   |
     |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Reports
MSBA Tax Law Section
2008-2009 Annual Report
Mission and Goals for 2008-2009: 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 Internal Revenue Service.
Tax Council and Officers: The governing body of the Tax Law Section is the Tax Council, which consists of twelve members. Members were limited to two consecutive two year terms. Due to an ongoing trend of members serving as Vice Chair the second year of their second term, prohibiting them from serving as Chair the following year, the Council voted to amend the bylaws. MSBA approved this change. A third two year term is now allowed. Below is a list of the 2008-2009 Tax Council members and officers:
2008 – 2009 Tax Council
Barry Clegg 2008-2010 – 2nd term
Terrence Costello 2008-2010 – 2nd term
Nicholas Furia 2008-2010
Thomas Muck 2008-2010 – 2nd term
Duane Schroeder 2007-2009
Lisa Schultz 2007-2009
John Stenzel 2008-2010
Robert Stuart 2008-2010
2008 – 2009 Officers:
Chair: Christina Cook – 2nd term
Vice Chair: Gina DeConcini – 2nd term
Treasurer: Pat Butler
Secretary: Allison Woodbury Leppert
Tax Council Meetings: The Tax Council held eight regular meetings during the 2008-2009 fiscal year, from September through May. These meetings were open to the entire membership of the Tax Law 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. It was encouraging to see members who attended as law students remained active once admitted to the bar. Current law students continued to attend meetings and were encouraged to become active in the Section. 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:
Bill Lunka, Senior Manager, Multistate Tax Group, Deliotte Tax
Robert Collins, Lindquist & Vennum, PLLP
Professor David Schultz, Hamline University School of Business
Greg Jenner, Senior Tax Partner, Stoel Rives LLP
Eve Borenstein, Borenstein and McVeigh Law Office LLC
Reid Huey, Associate Area Counsel, and Fran Holmes, Attorney, IRS
Honorable George W. Perez, Chief Judge, Minnesota Tax Court
Annual Section Meeting: The Tax Law Section held its annual meeting on June 3, 2009, 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 a two year term during 2009-2010.
Christina Cook 2008-2010 – 2nd term
Gina DeConcini 2009-2011 – 3rd term
Barry Clegg 2008-2010 – 2nd term
Terrence Costello 2008-2010 – 2nd term
Tina Mohr 2009-2011
Thomas Muck 2008-2010 – 2nd term
John Stenzel 2008-2010
Adam Thimmesch 2009-2011
2009-2010 Officers:
Chair: Robert Stuart
Vice Chair: Pat Butler – 2nd term
Treasurer: Allison Woodbury Leppert – 2nd term
Secretary: Nicholas Furia
Note: Due to the increase in legislative and pro bono efforts of the Tax Law Section, the Tax Council named Gina DeConcini to create a subcommittee to pursue legislative efforts and David Martin to create a subcommittee to pursue pro bono opportunities. Members wishing to join either subcommittee should contact them directly.
Continuing Education Programs: The Section sponsored three multi-credit CLE seminars.
In December 2008, over 100 members attended the 68th Annual Tax Institute organized with Minnesota CLE (9.25 CLE credits, including breakout sessions for 1.0 of ethics credit and 1.0 of elimination of bias credit). The 2009 Tax Institute is tentatively scheduled for December 1 and 2, 2009.
Also in December, 2008, over 50 members attended a two credit CLE program and reception in the Skjegstad Room at the Minnesota Department of Revenue. The CLE featured a number of speakers from DOR, IRS and the Attorney General’s office. The reception was well attended and offered networking opportunities and the ability to speak with government employees in a non-controversial setting.
In June, 2008, close to 100 members attended the Annual Judges Conference and Seminar (3.0 CLE credits). A variety of speakers provided an interesting program. Dale Busacker and Paul Lindstroth received Distinguished Service Awards at the Conference.
Tax Section Newsletter: Dan Kidney, KPMG and Ann Petersen, KPMG, served as co-editors. After several years, Dan has stepped down from this position and the Section is looking for someone to join Ann in editing the newsletter. 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, responded to and created administrative and tax law developments at the federal and state levels. The Tax Council continued to support amending the “60 Day Rule” to clarify the taxpayer’s responsibility in the 60 days after the property tax petition must be filed. Due to the state budget issues, this issue did not get far in the Legislature this year and the amendments were not acted on. The Tax Council sent a letter to the House supporting funding for the Tax Court. The Tax Council monitored legislative changes resulting from the Under the Rainbow decision. New legislation was enacted in this area defining the criteria for establishing "institutions of purely public charity" for Minnesota property tax exemption purposes. The Tax Council monitored, responded and testified regarding our support for legislation allowing single member LLCs to have the same "occasional sale exemption" for sales and use tax purposes when contributing goods between the member and the entity as provided for all other types of organizations. This issue also did not get far in the legislature due to budget issues. Finally, the Tax Council monitored, responded, and testified regarding a proposal to add a layer of due process for officer liability assessments where the taxpayer misses the 60 day appeal deadline. Legislation was passed allowing the taxpayer to make a payment on the liability, request a refund within 3.5 years, and get a hearing when the refund claim is denied. At the hearing, the taxpayer will have a "second chance" to argue that he or she is not a responsible party for purposes of officer liability.
In addition to legislative efforts, the Tax Council worked with the Minnesota Tax Court to create two new pro bono opportunities. The first opportunity, in response to declining property values, involves seminars on how to contest a residential property valuation. One of the seminars will be recorded and available on the MSBA website. It is hoped that the additional information will assist people in understanding the process and the necessary documentation, easing the educational burden on the Tax Court. There will also be an explanation of what the court cannot do, such as reduce property taxes due to an inability to pay.
The second effort involves Commissioner Cases. The Council worked with DOR and the Attorney General’s office to create a system notifying taxpayers they may qualify for free legal assistance. The Low Income Taxpayer Clinics in Minnesota cannot assist taxpayers who only have state tax issues. This is a restriction of IRS funding. The Council worked with Volunteer Lawyers Network and Legal Corps to design a volunteer program to assist the taxpayers who only have state issues. It is expected that this program will begin in the next fiscal year.
- Last Updated 07/09/09 -