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

Taxation/Internal Revenue Code TAX

Alternative minimum tax; Cash method of accounting; Disaster relief; Deductions for adjusted gross income (certain attorney fees and court costs); Education-related provisions of IRC; 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 can elect if executor does not; 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), 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; Identity theft; International Taxation, BEPs, pending Income Tax Treaties and Protocols, Taxation of Foreign Income; IRS authority over tax return preparers; IRS budget; IRS customer service; Kiddie Tax rules; Listed property issues; Marketplace Fairness Act - internet sales and use tax collection; 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 minimus 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; 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, Partnership audits and adjustments, 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; Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148) implementation and related issues; 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; 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 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); Tax Reform (General), Principles of Good Tax Policy, Tax extenders; Tax administration and compliance, 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, 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 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

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

Government Issues GOV

Federal agency attendance at privately sponsored conferences and meetings

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

Labor Issues/Antitrust/Workplace LBR

EEOC consideration of reclassifying partners as employees under Age Discrimination in Employment Act

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

Banking BAN

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

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

Accounting ACC

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

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

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

Bills named: S. 1484 (114th)

Retirement RET

Employee benefit plan audit quality

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

Copyright/Patent/Trademark CPT

Patent reform: H.R. 9; ICANN domain name engagement

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

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

Immigration IMM

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

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