By Maureen Renzi, vice president - communications
Every tax season presents its own unique challenges, so CPAs entered this season recognizing that there would be planning challenges because of the uncertainty of future tax laws. Nobody could have anticipated the silent tax return.
President Donald Trump’s executive order addressing The Patient Protection and Care Act states, “To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) and the heads of all other executive departments and agencies (agencies) with authorities and responsibilities under the act shall exercise all authority and discretion available to them to waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay the implementation of any provision or requirement of the act that would impose a fiscal burden on any state or a cost, fee, tax, penalty, or regulatory burden on individuals, families, health care providers, health insurers, patients, recipients of health care services, purchasers of health insurance, or makers of medical devices, products, or medications.” With this order, the term “silent return” has surfaced, referencing the IRS’s decision to no longer systematically reject returns that fail to explain health insurance or appropriate exemptions to the requirement.
This order, and its repercussions, has raised tax and ethical issues that PICPA addressed in the following resources:
In November 2016, the PICPA launched PICPA Connect, a private, member-only discussion board with topics that include taxation, corporate finance, specialized industry, firm administration, CPA Exam and career development, and an open forum. During times of constant change, these boards provide a safe and reliable resource for members to discuss practical issues that need immediate attention as well as longer-term strategy concepts.
Members value this opportunity. Since launch, there have been more than 46,000 views of the PICPA Connect pages, 159 discussions, and 695 responses to posts. The new service provides members with the opportunity to search for discussions by topic, attach documents to a post, and provide direct links to other sources.
Not surprising, taxation has been the most active and fastest growing. We imported 704 members to the new service from the previous tax listserv group. Since then, this group has grown to 838 members. When you peruse the taxation discussions you will notice a variety of questions being addressed regarding federal issues on ACA penalties, 1031 exchange, and 1099-R pension distributions, as well as state and local tax issues on Philadelphia penalty waivers, property tax rebate, and state treatment of 465b contributions.
Other tax resources that have been recently released include the following:
Also, the PICPA has ongoing tax resources:
While the crystal ball on when broader tax reform will take place is still fuzzy, it is starting to come into focus. A review of the potential tax proposals was analyzed by Bob Duquette in the podcast “Prospects for Tax Reform Under the Trump Administration,” and the issue is being closely monitored by the PICPA Federal Tax Committee with the hope that quick-to-market webinars will be released as details become clear.
The PICPA has you covered during tax season and all year. To reach out to any PICPA member, there is always easy access through our online membership directory.
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