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A Message from the President I hope everyone is enjoying your summer and trying to get some down-time from our ever-hectic tax season. Here in my office, we really have not slowed much. But that is the ever-changing industry in which we are professionals.
We had a very successful Spring Fling last month, we missed those who could not attend. Your education committee is working on your education for the remainder of the 2019 year. I hope all of you plan to join us for our special celebration in November – we have an exciting education agenda, but most importantly, we will be celebrating our 25th Anniversary as a Chapter.
I will be attending National Conference in July, so if anyone has anything, they would like for us to discuss or bring to the attention of the National office please let me know. I am looking forward to bringing back ideas to help us better serve our members as well as the education National has to offer.
Fall Charity: The Baldwin County Sheriff Boys Ranch is this year’s chosen charity. They are in Summerdale, AL. Each year the AL NATP Chapter president chooses a charity to sponsor at our Annual Fall Meeting/Seminar. This year we chose the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Boy’s Ranch. Mr. Jim Harmon, the Ranch Director was able to tell us a little about the Ranch. The Baldwin County Ranch first opened in 1984 on land donated by John F. Foley, in Summerdale, AL. The dream began back in the 1960s when the Alabama Sheriff’s Association decided to make a difference in the lives of troubled boys. The state operates two ranches for boys and two for girls. Over the years, the Ranch has seen over 5,000 children who have been abused, neglected, and homeless. Many of these children come from troubled and dysfunctional homes. These ranches are homes for the children and not reform schools. The Boys and Girls Ranches of Alabama is a charitable, nonprofit corporation, sponsored by the Alabama Sheriffs' Association and managed by a Board of Trustees. The program is funded by individuals, churches, corporations, and private donations. The Ranch program is designed to provide a Christian family atmosphere, encouraging the children to learn respect for God and country. Each child attends school regularly and has daily chores. The program is designed to teach these young men and women the responsibility and the value of hard work and new skills needed in life.
Some of the items that they need are canned goods, cleaning supplies, and any personal hygiene products for young men. Once we get closer to the conference, I will also have a list of items for each individual boy/ young would like or need. Should anyone like to learn more about this ranch, please go to boysandgirlsranches.org and search under the Baldwin County tab. We will be accepting any of the above items or monetary donations at the fall conference. https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=XTyKJapsG3E
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Volume 5, Issue 2
Bama News
Board of Directors President: Sheila Sutton [email protected] 256-586-2366
Vice President: Kathy Hallford [email protected] 251-843-5153
Secretary: Deidree Jones [email protected] 205-436-8481
Treasurer: Pam Worsham Co-Chair [email protected] 251-478-6044 Treasurer: Elizabeth Johnson Co-Chair [email protected] 251-653-5575
Gwendolyn Harris Brooks [email protected] 334-664-3581
Nelda Bunch [email protected] 251-957-6566
Amanda Elrod [email protected] 256-547-9909
Carol Bates [email protected] 251-679-9216
Brandon Jones [email protected] 205-518-8850
Vicky Kokemor [email protected] 251-216-1975
Doug Crump [email protected] 205-556-0042
In this issue: • Message from the President • Board of Directors • Welcome new members • Education News • Photos from our Spring Fling • Member Brags • Upcoming Events
News from your Alabama Chapter
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January Billy G Brown George S Harris March Randy Shurbet May Danielle Ridgeway Theda C Rhodes Jacob A Van Dine Annie G Strozier
5 Years Jeanette Boykin Lynn Duncan 10 Years Gail Arrow 25 Years Earleen Clayton Bamberg Howard L Van Dine
WOW! Is that an acceptable word to start bragging on our Alabama Chapter? Not sure, but after reviewing the evaluations from our 2019 Spring Fling, I’m at a loss for words. This year Spring Fling conference received the highest approval ratings since I began working on the BOD of this Chapter. From folks enjoying the topics of education, our wonderful instructor, Mrs. Kathryn Keane down to the hotel approvals, the best approval ratings ever! “Thank you” to each attendee and your guests for making our 2019 Spring Fling Seminar such a great success. If you had the misfortune to miss this year, start your planning now for next year! 2020 Spring Fling is set for May 3-6th at the Hampton Inn & Suites – Orange Beach, AL with our now famous Mrs. Kathryn Keane, EA!
