April/May 2009
Top 40 Tax Advisors to Know During a Recession 2009
By T. Steel Rose and Myrna Nelson
We have been identifying worthy elite in the accounting profession for the past six years. Selecting the Top 40 (rather than the usual 50) Tax Advisors to Know During a Recession brought out the most select group yet. Every state society and national association of CPAs and accountants was invited to nominate candidates.
And everyone selected had a bit of work to do. We asked each member of the Top 40 to provide 25 words of advice about tax planning during a recession.
Each year we profile a practitioner to represent the group. Marty Shenkman was an easy choice because of his prolific authorship and unselfish devotion to sharing his vast knowledge with other practitioners. A CPA, attorney, PFS and MBA, Shenkman has written 30 books and 750 articles on practical strategies for practicing accountants.
Martin M. Shenkman, CPA, MBA, JD, is an attorney in Paramus, NJ, and New York City. His practice concentrates on estate planning and administration, tax planning, and corporate law. He was included in Worth Magazine's Top 100 Attorneys in 2007 and CPA Magazine’s Top 50 IRS Practitioners in 2008. He is a source for financial publications including The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Money and The New York Times. He has appeared on TV shows and stations such as The Today Show, CNN, NBC Evening News, CNBC, MSNBC, and CNN-FN. He has published 36 books and more than 700 articles. His most recent book is Life Cycle Planning for the CPA Practice. Advice: Help clients focus on steps they can take, instead of matters they can’t control. Economic turmoil has changed everything; make no assumptions, plan creatively.
Mel H. Abraham is a CPA and Master Practitioner in Neuro-Linguistic Strategies. Operating businesses for taxpayers and the IRS, he consults valuation engagements for family limited partnerships and co-tenant interest valuations. These projects have ranged from family-owned businesses to $1.7 billion companies. Advice: During these times of turmoil, uncertainty and anxiety, use valuation discount planning to reduce estate taxes. These factors impact value, and as long as there is a viable non-tax/business purpose to the planning backed by a properly prepared valuation, a taxpayer can reduce exposure to estate taxes materially.
Robert E. Barnhill is an attorney, CPA, PFS and CFP who focuses on estate and retirement planning. He has authored several books covering these and related business areas. Mr. Barnhill is an adjunct professor at Texas Tech University in the Personal Financial Planning department. He holds a Toastmasters International Accredited Speakers designation for platform excellence and was named by the AICPA as an Outstanding Discussion Leader. He was the 1996-1997 International President for Toastmasters International and is a past president of the West Texas Chapter of the Financial Planning Association. He also is a member of the American Bar Association. Advice: Use bad economic times to clean up your balance sheet and position yourself for the recovery. Now is not the time to lock yourself up in an economic bunker.
Michael Bekas is a tax partner and PC at the New York accounting firm Marks Paneth & Shron LLP. He is a member of the UJA Federation of New York's Legal and Tax Panel and provides pro bono guidance to the organization's Department of Planned Giving, which helps donors with charitable giving and retirement planning. Mr. Bekas also is vice chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Kidney Foundation of Greater New York and member of the National Finance Committee for the National Kidney Foundation. Advice: Advise clients not to panic and to rationally evaluate tax planning and financial planning strategies. For example, it might make sense to accelerate income into 2008 and defer deductions into 2009 because of possible tax rate hikes coming in 2009.
Andrew R. Biebl is a principal of LarsonAllen LLP and a past president of the Minnesota Society of CPAs. He co-authored Practitioner's Publishing Company's (PPC's) Federal Tax Update; PPC's Tax Planning Guide-S Corporations, Practitioners 1040 Deskbook, and Practitioners 1120S Deskbook; and the AICPA's Individual Income Tax Workshop and Corporate Income Tax Workshop seminars. With his partner, Bob Ranweiler, he authored the PPC Biebl-Ranweiler Portfolio Series. He received the AICPA's Outstanding Discussion Leader Award. Advice: Tax advisors should use today's low IRS interest rate minimums to lock in favorable terms on loans to related parties. Those with related party installment sales, intra-family loans, or loans to or from their business can gain significant advantage from converting floating-rate or old-rate debt to lower rates.
Milton Brown is a practicing accountant with offices in Passaic and Clifton, NJ, and holds the PA, EA, ABA, ATP and ATA credentials. He was the first public accountant to be elected president of the New Jersey State Board of Accountancy and chairman of NASBA. NSA named Mr. Brown Accountant of the Century in 2000. A past president of the National Society of Accountants, he is a member of the Board of Directors of ACAT and a member of the National Regulation Oversight Committee at NSA. Advice: Specialization is key to providing opportunities to clients because it forces you — as the practitioner — to focus on every aspect within a certain area. Your clients benefit because you are up-to-date on everything having to do with a specific field.
