AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS for AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS

Retirement RET

Employee benefit plan audit quality

Contacted: SENATE; Internal Revenue Service (IRS); HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; Labor, Dept of (DOL); Justice, Dept of (DOJ); Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC); Small Business Administration (SBA); Treasury, Dept of; Government Accountability Office (GAO); White House Office

Immigration IMM

STEM (specifically re: the math definition); Immigration Reform (specifically re: H-1B and L-1B visas)

Contacted: Treasury, Dept of; White House Office; Government Accountability Office (GAO); HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; Labor, Dept of (DOL); Justice, Dept of (DOJ); Small Business Administration (SBA); Internal Revenue Service (IRS); Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC); SENATE

Banking BAN

Issues related to implementation of Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Pub. L. 111-203)

Contacted: Internal Revenue Service (IRS); Justice, Dept of (DOJ); SENATE; Treasury, Dept of; Government Accountability Office (GAO); Small Business Administration (SBA); Labor, Dept of (DOL); Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC); White House Office; HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Accounting ACC

Draft legislation containing data transparency standards requirements; Auditor liability; International Financial Reporting Standards

Contacted: White House Office; HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; SENATE; Labor, Dept of (DOL); Small Business Administration (SBA); Treasury, Dept of; Internal Revenue Service (IRS); Government Accountability Office (GAO); Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC); Justice, Dept of (DOJ)

Financial Institutions/Investments/Securities FIN

Issues related to implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (Pub. L. 107-204); S.1484, Financial Regulatory Improvement Act of 2015

Contacted: Labor, Dept of (DOL); Government Accountability Office (GAO); Small Business Administration (SBA); White House Office; SENATE; Justice, Dept of (DOJ); HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC); Treasury, Dept of; Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

Bills named: S. 1484 (114th)