The next question is how do we follow Spring Fling? Start watching your email from National and your Alabama Chapter! Log into your account on the NATPtax.com website and check your email settings to verify you will receive an email from your AL Chapter. If you are a Certified AFTR practitioner, mark your calendar now to attend our AFTR study session slated for December 4th, Hoover, AL at the offices of American Financial Management, Inc. We have purposely chosen to piggy-back National’s 1040 2-day Workshop to reduce your travel expenses. Can’t go to the 1040 Workshop, no problem; you can still attend the AFTR study and test while there if you so desire. This year will be the 4th year we have offered this service to our members. Last year 82% of those that attended this study class passed their AFTR Certification Test!! The AFTR Self-Study materials are free to all current NATP members; and available to non-members for the small cost of $112. You can sign up to our Study Session by following this link or copy & pasting in your browser: https://www.natptax.com/Chapters/Pages/AlabamaChapterEducation.aspx
I cannot close this note out without mentioning some of the other Education coming to you from your AL Chapter. Fall Education & Annual Membership Meeting wherein we will be CELEBRATING our Chapter’s 25th Anniversary!! November 10-13, 2019 at the Hampton Inn & Suites, Orange Beach, AL. The Education Committees are currently working on our topics and juggling our outside instructor schedules. We hope to have Registration for this 25th Anniversary Conference no later than June 28th! (Watch your email from the AL Chapter!)
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Visit us on: Facebook page Alabama NATP And www.natptax.com
A Message from the President continued As always, I look forward to any feedback you may have. I welcome any and all suggestions that will help improve our Chapter and improve your experience in this Chapter. Please note my new email address: [email protected]. As I tell my family and friends: “Life is not measured by the breaths we take… but by the Moments that take our breath away.” I hope to see you in November.
Education News!
IRS to Stop Faxing Transcripts
Tax pros will also have some options available to get the tax transcripts they need for clients for tax preparation or representation: Ask the IRS to mail a transcript to the taxpayer’s address of record; or
Use e-Services’ Transcript Delivery System online to get masked individual transcripts and business transcripts; or Get a masked individual transcript or a business transcript by calling the IRS, faxing authorization to the IRS assistor and the IRS assistor will place the document in the tax practitioner’s e-Services secure mailbox. When needed for tax preparation purposes, tax pros can: These forms are often used by lenders and others to verify income for non-tax purposes. Among the largest users are colleges and universities verifying income for financial aid purposes. Tax professionals also are large volume users. Taxpayers can continue to use the forms, though, to get a copy of their own tax return or a copy of their tax transcripts. The change won’t affect use by students and their parents of the IRS Data Retrieval Tool through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (also known as FAFSA) process.
Get an unmasked wage and income transcript by calling the IRS, faxing the authorization to the IRS assistor and the IRS assistor will place the document in the tax practitioner’s e-Services secure mailbox; or
o Get an unmasked wage and income transcript if authorization is already on file by using e-Service’s Transcript Delivery System.
Third-party mailings
Starting July 1, the IRS will stop providing transcripts requested on Form 4506, Form 4506-T and Form 4506T-EZ to third parties, and the forms will be amended to remove the option for mailing to a third-party.
The Internal Revenue Service said Tuesday it plans to end the faxing of tax transcripts in June, as well as stop third-party mailing of tax returns and transcripts in July, in an effort to curb identity theft.
The IRS noted that tax transcripts have become increasingly vulnerable as criminals impersonate taxpayers or authorized third parties. Identity thieves use tax transcripts to file fraudulent returns for refunds that are hard to detect because they resemble legitimate tax returns.
In 2015, the IRS had to take its online Get Transcript application offline after discovering that cybercriminals had used the app to get information on hundreds of thousands of taxpayers. It later restored the app after adding taxpayer authentication features. The end of faxing and third-party transcript mailing this summer follows on the heels of earlier effort to protect sensitive taxpayer data. Last September, the IRS started masking personally identifiable information for every individual and entity listed on the transcript. At the time, the IRS announced it planned to stop its faxing and third-party mailing service. Since then, it has worked with tax professionals to make sure they have the facilities needed for tax prep and representation.
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Education News continued
Also, per your request, we will be bringing to you 3 to 5 webinars with Alabama taxation topics, Cyber Security and we are working on Practice Management Webinar. These Webinars will be covering such topics as Alabama Business Privilege Returns, Alabama Individual Resident, Part-Year Resident & Non-Resident returns, Alabama’s new W.R.A.P. program; Reporting Agent/Tax Professional Accounts and Sales and Use Taxes, plus other topics as they become available and/or requested by our membership. These webinars will vary from one to two hours depending on each webinar’s subject matter.