Steve Brown is a CPA and partner-in-charge of RubinBrown's Tax Consulting Services Group. He serves on the AICPA S-Corporation Technical Research Panel, which is working to push for legislation to benefit struggling businesses. Advice: Stick with your long-term goals and don't get caught up with the turmoil of current events. Use this time to train and upgrade your employees' job performance.
Carol A. Cantrell is a CPA, JD and CFP and is shareholder of Briggs & Veselka Co. She concentrates on tax and financial planning for families and small businesses, specializing in trust and partnership tax matters. She serves on the board of the Texas Society of CPAs. Ms. Cantrell served for five years on the editorial advisory board of Tax Adviser magazine, authored CCH's Stock Options: Guide to Estate, Tax, and Financial Planning and co-authored the forthcoming new Fiduciary Accounting Answer Book. She has also written and spoken nationally on partnership and trust tax planning, the Uniform Principal and Income Act, and the Uniform Prudent Investor Act. Advice: Although the stock market and economy are beyond our control, client service is a measurable asset that we can control. Quality service promotes trust and loyalty, despite what might be falling apart in our clients' lives.
Martin Davidoff is a CPA and tax attorney, licensed in New York and New Jersey. He is founder and chairperson of the IRS Tax Liaison Committee of the American Association of Attorney-Certified Public Accountants (AAA-CPA) and president-elect of AAA-CPA. He earned his undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, his MBA from Boston University and his JD from the Washington University School of Law. Advice: Run the numbers! The impact of AMT might be surprising. It might be worth paying more tax to show banks a softer landing in a recession.
David S. De Jong is a past president of the American Association of Attorney-Certified Public Accountants. He has handled hundreds of tax controversy matters, litigating cases in Tax Court, Federal District Court and the U.S. Court of Claims. Lecturing nationally on current developments and tax planning as well as controversy, he has received accolades from CPA Magazine, Washingtonian, Washington Smart CEO and Maryland/Washington DC Super Lawyers. In 2006, Worth listed him as one of the country's top 100 attorneys. Advice: Although relief from indebtedness generally results in taxable income, one of the many exceptions applies when the obligor is insolvent. Opportunity might exist to time the discharge in order to minimize or eliminate income.
Sy Goldberg is a CPA, MBA, JD, and senior partner in the law firm of Goldberg & Goldberg, P.C. He is Professor Emeritus of Law and Taxation at Long Island University. Mr. Goldberg has been quoted in The New York Times, Forbes, Fortune, Money Magazine, U.S. News & World Report, Business Week, The Wall Street Journal and the Tax Hotline. He has also been interviewed on CNN, CNBC and WCBS. Mr. Goldberg authored Inherited lRAs: What Your Family Needs to Know and Inherited lRAs: Advanced Materials – Creditor Rights Issues & Uniform Transfers to Minor Acts Analysis. Advice: A number of bankruptcy courts have held that the non-spouse beneficiary of an inherited IRA is not protected against creditors if he/she is sued. If that is a concern, then the IRA owner should set up an irrevocable spendthrift trust as the beneficiary of the IRA.
Marc D. Harper is a CPA, JD, who leads the Private Client Advisors practice in the Orange County office of Deloitte Tax LLP. With more than 18 years of public accounting experience, he is recognized regionally and nationally as a specialist in the areas of high net worth individuals, closely held businesses, and family office consulting. Advice: Think basics and be proactive. Conventional ideas still save and generate cash and are often overlooked. Spend time with clients; they'll appreciate it, and you'll reinforce your position as a trusted advisor.
IRA S. Herman is a CPA, partner and the Trust and Estate Practice Director at J.H. Cohn. He offers specialized expertise in financial management as it relates to personal, business, retirement, and estate planning. Advice: With historically low interest rates and significantly reduced valuations of equity portfolios and real estate, consider techniques for intra-family transfers of wealth and business interests including loans to family members, sales to grantor trusts, and gifts to grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs).
