Maryland CPAs are ready for 2014 General Assembly | Maryland Association of CPAs (MACPA)

01/10/2014 • by MACPA

Maryland CPAs are ready for 2014 General Assembly

Today ends the first week of the 434th meeting of the General Assembly in Annapolis.

The big question is, will you be a victim or participant?

Our 141 delegates and 47 senators will hear close to 2,500 bills before the close of the legislative session, or sine die, in 90 days.

Some of those bills may impact CPAs.

All of those bills will affect you as a CPA, businessperson and Marylander.

As the saying goes: Become involved in politics or be prepared for the consequences of those that do.

We have had several sessions with our committees and Board of Directors and have set an agenda with these five priorities:

Stop sales taxes on services (if introduced).
Protect the contributory negligence doctrine of our liability law.
Prevent combined reporting without lead time for implementation and education.
Prevent any unnecessary CPA legislation from unintended consequences.
Promote the Maryland Competitiveness Coalition’s work to create a compelling vision for Maryland’s future.

The last agenda item speaks to making Maryland a great place in which to live, work and do business. The MACPA played an important role in facilitating the meeting at Hopkins APL with our ThinkTank collaboration platform. (See the report here.)

The looming issue of the unexpected Maryland budget deficit could make the sales tax on services issue come to the forefront once again. Read the perspective of one of our Business Learning Institute thought leaders, Anirban Basu, in his editorial “Maryland in disequilibrium,” which reflects the concerns that many of you have expressed in our town hall meetings this year.

Here is the business legislative agenda from the Maryland Chamber of Commerce.

Join us for CPA Day on Jan. 15 at the Governor Calvert House Hotel. Registration is free. Get details here.

So what is it going to be — victim or participant?

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