New York chapter co-hosts first IRS CTM/TEI tax conference: the following report was submitted by Thomas P. Wharton of Pearson, Inc.

• Author: Wharton, Thomas P.

On May 21, 2009, 125 members of Tax Executives Institute and representatives of the Communications, Technology, and Media Industry of the IRS's Large and Mid-Size Business Division met for what both groups hope was their first annual joint workshop. Pat Chaback, CTM Industry Director, and TEI New York Chapter President Iris Schneider opened the session. The program was modeled after the highly successful annual IRS-TEI Finance Services Conference, which has been held in New York since 2001.

The CTM-TEI Conference included joint sessions on Managing Risk, Current and Emerging Issues, Section 199, and the Research Credit. Key IRS leaders in these areas spoke about the concepts, including how to increase voluntary compliance and how avoid common errors. These IRS leaders were led by Ms. Chaback, and included Kathy Robbins (Director of Field Operations, Financial Services), Lavena Williams (DFO, CTM), IRS Technical Advisors Barbara Washler (Telecommunications), Randy Perrin (Media/Entertainment), Lee Keenan (R&E), Robert Schnuriger (IRC 199), IRS Counsel Charles Buxbaum (IRC 199), Paul Colleran (R&E), Shirley Chin (CTM), and Joyce Sugawara (CTM). Also participating in the panels to present the taxpayer's point of view were top leaders in the tax profession, including Debbie Nolan (Ernst & Young), John Petrella (PricewaterhouseCoopers), Ian Bradley (Ernst & Young), and Dan Lucas (KPMG).

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Each of the sessions was moderated by a member of the New York Chapter, including past chapter presidents Lisa Cappell, Ray Gwydir, Barry Agranoff, and Tom Wharton. The goal of the moderator was to ensure that each side was able to present their viewpoint, to hear, and to understand the viewpoint of the other side, including an audience consisting of approximately 100...