Vern Hoven is a practicing CPA with a Master's Degree in Taxation from the University of Denver's School of Law. CPA Magazine recognized Mr. Hoven as one of the top 50 IRS representation practitioners in 2008. The Illinois, Indiana, and Nebraska CPA Societies have honored him with "Tax Instructor of the Year" awards. He authored The Real Estate Investor's Tax Guide. "On a scale of one to 10, it rates an off-the-shelf 12," according to the Chicago Tribune. Advice: Last year 83% of individual taxpayers received an income tax refund averaging more than $2,000. As stupid as it sounds, don't overpay your income tax. Adjusting your estimated tax payments to eliminate a tax refund is one of the fastest and easiest ways to conserve cash during a recession.
Nancy Hyde is CEO of Hyde & Company CPA's PC in Oklahoma City, OK, and a CVA. She was inducted into the Oklahoma Society of CPA's Hall of Fame in 2003. Ms. Hyde has served as president for OSCPA. From 2001 to 2005, she served on the Executive Committee for the AICPA Tax Division. She also served as a Chapter 7 Panel Trustee for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Oklahoma as well as Chapter 11 and DIP. She devotes time to closely held entities and their owners, creative tax planning and maximizing profits. Advice: Annualize income, avoid penalties, avoid foreclosure outside bankruptcy, carry back NOL's, pay taxes on time, elect QSUB, relocate business to a low tax state, collect promptly and cultivate clients.
Arthur P. Jensen is a CPA and was a large CPA firm tax partner with Washington National Office experience. Mr. Jensen often acts as the advisor's advisor to merger and acquisition advisory firms, private equity firms, and other CPA firms on how business sales and real estate transactions can be structured to minimize and avoid income taxes with more tax focused deal structuring, while adding greater deal security. He advocates that smarter selling can yield 30% and more for the seller. The tax savings can offset the effects of the recession losses. He is an author, conference speaker and past tax conferences chairman. He writes the Tax Deferral Advisor column for CPA Magazine. Advice: Clients want to sell investments before values drop even further but hesitate because of the gain and tax exposure. Support selling now but offer them the tax deferral methods available.
Michael J. Jones is a CPA and partner in Monterey, California's Thompson Jones LLP. He specializes in estate planning. Advice: Encourage family business strategy review, plus ownership transfers now: Valuations are down, discounts are up, and Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts require only a 2% grantor return (February).
Robert S. Keebler is a CPA, MST, DEP, and a partner with Virchow, Krause & Company, LLP and chair of the Virchow, Krause Estate and Financial Planning Group. He received the Distinguished Estate Planners award from the National Association of Estate Planning counsels in 2007. From 2003 to 2006, Mr. Keebler has been named by CPA Magazine as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Practitioners in the U.S. Mr. Keebler frequently represents clients before the IRS National Office in the private letter ruling process and in estate, gift and income tax examinations and appeals, and he has received more than 150 favorable private letter rulings, including several key rulings of "first impression." He is the editor-in-chief of CCH's Journal of Retirement Planning and a member of CCH's Financial and Estate Planning Advisory Board. Advice: Tax planning opportunities abound, such as Roth IRA conversions and GRATs. There is no reason for clients to be depressed in a depressed market.
Jeffrey H. Kess is a CPA, attorney with Gomel & Davis, LLP. Mr. Kess has represented thousands of clients before the Internal Revenue Service, the State of Georgia and other state taxing authorities. He was named one of the Top 50 IRS Representation Practitioners of 2008 in the U.S. by CPA Magazine. Mr. Kess has spoken to a variety of groups, including the Georgia Society of CPAs. Mr. Kess is the State Bar of Georgia Representative to the local quarterly IRS/Practitioners Liaison Committee Meeting. He is the immediate past president and a director of the North Atlanta Tax Council. He also co-chairs the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta General Philanthropy Division. Advice: Today's marketplace is like Nordstrom's having a clearance sale. Accordingly, now is the time to buy a quality diversified stock and real estate portfolio and plan for future capital gains.
Sidney Kess Esq., CPA, JD, LLM, was selected "Most Influential Practitioner" for 2006 by CPA Magazine and has authored/co-authored hundreds of tax books on financial and estate planning. Mr. Kess is consulting editor of CCH's Financial and Estate Planning Reporter. Mr. Kess edits the AICPA's CPA Client Bulletin and CPA Client Tax Letter. He is executive editor of CPA Magazine. He has also written several AICPA tax workshops and is the recipient of the AICPA Distinguished Lecturer Award. Mr. Kess is often quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and other national publications. He was included in Accounting Today's "100 Most Influential CPAs in the U.S." for several years as well as CPA Magazine's 2007 "100 Most Influential CPA's in the U.S." Mr. Kess received the AICPA's "Special Recognition Award" and was elected to the Estate Planning Hall of Fame. He received his JD from Harvard University School of Law. Advice: With the unprecedented financial crisis, CPAs have a unique opportunity to offer guidance to their clients during this critical period. Many times this help may be provided for free or at reduced fees. Bear in mind, helping your client during this time translates into customer loyalty, customer referrals and increased business over the long run.
