ESOP appraisals by CPA firms.

• Author: Janicki, Michael
• Position: Employee stock ownership plan - Brief Article

At a 1994 panel discussion sponsored by the ESOP Association, the employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) requirements for independent appraisers were discussed.

Practitioners wanted to know the conditions for meeting these requirements by outside CPA firms providing audit and tax services to an employer. According to a projects leader for the IRS Employee Plans Technical and Actuarial Division, a firm will be treated as an independent appraiser (under Sec. 401(a)(28)(C)) if all of the following conditions are met:

* The firm represents itself to the...