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MSBA Tax Law Section
2007-2008 Annual Report

Mission and Goals for 2007-2008: To monitor and comment upon pending tax legislation, regulations and court rules; inform practitioners of developments through continuing education programs and the quarterly newsletter; encourage the development of beneficial professional relationships with other Tax Law Section members; and promote communication with governmental organizations involved in developing, interpreting, and enforcing tax law, including the Minnesota Department of Revenue and the IRS.

Tax Council and Officers: The governing body of the Tax Law Section is the Tax Council, which consists of twelve members. Members are limited to two consecutive full two-year terms (which excludes partial terms of members elected to fill a vacancy and complete an unexpired term). Below is a list of the 2007-2008 Tax Council members and officers:
2007-2008 Tax Council
Barry Clegg                              2006-2008
Terrence Costello                     2006-2008
Jerome Geis                             2006-2008 – 2nd term
Jed Davidson Larkin                 2006-2008
Thomas Muck                          2006-2008
Duane Schroeder                      2007-2009
Lisa Schultz                              2007-2009
Allison Woodbury Leppert       2007-2009

Tax Council Meetings: The Tax Council held seven regular meetings during the 2007-2008 fiscal year, from September through May. These meetings were open to the entire membership of the Tax Section. Section members were invited and encouraged to attend, and informed of the schedule of meetings and speakers through e-mail, the Tax Section News, the Section's home page on the web, and at Section events such as the Section's annual Tax Institute. Most meetings included speakers and one hour of CLE credit. CLE programs with more than one credit are described below under the heading Continuing Education Programs. Speakers for the one credit CLEs included:

·      Joe Warren, Internal Revenue Service Local Taxpayer Advocate: Developments at the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service Office
·      Kristin Hickman, Professor at the University of Minnesota Law School: The Need for Mead Part 2: Rejecting Tax Exceptionalism in Judicial Deference
·      Nick Furia, Fredrikson & Byron: The 60-Day Rule: A Trap for the Unwary
·      Alan Wilensky – Ethics Credit: Tax Practice and Tax Ethics: Where Are We Now and Where Are We Going?
·      Chief Judge George Perez, Minnesota Tax Court: 2008 Minnesota Tax Court Update.
Also of note, on February 15, 2008, the Tax Law Section joined the Health Law Section and the Nonprofit Committee of the Business Law Section in presenting a panel discussion on the recent Under the Rainbow Childcare vs. Goodhue County property tax case. This one credit CLE was held at the Town and Country Club in St. Paul and had almost 150 attendees. Holding a joint CLE with other MSBA sections proved to be a successful method of updating members on new legal developments.
In addition to providing updates to attendees, the meetings generated some interesting and frank discussion among section members regarding several current federal and state tax issues.

Annual Section Meeting: The Tax Law Section held its annual meeting on June 4, 2008, at the University Club in St. Paul in conjunction with the Section's Annual Judges Conference and Seminar.
The following individuals were elected to the Tax Council or will be continuing completing a two-year term during 2008-2009:
Duane Schroeder          2007-2009
Lisa Schultz                  2007-2009
Barry Clegg                  2008-2010- 2nd term
Terrence Costello         2008-2010- 2nd term
Nicholas Furia              2008-2010
Thomas Muck              2008-2010- 2nd term
John Stenzel                 2008-2010
Robert Stuart                2008-2010

Continuing Education Programs:  The section sponsored three multi-credit CLE seminars.
In November 2007, approximately 125 attendees and 20 faculty attended the 67th Annual Tax Institute organized with Minnesota CLE (9.25 CLE credits, including breakout options for 1.0 of ethics credit and 1.0 of elimination of bias credit). We have tentatively scheduled the 2008 Tax Institute for December 2 and 3, 2008.
On December 14, 2007, the section held a two credit continuing legal education program and a holiday reception in the Skjegstad Room at the Minnesota Department of Revenue. The CLE featured a number of speakers from the DOR and close to 100 people attended. It was a very successful alternative to the typical monthly CLE, and many suggested it should be an annual event.
In June 2007, close to 100 individuals attended the annual Judges Conference and Seminar (3.00 CLE credits). An excellent slate of featured presenters provided an interesting program. In addition, Walter Pickhardt received the Tax Law Section’s Distinguished Service Award at the Conference.

Tax Section Newsletter:  Dan Kidney, KPMG, and Anne Westerlund, KPMG, continued serving as co-editors for the Tax Section News during this past year. In addition to providing section members with information on section activities and agency developments, the Tax Section News featured articles dealing with tax law developments and an update on current Tax Court cases.

Monitoring and Responding to Developments:  The Tax Council monitored administrative and legislative tax law developments at the federal and state levels. The Tax Council supported the proposal to amend the “60-Day rule” to clarify what information must be exchanged in certain property tax petitions, and to change the standard for noncompliance from automatic dismissal with prejudice to allowing judicial review of compliance under Rule 37 of the Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure governing discovery. Although the proposal had some success at the legislature, it was ultimately not included in a bill, and will be revisited next year.
The Tax Council also supported a request for a change to a proposed rule related to the isolated and occasional sale exemption. The Tax Council will continue to monitor this proposed rule and determine whether future action is desired.
Increase in Participation: The participation both in numbers attending our CLEs and in the variety of participants appears to have increased during 2007-2008. A number of law school students have regularly attended the Tax Law Section Council meetings as well as the CLEs. Of the four hundred and thirty-some section members, it seems that more are taking advantage of the benefits that the section offers. This increase in participation is just one indication that 2007-2008 was a successful year for the Tax Law Section.

- Last Updated 07/20/08 -