Karen Koch is a CPA, MT, and a Partner with Bedford Cost Segregation, LLC (formerly Bedford Capital Consulting). Ms. Koch is a member of Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Louisville. She has written for national tax publications on various topics including cost segregation and lectures on the subject. Karen received her B.S. in accounting from the University of Virginia's College at Wise and was named Outstanding Major in accounting. She completed her Master of Taxation at Old Dominion University. Advice: Accelerating depreciation deductions via a cost segregation study is an excellent strategy to help real estate owners reduce their current tax liability and improve cash flow for newly constructed and acquired properties as well as those placed in service in prior years on a retroactive basis. The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 provided additional opportunities by changing NOL carryback from two to five years for small businesses. Cost segregation studies can be used to generate significant losses, providing a mechanism to claim valuable refunds.
Sharon Kreider is a practicing CPA and EA in a Silicon Valley tax firm. Ms. Kreider started her career in the examination division of the IRS. She co-authored the 500-page 2008 Federal and California Tax Update for Tax Professionals. Ms. Kreider has been quoted as a tax authority in a variety of national radio, television and print outlets. Advice: Don't sell for taxes. Take capital losses in your portfolio as the market dictates. Watch for wash sale rules. Do not buy similar securities within 30 days of the sale if you want to deduct capital losses. The wash sale rules apply to buys in retirement accounts also.
Larry Lawler is managing partner of Lawler and Witkowski, CPAs. In 2003, he founded the American Society of Tax Problem Solvers. It has grown to include more than 200 firms nationwide under his direction. The non-profit professional organization provides education to CPAs, EAs, and attorneys specializing in taxpayer representation. Advice: CPAs should consider adding tax problem resolution to their practice. The need for more government revenue is driving strong growth for ASTPS firms.
Heather Smith Linton is a CPA, CFP, CVA, CDFA, and a founding partner of Linton & Associates, PA in Durham, NC. She helps individual and closely held business clients in the areas of taxation, financial planning and business planning. In addition, she works with divorcing and separating couples to reach fair financial settlements. Ms. Linton is a past president of the North Carolina Association of CPAs and has been active in the community. She is an author of two books and numerous articles and speaks on tax and financial issues. Ms. Linton holds a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Delaware and an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Advice: Listen. Discover what is important to your clients. Hear their fears. Get them to prioritize. Then create a plan to help them reach their goals.
Jerry L. Love is a CPA, CVA, ABV, CFF, PFS and CFP and managing partner of Davis, Kinard & Co., P.C. From 2006 to 2007, Mr. Love served as Chairman of the Texas Society of CPAs (TSCPA). In 2006, CPA Magazine listed him as one of the 100 Most Influential Practitioners in the U.S. That same year, he received the Texas Association of Museums Jo Stewart Randel Outstanding Trustee Award for his impact on Texas musuems. Advice: Budget as if the recession will last three years, build a six- to nine-month cash reserve and pay down debt as much as possible. Due to the recession, Congress has waived the required minimum distributions from qualified plans and IRAs for 2009. It could be an excellent year for a corporation to consider a conversion to a Sub S status if the values are low, reducing the built-in gain. It could also be an excellent year for making gifts of an interest in a Family Limited Partnership and converting a regular IRA to a ROTH IRA.
Robert E. McKenzie is a Partner of the law firm Arnstein & Lehr LLP of Chicago, IL. He concentrates on representation before the IRS and serves on the IRS Advisory Counsel. Mr. McKenzie authored Representation Before the Collection Division of the IRS and co-authored Representing the Audited Taxpayer Before the IRS and Representation Before the United States Tax Court. Advice: Call each of your clients regularly. Let them know you value their business. If your client is having financial troubles, consider reducing your fees for a time. If the client survives the tough times, she will be grateful. Keep seeking new clients. Some of your current clients will not survive the current economic crisis.
