Session Descriptions
TUESDAY, MAY 12
Federal Income Tax Highlights
John Rodney
Selected highlights of important federal income tax developments of the past year, with emphasis on items relevant to practitioners but not covered in other presentations. Pending legislation likely to be passed will also be included.
Pennsylvania Tax Developments
Dan Schulder
This presentation will provide an in-depth survey and update on Pennsylvania state and local tax issues and matters over the past year including new legislation, case law interpretation, letter rulings, pronouncements, practice, and procedure in all key areas of state and local law affecting taxation in Pennsylvania.
Income Tax Treaties (a look at the U.S.–Canada Protocol)
Todd Izzo
With the globalization of today's companies, the importance of international tax is largely magnified—especially in the area of double taxation. Because the United States taxes on worldwide income, multinationals run the risk of taxation in several different countries, as well as in the United States. The existence of bilateral income tax treaties helps to eliminate this double taxation by providing a set of rules to coordinate the tax systems of the treaty countries. However, because tax law and international relationships are always changing, the international tax treaty network is continually evolving—most often through modifications known as Protocols. One such Protocol that will inevitably affect many U.S. companies is the U.S.–Canada Protocol that entered into effect on December 15, 2008. The most relevant changes include: a reduction in rate of withholding on interest, the loss of treaty benefits for unlimited liability companies and the expansion of permanent establishment to include the provision of services.
Employee Benefit Update 2009—Plan Amendments and Plan Audits
Mike Lloyd and Jon Grossman
The amendment requirements for qualified and nonqualified plans, and new developments in qualified plan audits including penalties under Code Section 6707A for listed transactions will be addressed.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 13
Estate and Gift Tax Update
Kathy Mandelbaum and Doug Loviscky
Current developments in the federal estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer taxes and in the Pennsylvania inheritance tax will be discussed.
Have You Completed Your First New IRS Form 990? Do You Have Questions?
Morgan Cheshire
No more trainings. No more planning or rehearsing. The time is here. The New IRS Form 990 is required use for exempt organizations with fiscal years beginning on or after January 1, 2008. This session will be an interactive discussion focused on identifying the most challenging and sensitive parts of this completely overhauled and much expanded critical tax return for charities, trade associations, social clubs, and other exempt organizations. Not to be missed, this is your opportunity to ask questions, and to share your experiences and thoughts with colleagues and experts.
Ethics
Leo Hitt and Thomas Arbogast
The presenters will discuss recent changes to two sets of rules that profoundly impact tax advisors and tax return preparers. Specifically, they will address the new rules adopted by Congress and the Treasury Department that apply to (i) the tax return preparer penalty for understatements due to unrealistic positions under IRC Section 6694 and (ii) the obligations of "material advisors" to report certain transactions and to maintain lists under IRC Sections 6111 and 6112. There have been changes to the standards of the applicable penalty, permanent and interim guidance on compliance with those standards, and new forms created to attempt to simplify some of the rules. The presenters will help you to weave your way through the new rules of the road for tax practitioners. This presentation is intended to provide a one-hour ethics CLE credit for attorneys.
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