60th anniversary presents both opportunity and challenge for TEI to be effective and stay effective.

• Author: Zelisko, Judith P.
• Position: Tax Executives Institute - President's Page

As summer turns to fall, Tax Executives Institute and its members face myriad challenges and opportunities. Legislative and regulatory bodies in the United States, Canada, and Europe are poised to enact or implement major changes affecting every business. From SEC, FASB, and IASB announcements to congressional action (or inaction) on international tax reform, from enforcement initiatives by the IRS and states to continuing pressure on corporate budgets--tax executives face a full plate of issues affecting how they can advance their companies' business objectives while ensuring compliance with all the applicable tax and tax accounting rules.

For six decades, TEI has helped its members surmount the challenges of the ever-changing tax world. As my term as the Institute's 56th President begins, I am filled with admiration for TEI's founders whose vision of an organization focused on the needs of in-house tax professionals remains as compelling in 2004 as it was in that first summer following D-Day. To be sure, the Institute's activities have expanded since 1944, but our course has been clear and consistent for 60 years. As two of my predecessors (Ralph Weiland and Linda Burke) put it 10 years ago in their preface to our 50th Anniversary History:

 Throughout it all, Tax Executives Institute has been the voice of experience,

practicality, and administrability. Whether members are helping one another cope with the burdens of compliance, or assisting U.S. or Canadian tax authorities in designing legislation and regulations, they have acted with the firm belief that it is their affirmative obligation to do so.

The intervening decade has done nothing to change the truth of these words. Indeed, developments since 1994 only underscore the need for an organization to meet the educational, advocacy, and networking needs of tax executives. It is for this reason that TEI's Board of Directors adopted the theme "Be Effective, Stay Effective" for the coming year--because an organization's vitality depends both on the vision of its founders and on their successors' strategies to advance that vision in light of changing times.

A Solid Foundation, A Hard Act to Follow

Before discussing the strategies the Institute will pursue this year to enable us to Be Effective and Stay Effective, I offer thanks to Ray Rossi, whose term as President came to a close in August. Through Ray's leadership and hard work, TEI had a fabulous year and moved forward on many fronts. The...