 and most recently was instrumental in the updates to and publishing of the new QI Agreement, Revenue Procedure 2022-43.  She has been responsible for coordinating certification reviews, issues associated with compliance obligations, remediation of compliance failures, etc.  She also works with ACCI to draft necessary guidance and updates to the public in the form of FAQs, Newsletters and Alerts.

Prior to joining the IRS, Edith worked with the New York State Tax and Finance Department auditing financial institutions in the banking, insurance, brokerage industries, and manufacturing and retail enterprises around the country.  In 2021, Edith was selected as the Financial Intermediaries Team Manager responsible for the Qualified Intermediaries Program including Withholding Foreign Partnerships and Withholding Foreign Trusts.

Edith is a licensed CPA in New York State.  She received her bachelor’s degree in accounting and computer Information Systems from Baruch College – Zicklin School of Business.  She holds a MBA in Finance from Fordham University Gabelli School of Business.