Barry C. Picker is a CPA/PFS, CFP, and a shareholder in Picker, Weinberg & Auerbach. Mr. Pickler has appeared on radio and TV and has been quoted in Worth, Fortune, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Investors Business Daily, Newsweek, Kiplingers and Business Week. He speaks to other accounting and financial planning professionals on estate planning and financial planning topics. Barry authored Barry Picker's Guide to Retirement Distribution Planning (June, 2002). He is a member of the NYS Society of CPAs Estate Planning and Personal Financial Planning Committees and the Estate Planning Council of New York City. Advice: Now is a good time to convert IRAs to Roth IRAs. Values are down, so the conversion will be less. Also, more clients will find themselves with income under $100,000, and thus are now eligible to do the Roth conversion.
Mark Plostock is president of Mark A. Plostock, CPA, P.C. He does tax planning, preparation and client representation before tax authorities. He specializes in state and local income and sales tax matters. Mr. Plostock chairs the New York State Society of CPA's Nassau Chapter Taxation Committee. He served on the Relations with the IRS Committee on Long Island and the Advisory Board of Tax Hotline for state and local taxes. He graduated from Quinnipiac University and serves on of its Accounting Advisory Board. Advice: Practicing CPA's should stay abreast of the ever-changing tax legislation at the House Ways and Means Committee, Senate Finance Committee, Joint Committee on Taxation websites as well as that of their home state.
Gideon Rothschild is a CPA, attorney, and a partner with the New York City law firm of Moses & Singer LLP. Mr. Rothschild is a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. He co-authored the BNA Tax Management portfolio on Asset Protection Planning as well as numerous articles for publications including the New York Law Journal, Journal of Asset Protection, Trusts and Estates and Estate Planning. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Miami Law School Graduate Program and New York Law School and has been listed on Worth/Robb Report's list of Top 100 Attorneys serving private clients. Advice: If a client is seeking to protect their assets after the business has suffered a loss or after a lawsuit is brought, the options available will be limited. Asset protection planning must be implemented in advance to avoid fraudulent transfer challenges.
Michael Rozbruch is CEO of Tax Resolution Services, Co. As a Certified Tax Resolution Specialist (CTRS), he has represented thousands of taxpayers who owe the IRS but can't afford to pay. He has been a guest speaker on radio stations and TV news shows. Mr. Rozbruch received ASTPS's Top Practitioner Fall 2005 Award. In the past year, he has successfully settled hundreds of Offers in Compromise, saving clients up to 85% of their outstanding tax bill in many instances. He has saved his clients in excess of $40 million dollars over the past decade plus. Advice: Perform financial planning services in reverse, strategize and re-position client's finances (if they have tax problems) to ensure as much success as possible in obtaining a tax debt settlement (Offer in Compromise), a long-term (60 month) payment plan, or a "Currently Not Collectible" status, in which the IRS will not require your client to make any payments on his/her back tax debt until his/her personal financial condition improves.
Jerry Schreiber is a partner of Schreiber & Schreiber. He serves on the AICPA IRS Practice and Procedures Committee and SSTS Revision Task Force. He has served on the AICPA Tax Practice Responsibilities Committee, Tax Forms Committee, Tax Forms and Education Task Force, and Circular 230 Education Task Force. Mr. Schreiber has authored continuing education courses on Individual Income Taxes, Current Developments, Casualty Losses, Hurricane Katrina Tax Matters, GO Zone Act, and Circular 230. Advice: The economic downturn has and will result in new legislation that will place added emphasis on the need to stay up-to-date to be able to serve clients' tax needs during this difficult time.
Jane M. Searing is a CPA and a tax shareholder with Clark Nuber. She chairs the AICPA Exempt Organization Technical Resources Panel. Ms. Searing has extensive experience with IRS examinations, appeals, exemption applications and ruling requests. She was listed in CPA Magazine as one of the Top 50 2008 IRS Practitioners. She is a regular presenter with a variety of organizations, including the CCH Users Conference and various AICPA national not-for-profit conferences. Her writing credits include "Capital With a Conscience," published in the July 2008 issue of Journal of Accountancy. She also co-authored and edited The Practical Guide to Form 990 and A Guide to Estate Planning For Parent of Children with Special Needs. Advice: Boards and management and their advisors must review the new revised Form 990 and consider policies and procedures requiring additional disclosures on the new form. Charitable funds are scarce. It has never been more important for organizations to put their best foot forward.
