We are!
Did you know that MACPA works on the federal legislative agenda for CPAs as much as we work on the state agenda?
They say all politics is local and CPAs are a living example. We are fortunate to have a strong, collaborate relationship with our national association, the AICPA. This allows us to complement and extend their advocacy on your behalf.
This year has been very intense as we achieved key objectives with the IRS PTIN program, FTC Red Flags, and especially with the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Financial Protection Act, all working together with the AICPA and the other State CPA Societies.
Recently we have been aggressively advocating the repeal of 1099's (from the Health Care bill), working to pass tax patent legislation which provide exceptions to all of the tax patents recently filed to prohibit you from using basic tax calculations (like a ROTH IRA conversion) due to patents filed by tax attorneys and other organizations. See our letter to Senator Ben Cardin on this issue Download Sen Cardin – Patent Reform Act S 23
And last week a group of CPA leaders attended the Maryland Chamber of Commerce's Congressional Dinner to listen to Maryland's Congressional delegation and hear their latest views.
There were plenty of CPAs in attendance (pictured are Mark Edward of BDO, Allen DeLeon of DeLeon & Stang, Alvin Katz of KatzAbosch, Jack Anderson – retired Rowles & Co., Bill Riley of Reznick Group, and yours truly). In addition, Ed Brake of Ellin & Tucker, Jack Hollerbach and several other CPAs were in attendance along with our manager of legislative/regulatory affairs, Marybeth Halpern. Bill Riley is our immediate Past Chair and Allen DeLeon is the Chair-elect of the MACPA.
We heard from most of our Maryland's Congressional delegation (Barbara Mikulski and Dutch Ruppersberger were unable to attend). They talked about coming together (bi-partisanship) for the common good, concern about the deficit, and the need to “invest” in infrastructure. Then there were several jabs thrown from both sides of the aisle. Did I say they talked about working together?
Read about the dinner from the Maryland Chamber's chief blogger Will Burns here
We will also be heading to Capitol Hill for one on one visits this May as part of the AICPA's spring council meeting.
Stay tuned and we are watching your back!