As always, I am open to your requests and suggestions. Please email, text or call me with any questions and/or comments regarding our education or if you need help. [email protected]; Office 251-843-5153 or mobile 251-605-0644 I look forward to seeing everyone in November if not before!
Kathy R Hallford, EA
AL NATP VP/Education Chair
Telephone Directory
Practitioner Priority Service Individuals
866.860.4259
Business 800.829.4933
National Taxpayer Advocate
877.777.4778
Alabama Taxpayer Advocate 334.242.1055
EFTPS
800.555.3453
IRS Refund Hotline 800.829.1040
Alabama Department of
Revenue 334.242.1170
A Little Humor
On May 29, 2019, the Birmingham IRS Office hosted its spring practitioner liaison meeting. Craig Crews, the Stakeholder Liaison District Manager for our region, reminded practitioners to subscribe to the digital publication e-News, which is emailed on Fridays; Mr. Crews also stressed the importance of the “paycheck checkup.” Special Agent Brian Canty from TIGTA gave several updates. Recently, TIGTA took over the investigation of Treasury check fraud from the US Secret Service, as many of these are originating with fraudulent tax preparers who are also producing inflated returns. If you have reason to believe a preparer is involved in these schemes, please report them. SA Canty listed the issues which TIGTA investigates; they are: • Assaults/threats with a tax nexus – This includes threats against a tax practitioner, IRS employee, or even of suicide. If a client mentions suicide, please contact TIGTA immediately. Depending on the severity of the threat, TIGTA will work with local law enforcement to help the individual, or they will put a non-specific note in the individual’s case file, which urges examiners to be gentler in their dealings with the taxpayer, or in the case of threats, warns examiners to be cautious. • Employee misconduct or violence – TIGTA primarily investigates criminal allegations, allegations of overstepping the bounds of authority, unauthorized access to or disclosure of tax records; other complaints are referred to IRS management. • Fraud/theft – An individual’s tax fraud is investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation Division; theft of tax returns by fraud is investigated by TIGTA. • Impersonations – Scam calls and emails. • Criminal misconduct by tax practitioners. • Bribery – This is on the rise. Stakeholder Liaison Nora Huffman detailed IRS initiatives, including National Small Business Week, Non-Filer Balance Due, e-News subscriptions, Online Payment Agreements, Payment Options, Tax Pro Data Theft and Protection, Estimated Tax Payments, and the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Alabama Revenue Examiner LaKanjala Roberts says Alabama refunds are on time, within the 8-12-week window; however, there appears to be some bottlenecking for those who filed April 8-15, and there may be a delay beyond 12 weeks. ADOR offers the Business Essentials for State Taxpayers (BEST) online seminar quarterly to new business owners. The seminar is approximately 2 ½ hours and covers sales and local taxes, business privilege tax, penalties, ad valorem taxes, tax valuation, and tax deadlines. The next session will begin on June 10th and will be offered again in September, December, and February. Business owners should be directed to their local Revenue Department office to register.
Cont. on pg. 5
1. Reestablish Field Presence – Taxpayers may see 2 or 3 Revenue Officers on cold calls. The objective of the Revenue Officer is to determine whether the taxpayer can make a full payment, a partial payment, or determine the inability to pay. For the inability to pay, the RO must obtain a financial statement. Failure to provide a financial statement causes case delays, as the case also cannot go to Appeals or TAS without the financial statement. 2. Embrace Complex Casework – More than 90% of government revenue is collected by the IRS, and 72% of that comes from employment taxes. Look for more Trust Fund Recovery Penalties, seizures, disqualified levies, injunctive relief, and summons enforcement. 3. Subject Matter Expert Revenue Officers – Many seasoned Revenue Officers are retiring, so new RO’s are being trained in specific areas due to need. Therefore 2-3 RO’s will be doing cold calls, for both training and security purposes. A knowledge-based system is also being implemented for training. 4. More coaching and mentoring, less documentation – Managers will be more involved with RO’s, actively training them.
