The Many Masters of the Tax Department: industry sessions shifted to Wednesday to aid networking.

Being a tax executive has never been easy, but it used to be a more focused profession. No longer is that the case: Far from being beholden solely to tax officials from the IRS, LMSB, CRA, FTB, DOR, and OECD (as well as to elected officials), tax executives are today increasingly faced with mandates from an alphabet soup of non-tax regulatory agencies and quasi-regulatory bodies including the SEC, PCAOB, IASB, and FASB. Sailing between the Scylla of tax and the Charybdis of non-tax demands, tax executives face unparalleled challenges.

"As a result of a sea change in the tax profession during the past three years," TEI President Mike Boyle observed, "CEOs and CFOs expect tax departments to mind many more p's and q's, especially as they navigate the unchartered waters of SOX." To ensure that tax executives maintain their bearings, the theme of TEI's 60th Annual Conference is The Many Masters of the Tax Department. The conference will be held at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego, California, from October 23rd to the 26th.

"The American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 has spawned oceans of guidance from the government on a tidal wave of new provisions," Mr. Boyle said. "At the same time, the IRS has continued to keelhaul tax shelter participants and anchored tax practitioners with new requirements under Circular 230." Moreover, he added, the Financial Accounting Standards Board has weighed in with an exposure draft on accounting for uncertain tax positions. "The Annual Conference in San Diego is well timed to provide tax executives with the information they need to be the Masters and Commanders of their own ships."

Mr. Boyle announced that the changing landscape (or seascape) contributed to the Institute's moving the

conference's industry sessions from Monday afternoon to Wednesday morning. "By shifting the industry sessions to the third day of the conference," he explained, "conference registrants will have had an opportunity to learn about the myriad developments affecting their work before walking into their choice of our 21 industry sessions. For six decades TEI has served as a sextant for tax executives, keeping them from going adrift. This year's conference will continue that tradition."

Conference Overview

TEI's conference embarks on Monday morning October 24, with a plenary session devoted to the recommendations of the President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform. Following a keynote address by Yale Professor Michael Graetz on the...