September 1999

AICPA Re-Redesigns Tax Division

By James A. Woehlke, CPA

In response to concerns from its tax division members, the AICPA re-evaluated plans to eliminate many tax committees, and instead developed a new restructuring model that leaves intact four committees, creates new technical resource panels (TRPs), and establishes task forces on an as-needed basis.

The AICPA had planned to eliminate 40 to 50 committees, including 20 of 22 tax division committees, and replace many of them with shorter-term task forces. (See page one of the August issue of The Trusted Professional.) Following this announcement, however, AICPA tax division representatives met with the Institute's leadership to propose a compromise. As a result, on August 31, AICPA Chair Olivia F. Kirtley forwarded to the Institute's board of directors the compromise restructuring with her endorsement.

The four surviving committees are the Tax Executive Committee, Relations with the IRS, Tax Legislative and Policy, and Tax Practice Improvement. The new Relations with the IRS Committee will assume the responsibilities of the former IRS Practice and Procedures Committee. The Tax Practice Improvement Committee's scope will encompass the activities of four former committees: Tax Practice Management, Tax Technology, Tax Practice Guides, and Responsibilities in Tax Practice. The new committee's projects will include annually revising the AICPA's tax guides and checklists (which, according to AICPA member surveys, are tax division's most popular member benefit), and drafting the Institute's currently non-binding Statements on Responsibilities in Tax Practice, one of several sources of ethical guidance for CPAs in tax practice.

Ten new TRPs, which will be approximately half the size of standing committees and consist of seven or eight members, are responsible for specific areas of taxation such as S corporations, partnerships, corporate taxation, individual taxation, and estate planning. If a TRP identifies a project needing additional member input, it will propose the creation of a task force to address the issue.

The tax division formed a restructuring working group which developed the compromise with AICPA leaders. The working group also contacted numerous division members for input.

"We were skeptical about the initial plans to eliminate so many tax committees," said David A. Lifson, AICPA tax division chair and a former NYSSCPA vice president and board member. "We worked hard to understand what could be gained and how we could improve the way we did business. The AICPA leaders were flexible, open, very helpful, and listened to our concerns. In the end, with the Institute's support--especially with the new Institute-wide technological resources scheduled to be available this year--I think we all structured an organization armed with significantly greater potential. It's everyone's job now to make it happen. I'm cautiously optimistic, which, as you know, is absolutely gushing for a tax person."