Taxation/Internal Revenue Code TAX

Alternative minimum tax; Cash basis method of accounting; CPA representation of state-legal marijuana businesses; Multi-State Worker (telecommuter) Tax Fairness Act; Tax Disaster Relief; National Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2015 (H.R. 3110 / S. 1795); Tax Extension Assurance Bill; Deductions for adjusted gross income (certain attorney fees and court costs); Education-related provisions; Estates & Trusts; Allow administrative relief for late portability, inter vivos qualified terminal interest property, and qualified revocable trust elections; Treat consistently all federal tax payments of trusts and estates; Amend section 67(e) to simplify the law and allow estates and nongrantor trusts to fully deduct the cost of complying with fiduciary duties in administering estates and trusts; Exempt from the filing requirement of section 6034(a) trusts with charitable deductions only from flow-through entities; Subject estates, certain qualified revocable trusts, and qualified disability trusts to the income tax and net investment income tax in the same manner as married persons filing separate returns; Require Form 1099 reporting of interest and dividends paid to charitable remainder trusts; Provide portability relief; Filing election/tax return15 months after death; Simplified Form 706 EZ; Surviving spouse elections; Foreign trust withholding credit to U.S. beneficiaries; Section 2801 estate tax expatriation guidance; Estate tax closing letters; Estate tax basis consistency reporting; Executive Compensation; Section 409A; Excise tax on excess tax-exempt organization executive compensation; Exempt Organizations; Form 990; Jeopardizing investments; Unrelated Business Income Tax (name and logo royalties treated as unrelated business taxable income; parity of charitable contribution limitation between trusts and corporations; increased specific deduction; qualified sponsorship payments; dual use facility expense allocation); Penalties (increase in information return penalties; manager-level accuracy-related penalty on underpayment of unrelated business income tax); Tax Exempt Entities/Excise Taxes (modification of intermediate sanctions; modification of taxes on self-dealing; excise tax on failure to distribute within five years contribution to donor advised fund; repeal of exception for private operating foundation failure to distribute income; excise tax based on investment income of private colleges and universities); Supporting organizations; SSNs on EO tax forms; Foreign trusts; Compliance issues continuing monitoring/discussing; Withholding issues with FATCA for foreign trusts and U.S. beneficiaries; Health insurance deduction; Provide full deductibility of health insurance for small businesses; Identity theft; The Chairman's Mark of A Bill To Prevent Identity Theft And Tax Refund Fraud (JCX-108-15); Identity Theft and Tax Fraud Prevention Act of 2015 (H.R. 3981); Form W-2 due date acceleration; International Taxation; BEPs; Pending Income Tax Treaties and Protocols; Taxation of Foreign Income; IRS authority over tax return preparers; Taxpayer Protection and Preparer Proficiency Act of 2015 (S. 137); Tax Return Preparer Competency Act of 2015 (H.R. 4141); Taxpayer Bill of Rights: Taxpayer Bill of Rights Act of 2015 (H.R. 1058, S. 949, S. 951); Small Business Taxpayer Bill of Rights Act of 2015 (H.R. 1828, S. 949); Taxpayer Bill of Rights Enhancement Act of 2015 (S. 1578); IRS determination letter program; IRS budget, IRS customer service; Kiddie Tax rules; Listed property issues; Removing computer equipment from the definition of listed property; Internet sales and use tax collection; Marketplace Fairness Act of 2015, S. 698; Remote Transactions Parity Act of 2015, H.R. 2775; Medical lodging deduction limitation with the allowable business per diem rates; Methods/Periods/Credits; Cost recovery issues/UNICAP (including Sections 168, 179 and 263A); Mischaracterized section 174 expenditures; Modification of Rev. Proc. 2004-34 and Treas. Reg. 1.451-5 concerning the deferral of advance payments; Research credit; Tangible property regulations; Amortization of certain research and experimental expenditures; Amortization of certain advertising expenditures; Tax treatment of deferred revenue in taxable asset acquisitions; Revenue Procedure 2015-20, De minimis safe harbor limit; Accounting method changes for mischaracterized section 174 expenditures needing a section 481(a) adjustment and audit protection; Mileage rates for business expense, medical expense, moving expense and charitable contribution purposes; Mobile Workforce State Income Tax Simplification Act of 2015 (H.R. 2315 and S. 386); Net operating loss deduction; Pass-through Entities; Allow Subchapters K and S to Remain as Separate Subchapters; Retain the Flexibility of the Subchapter K Model (Including Special Allocations and Outside Basis for Partnership Level Debt); Retain the Check-the-Box Rules; Obtain Tax Rate Parity Between Pass-Through Business Entities and C Corporations; Repeal Section 1372: Partnership Rules to Apply for Fringe Benefit Purposes for S Corporations; Make Permanent the Reduced Recognition Period for Built-In Gains for S Corporations; Allow Full Consideration of Net Realized Built-In Loss for S Corporations; Make Remedial Allocations Mandatory for Partnerships with Greater than 5% Nonresident Alien Individuals as Partners; Eliminate the Section 751(b) Calculation on Disproportionate Distributions; Oppose Any Proposal for Tax Treatment of "Large" Partnerships as Corporations; Require Mandatory Adjustments to Basis of Partnership Property in Case of Transfer of Partnership Interests and Mandatory Adjustments to Basis of Undistributed Partnership Property; Allow Accumulated Earnings and Profits Withdrawal from S Corporations with Certainty; Reduce Realized Built-In Gains of S Corporations by the Amount of Accrued State Income Tax; Allow Incentive Deductions Permitted by the Internal Revenue Code to Flow Through to Taxpayers Without Basis Limitations; Repeal the Prohibition of Section 179(d)(4) for Estates/Trusts; Alternatively, Allow Pass-Through Entity Allocation and Amortization at the Estate /Trust Level; Charitable Contribution Deduction for Electing Small Business Trusts; Permanent Rule Regarding Basis Adjustment to Stock of S Corporations Making Charitable Contribution of Property; Allow an offset to the built-in gains tax for charitable contribution and foreign tax credit carryforwards from a C year; Add a new 120-day post-termination transition period beginning on the date that a taxpayer files an amended Form 1120S; Allow S corporations to have nonresident aliens as shareholders and potential current beneficiaries of electing small business trusts; Repeal section 1362(d)(3), which terminates an S election due to passive investment income that exceeds a certain threshold, or increase the passive investment income threshold of S corporations under section 1375(a)(2) from 25% to 60%; Extension of time for making S corporation elections; Allow the transfer of any partnership suspended losses to his/her spouse when spousal transfers under section 1041(a) take place; Clarify that husband and wife partnerships that are recognized under state law are eligible to elect Qualified Joint Venture status under section 761(f); Repeal section 708(b)(1)(B) relating to the technical terminations of partnerships; Retain existing safe harbors for allocation of shared partnership liabilities; Request for Guidance Regarding Worthless Stock Deductions Under Section 165(g) for S Corporations; Partnership audits and adjustments; Partnership Audit Simplification Act of 2015 (H.R. 2821); Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148) implementation and related issues; Health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs): The Small Business Healthcare Relief Act) (H.R. 2911 / S. 1697); Remote Transactions Parity Act of 2015, Marketplace Fairness Act of 2015 (H.R. 2775, S. 6998); Savings & Investments; Consolidate and simplify the multiple types of tax-favored retirement plans and the rules governing them; Eliminate Certain Nondiscrimination Tests on Employee Pre-tax and Roth Deferrals for 401(k) Plans, Matching Contributions; Eliminate the Top-Heavy Rules; Create a Uniform Rule Regarding the Determination of Basis in Distributions; Create a Uniform Attribution Rule; Create a Uniform Definition of Owners; Change the Required Minimum Distribution Rules During Life and Remove Half-Year Age References; Create Uniform Rules for Early Withdrawal Penalties; Elimination of Income Limits on Contributions to Roth IRAs; Inflation Adjustments for Roth IRA Contributions; Simplify the tax treatment of Roth individual retirement account contributions; SEPs; SIMPLE 401(k)s; Rules Related to Designated Roth Contributions; Repeal the requirement that benefits become fully vested upon a partial termination of a qualified retirement plan; Small Business Tax Compliance Relief Act of 2015 (S. 1827); The Self-Employment Contributions Act (SECA); Determination of net earnings from self-employment; Equalize the tax treatment between employees and self-employed individuals with respect to the deduction for health insurance costs in determining income subject to OASDI and HI taxes; Tax Reform (General); Principles of Good Tax Policy; Tax extenders (H.R. 2029, the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 and Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016); Permanence of tax legislation; Small business compliance burden; Tax administration and compliance; Late and amended Forms 1099 - corrected information reporting safe harbor de minimis and reporting rollover to year of change; Amend the section 6051 reporting requirement to permit truncation of employee social security numbers; Clarification of six-year statute of limitations in case of overstatement of basis; Penalties (definition of tax shelters; significant purpose; reasonable cause exceptions; penalty for failure to file; penalty for failure to file correct information returns and provide payee statements; Form 3520 and 3520-A penalties; late filing penalties under sections 6698 and 6699; Form 5471 penalty relief); Pre-populated returns; Repeal the section 7122(c)(1) requirement to provide a 20% partial payment with a lump-sum offer in compromise; Section 9100 relief (administrative relief for missed statutory elections); Tax Administration Integrity Act (H.R. 3167); Tax rates and definitions; Consistent definitions in the Internal Revenue Code; Deduction for adjusted net capital gain; Elimination of surtaxes; Inflation-adjusting thresholds and amounts; Repeal of phase-ins/phase-outs; Simplified Income Tax Rate Structure; Tax return due dates (Public Law 114-41, the Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015); Form 5500 change technical correction; Form 3520 change technical correction