Perry A. Shulman is a CPA, LFP, of East Rockaway, NY, who specializes in taxation and financial planning for high-net-worth individuals, private businesses, estates and trusts as well as not-for-profit organizations. He also represents clients before the IRS. Mr. Shulman previously was a senior manager at Ernst & Young in the Personal Financial Planning Tax Department. He has been quoted in The New York Times about end-of-year tax savings strategies and has been interviewed on local radio finance programs. He is a member of the Estate Planning Council of Nassau County, NY, and the New York State Society of CPAs – Personal Financial Planning Committee. Advice: The new law reduces the amount of calendar-year 2009 estimated tax payments for individuals owning certain small businesses. The required quarterly estimated tax payments are now based upon 90% of the calendar-year 2008 tax instead of 100% of the tax.
Houston D. Smith, Jr. is a CPA/PFS of Smith and Raab, P.C., Decatur (Atlanta), GA, a local firm practitioner and lecturer who specializes in taxation and personal financial planning. Advice: Got a lemon? Make lemonade! Use excess itemized deductions and personal exemptions to make tax-free withdrawals from retirement plans. Consider converting a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. Take another look at Health Savings Accounts. And, use this time to make gifts of depressed traded securities to children and grandchildren.
David M. Spitzberg is the founder and owner of the CPA firm bearing his name. He has been quoted in national publications including The New York Times and The Washington Post. David has appeared on television broadcasts as well as provided commentary on radio broadcasts. Advice: Be proactive. Consider new technologies. Your ability to communicate the practical application of legislative changes has a direct impact on your client's cash flow.
Carolyn Turnbull is director of tax at Moore Stephens Tiller LLC in Atlanta. Ms. Turnbull is serving her second year as a member of the LMSB subgroup of the IRS Advisory Council. She is also active in the AICPA, where she is a member of several committees and a lecturer, technical reviewer, and presenter for continuing education courses as well as an outgoing member of the editorial board of The Tax Adviser. Advice: Recognize built-in losses to offset income a client recognizes from the restructuring or discharge of debt. Note: Income from the discharge of debt incurred in a passive activity is passive income and can be used to free up a taxpayer's suspended losses. Make sure you are familiar with the exclusions available under Sec. 108 to exclude or defer discharge of indebtedness from a taxpayer's gross income. Example: A taxpayer may defer income from the discharge of qualified real property business indebtedness by making a timely election to reduce the basis of depreciable real property or real property held as inventory.
Joseph Walloch is a CPA, MBA, and MBT who testified before Congress on the Alternative Minimum Tax representing the AICPA. Mr. Walloch is professor of Advanced Taxation at the University of California, Riverside, and teaches nationally and internationally. Mr. Walloch specializes in tax planning, expert witness and second opinion services. He chaired the AICPA Individual Income Tax Resource Panel from 2007 to 2008. He received the 2008 AICPA Tax Division Award for Exemplary Public Service. Advice: CPAs need to be experts on the tax payment alternatives offered by Form 9465 "Installment Agreement Request," Form 911 "Request for Taxpayer Advocate Assistance" in the case of hardship and Congressional/IRS liaison channels for help in managing tax debts and accelerating tax refunds.
Julie A. Welch (Runtz) has been practicing tax for about 25 years at Meara Welch Browne, PC, a local CPA firm in Kansas City. She co-authored 101 Tax Saving Ideas, 9th edition, a year-round tax planning book written in easy- to-understand language. Advice: Take advantage of what the tax law offers, continue to upgrade technology, and just like the advice to our clients — be proactive in marketing so people remember you.
Jimmy J. Williams is a CPA/PFS, MTAX, and BVAL who has taught courses in business valuations, tax, financial planning and ethics. He founded his tax, accounting and litigation support practice in 1993. In 2007, he received the Oklahoma Society of CPAs Accounting Hall of Fame Award. Last year, he received the Oklahoma Society of CPAs Public Service Award. Mr. Williams serves on the Board of Directors of the AICPA and as Special Investigator for the Oklahoma Accountancy Board. Advice: Be at the top of your game when recommending credits and other beneficial planning points to generate additional cashflows and profits. I recommend additional CPE in areas in which you might have fallen behind, such as executive compensation and tax credits.
Alan Zipp is a CPA, Certified Business Appraiser, AICPA Accredited in Business Valuation, Certified Fraud Examiner, author, lecturer, and discussion leader for the AICPA. He is a committee member for the AICPA's National Small Business Practitioner's Tax Conference. In his accounting practice, Mr. Zipp specializes in tax and financial issues of individuals and small businesses and represents clients before the IRS, the U.S. Tax Court, and State courts. Advice: The recession is only temporary. Continue funding retirement plans, savings accounts, and long-term investment goals. You will then be in position to benefit from the future economic recovery.