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| June 1 , 2005 | The
Newspaper of the NYSSCPA |
Vol.
8, No.10 |
Society Members Light Up Technical Hotline This Tax Season
By Keith Lazarus, CPA Journal Editorial Assistant
The NYSSCPA’s technical hotline received more than 400 calls during this year’s busy tax season, which traditionally is from Jan. 1 to April 15.
The technical hotline offers Society members the opportunity to receive guidance on questions that concern taxes, as well as accounting, auditing, and industry and consulting services. Volunteers from many of the NYSSCPA’s committees receive the member inquiries after they have been screened by Society staff.
When a member calls the hotline, he or she is transferred to a staff member who will determine the nature of the call and verify that it is from an NYSSCPA member. Depending on the question, the member will be directed to a specific committee that focuses on that specialty or area. For example, if the question is about exempt organizations, the member would receive the names and phone numbers of volunteers from the Exempt Organizations Committee. The member can then call the volunteers, who provide guidance on how to approach the query or issue.
Questions this tax season ranged from what qualifies for ethics CPE to a query about treatment of the New York City tax rebate to a real estate tax question regarding condominium conversions. But almost half—180 of the 400—were tax related.
Accordingly, the New York State, Multistate and Local Taxation Committee received the greatest number of calls (26), followed by the Taxation of Individuals Committee (23), with the Closely Held and S Corporations Committee and the Estate Planning Committee each receiving 22 calls. The Partnerships and LLCs Committee received 21 calls.
Despite its being tax season, members called in with many non-tax-related questions. There were more than 130 ethics- and independence-related questions. In addition, there were over 40 accounting- and auditing-related calls, with the Financial Accounting Standards Committee alone receiving 18 inquiries. There also were industry-related questions, including 17 regarding real estate, as well as inquiries about hospitality, bankruptcy and reorganization, and financial institutions and products. There also were 10 calls related to CPE and licensing.
Members may take advantage of this membership benefit by calling the technical hotline at 212-719-8309.
