MEETING HIGHLIGHTS

2008 May Meeting
Grand Hyatt, Washington, DC, May 8-10, 2008

• IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman delivers Keynote Address and M. Carr Ferguson, Jr. receives Distinguished Service Award at Plenary Breakfast, Friday, May 9, 7:15 a.m.
• Latest Developments in FIN 48 and Tax Reporting, Friday, May 9, 2:30 p.m.
• Recent Corporate Tax Developments, Saturday, May 10, 8:30 a.m.
• Civil Penalties: Have we Come Full Circle?, Saturday, May 10, 10:45 a.m.
• Preparer Standards and Ethical Issues Concerning Prior Year Returns, Saturday, May 10, 3:35 p.m.

Also: Updates from the Tax Court, IRS, Treasury, Capitol Hill and many additional panels. For a complete program, click here.

"You May Be a Tax Return Preparer and Not Know It: The Latest on the New Return Preparer Standards and Proposed Regulations"

Panelists will discuss proposed Tax Return Preparer regulations, including how regulatory tests and operating rules may differ from earlier interim guidance. Also under discussion will be how the new standards work, steps needed to comply with the standards in different contexts, and the relationship of new Section 6694 to Circular 230’s ethics rules governing practice before the Internal Revenue Service.

Speakers:

• Fred F. Murray, Grant Thornton LLP, Washington, DC (Moderator)
• Deborah A. Butler, Associate Chief Counsel (Procedure & Administration), Office of Chief Counsel, IRS, Washington, DC
• Michael J. Desmond, Tax Legislative Counsel, Office of Tax Policy, U.S. Department of Treasury, Washington, DC
• Rochelle Hodes, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Washington, DC
• Phillip A. Pillar, Greenberg Traurig LLP, Philadelphia, PA

Click here to register.

Mark your Calendar for the Next "Last Wednesday" Teleconference “Update on Recent State Tax System Reforms (Case Studies: Ohio, Texas and Michigan)” - May 28, 2008

U.S. - Latin American Tax Planning Strategies Conference
InterContinental Hotel, Miami, FL, June 11-13, 2008

This two-day conference is designed for a wide range of practitioners, professionals, and in-house international tax personnel. Panels will address the key tax issues for U.S. and Latin American companies doing business in Latin America. In addition, a special Wealth and Asset Planning Workshop the day before will focus on tax issues arising at the time of transfer of assets from Latin America into North America and Europe. Click here to register.

Upcoming Panels: May Meeting May 8-10, 2008.
>> “The Issue Du Jour I - Real Estate Workouts from a Debtor Perspective”
>> “Triggering Real Estate Losses"
>> “Moving Out? The Tax Issues of a Vacating Tenant”
>> “Sovereign Investor Funds”

Connect with professionals in your practice area by joining one of the Section’s more than 40 Committees.  Committee membership provides opportunities to contribute to government comment projects on regulations and rules, and to participate in top-level CLE programming.  Be as active as your time permits – join as many committees as interest you.  But don’t miss out on valuable information in your practice areas. Sign up to join a committee

THE TAX LAWYER FALL 2007 Volume 61, No. 1
>> The Deliberative Stylings of Leading Tax Law Scholars
     by Professor Andre L. Smith
>> Textualism and Intentionalism in Tax Litigation
     by Professor David F. Shores
>> United States Federal Taxation of Derivatives: One Way or Many?
     by Professor Yoram Keinan
>> Translating Corporate Concepts into the Language of LLCs
     by Robert P. Rothman
>> The Discount for Lack of Marketability: Update on Current Studies and Analysis of Current      Controversies
     by Robert Reilly and Aaron Rotkowski

Taxpayer Advocacy Panel
The IRS and the Taxpayer Advocate are inviting individuals to apply for the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel. This year the TAP is accepting applications from U.S. citizens who reside in a variety of locations and are available to commit 300 to 500 hours during the year to the panel. For more information or to apply online, visit www.improveirs.org. You may also apply by calling
1-888-912-1227 to request a paper application form.
All applications must be received no later than April 30, 2008.

• Atlanta, GA – July 1-3
• Chicago, IL – July 22-24
• Orlando, FL – August 5-7
• Las Vegas, NV – August 19-21
• New York, NY – August 26-28
• San Diego, CA – September 9-11

For more information, visit www.taxforuminfo.com. ABA members qualify for a discount. Please note that CLE accreditation has not been requested in advance for these programs, and attorneys interested in attending and obtaining CLE credit are encouraged to check with their state regulatory agencies.

The ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits (JCEB) coordinates the activities of the employee benefits committees of six sections. Those activities include CLE programs and annual meetings with federal agency officials that are reported as a series of questions and answers from each agency. For more information visit the JCEB website or email JCEBLServe@staff.abanet.org.