Acting Taxpayer Advocate Lawrence Mitchell has taken over in the interim for Clifford Whitely, who retired June 1, 2019. Also present were Allison Boyd, the Taxpayer Advocate Group Manager, and Toretta (Grant) Nabors, the lead Case Advocate. TAS deals with oversight, systemic issues, and ensuring the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights is enforced. TAS did stress that while they are available for all issues, they should not be used as a first stop; attempts at issue resolution should be made through proper IRS channels before contacting TAS. Specific issues TAS is working on include passport restriction, withholding issues arising from the PATH Act, refund holds due to EITC and ACTC, ITIN inactivation, identity theft, and income verification freezes. Ley Mills and Doug Blade presented a very brief overview of the Qualified Business Income Deduction. Marilyn Toney presented Collections Updates. Please be advised Collections does make unannounced cold calls; these cold calls are only made after the taxpayer has received four (4) collection notices from the IRS to which they have not responded. For a taxpayer to verify, a phone number can be provided to local law enforcement on request. Collections is implementing four initiatives:
Practitioner Liaison Meeting continued
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Message from the Election Committee Chair
If you are a member of our NATP Alabama Chapter and would like to serve on the Board of Director's or a committee, please send your Biography to Deidree at [email protected] or mail it to: 100 Brook Dr Ste B, Helena, AL 35080. Qualification requirements:
• At least 21 years old • 18 hours CPE with 2
hours of Ethics from NATP last year
• Work at least part-time in the tax preparation industry
• Have internet and email
• Been a member for at least 2 years
If you would like to talk to Deidree, you can reach her at 205-616-8609 or at her office 205-436-8481. We will look forward to hearing from you all real soon. Hope to see you at the annual conference in November. Thanks in advance for all you do for the NATP chapter.
Deidree Jones Election Committee Chairman
Practitioner Liaison Meeting
2019 Spring Fling
Orange Beach, AL
Member Brags
Jessica Allen the Krewe Queen of Mardi Gras
Carol Bates working on the Mardi Gras Committee
Brandon Jones’s daughter, Lynleigh, received this award for distinctive character and outstanding achievement.
This year’s Spring Conference was a great time for everyone. We had a lot of great education dealing with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, with Mrs. Kathryn Keene as the guest speaker, as well as lots of networking. Thank you to Ms. Nelda Bunch for being our auctioneer and raising so much money for our Stone-Lewis Scholarship Fund.
If you’re not aware, this year marks Alabama’s 25th Anniversary as a chapter of NATP, and there’s going to be a big bash in November to celebrate. Keep watch on email on other communications, as more details will follow. You will not want to miss it!!!!
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Brandon Jones’s son, Andon, was an 8th grader and received several awards and recognitions. Science Achievement Award; “A” Honor Roll; Choir- Young Voices; Choir- All-State Choir
National Conference & Expo July 22-25, 2019 Chicago, IL
Alabama Chapter NATP Annual Meeting November 10-13, 2019 Orange Beach, AL
Study Session for AFSP Certification December 4, 2019 Hoover, AL
Cyber Security Webinar Date TBA Online Webinar
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Hello! Thank you for taking the time to read the AL NATP Bama News. With the bulk of tax season finished...we are all playing catch up with extensions, bookkeeping and/or taking some well-deserved time off. I would like to take a minute to ask each of you to consider submitting an article, accomplishment, story, etc. for our newsletter. If you find something interesting, please share it with the rest of us.
I guarantee most will find it just as interesting as you. Maybe you want to share a feel-good story, funny picture or just toot your own horn. It just takes a few minutes to write something up and submit it. I look forward to seeing what everyone else is up too.
Deidree Jones [email protected]
Notes from the Editor
Come on out and join us for our chapter’s 25th Anniversary celebration. Doors will open at 5:30 on November 12th. This will be a great opportunity to network with your fellow professionals. There will be a presentation from the Mayor. To remember this special occasion, we will have a backdrop for photos. Drinks will be available for purchase. Our event will be catered by Wolf Bay Lodge which always has great food. So, make your plans now to join us at the Fall Conference on November 10 – 13, 2019.
Anniversary Celebration
Quickfinder Discount Quickfinder discounts are still available through June 30, 2019. Just use discount code Q680 online at tax.tr.com/NATP or by phone at 800-510-8997 for up to 25% savings and free shipping if ordering online.
Facebook Don’t forget to check out our Facebook group! The group is closed, so we can ask our peers questions about tax situations our clients are facing, or for advice, or just share information. Please remember to not post personally identifying information about your clients or others. The group can be reached at https://www.facebook.com/groups/210377679417271 or by searching for Alabama NATP in Facebook
