The Return of the Two-Day Tax Conference
TDOC Plans November Conference

By Ernie Markezin, Director, Committee Services

Once upon a time there were two conferences: one that didn’t exactly fit in with its sponsoring committee, and another that had grown to be one day too long.

Then one January morning, the New York State Society of CPAs’ Tax Division Oversight Committee (TDOC) decided that the best way to serve NYSSCPA members was to draw on the best aspects of those two conferences and put them together in a new conference.

Thus, the TDOC is in the midst of planning its tax conference for November, a two-day combination of the Small Business Tax Conference and the Annual Tax Conference, which at one time was a two-day conference in its own right.

Headlining the conference will be a trio of popular keynote speakers: New York State Tax Commissioner Andrew Eristoff, IRS Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olsen and (most likely) David Robison, IRS Appeals Division Chief.

The conference runs Nov. 9 and Nov. 10 at the Marriott Marquis in New York City, and is structured to give members flexibility to attend the sessions that are most important to them.

“This is the first time in a while that we’re giving a two-day tax conference,” said conference cochair Avery Neumark. “By doing this we can give the attendees a full breadth of tax topics—and we’re having some very important speakers and sessions.

We’re just trying to make it flexible, so people can come on one of those two days.”

In addition to the keynote addresses, there will be sessions on estate taxes, administration of tax practice, financial services, the manufacturing deduction, working with the Taxpayer Advocate, e-filing, international taxation, and the tax ramifications of bankruptcy.

Cochairs Neumark and Robert Goldstein continue to work on other possible sessions, including, perhaps, a session on Circular 230.

According to TDOC Chair Maryann Winters, the genesis of the conference was earlier this year when members of the TDOC and the New York, Multistate and Local Taxation Committee (which sponsors two other annual conferences every year) decided that the S corp conference, typically held in June, was not at the best time, since planning for the conference landed in the middle of busy season.

“It had been stuck into the New York, Multistate and Local Taxation Committee, which as a result meant that they had three conferences to plan and run,” Winters said. “And it didn’t really apply specifically to what that committee did. So, we decided to move it forward in the year.”

Until 1997 or so, the Society also offered a two-day tax conference in New York City as well as one upstate, but because of competing conferences and other issues, it was reduced to one day. However, with the S corp conference still in search of a home, planners decided to dovetail the two, heralding the return of the two-day tax conference.

“So, we’re going back to what was considered to be a more in-depth and detailed conference,” Winters said.