Contacted: Treasury, Dept of; Government Accountability Office (GAO); Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC); Justice, Dept of (DOJ); White House Office; HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; Labor, Dept of (DOL); Small Business Administration (SBA); SENATE; Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

Bills named: H.R. 4141 (114th), H.R. 2821 (114th), H.R. 2315 (114th), S. 6998 (114th), S. 951 (114th), S. 137 (114th), H.R. 3110 (114th), H.R. 3981 (114th), H.R. 2911 (114th), S. 949 (114th), S. 1578 (114th), S. 1697 (114th), H.R. 2029 (114th), H.R. 2775 (114th), S. 1795 (114th), S. 1827 (114th), S. 386 (114th), H.R. 1058 (114th), H.R. 1828 (114th), H.R. 3167 (114th), S. 698 (114th)

Copyright/Patent/Trademark CPT

Patent reform: Innovation Act, HR 9; Patent Act, S 1137 ICANN domain name engagement

Contacted: Small Business Administration (SBA); Internal Revenue Service (IRS); Labor, Dept of (DOL); Treasury, Dept of; Justice, Dept of (DOJ); Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC); Government Accountability Office (GAO); White House Office; HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; SENATE

Bills named: H.R. 9 (114th)

Government Issues GOV

Federal agency attendance at privately sponsored conferences and meetings

Contacted: Small Business Administration (SBA); SENATE; Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC); Government Accountability Office (GAO); White House Office; Justice, Dept of (DOJ); HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; Treasury, Dept of; Internal Revenue Service (IRS); Labor, Dept of (DOL)

Labor Issues/Antitrust/Workplace LBR

EEOC consideration of reclassifying partners as employees under Age Discrimination in Employment Act; Department of Labor proposed changes to overtime rule.

Contacted: Small Business Administration (SBA); Labor, Dept of (DOL); Justice, Dept of (DOJ); Government Accountability Office (GAO); Internal Revenue Service (IRS); Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC); Treasury, Dept of; SENATE; HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; White House Office