National Advocacy: CalCPA Steps In on Behalf of the Profession.

• Author: Fox, Jason
• Position: Capitol Beat

In October, California representatives to AICPA Council joined CPAs from across the country in virtual meetings with members of Congress. The meetings are part of national advocacy efforts to maintain relationships between the CPA profession and key members of Congress and to provide an opportunity to advocate for policy issues of importance to the profession.

Topics for this year's meetings included tax filing relief for natural disasters, tax penalty relief resulting from COVID disruptions and recognition of accounting in STEM careers.

Filing Relief for Natural Disasters

Currently, IRS authority to grant federal tax relief from failure to file and failure to pay, and to grant relief from debiting interest, outlined in IRC Sec. 750B?, is limited to taxpayers affected by federally declared disasters. Relief provided by state tax agencies often hinges on the granting of relief at the federal level. Often this process can take time to play out, which delays relief to tax practitioners and taxpayers. Profession supported legislation, the bipartisan filing Relief for Natural Disasters Act (H.R. 3574/S. 2748), would allow the IRS specific authority to quickly postpone certain deadlines in response to state-declared disasters, which should hasten badly needed tax relief.

COVID-19 Tax Penalty Relief

State CPA societies, in coordination with the AICPAi have been requesting that the IRS offer reasonable penalty relief measures for COVID-19 impacted individual taxpayers for more than a year. H.R. 5155, the Taxpayer Penalty Protection Act of 2021, would provide taxpayers with targeted relief from both the underpayment of estimated tax penalty and the late payment penalty for the 2020 tax year.

With appropriate congressional support, the bill should help encourage the IRS to oiler reasonable penalty relief measures, all of which it has the authority to do on its own.

Recognition of Accounting as a STEM Career

The accounting profession is seeking recognition as a Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM) career. To further that goal. Reps. Stevens (D-MI) and Spartz (R-IN) have introduced H.R. 3855, the Accounting STEM Pursuit Act of 2021. The accounting profession supports this bill and is encouraging members of the U.S. House to sign on as co-sponsors, and encouraging U.S. Senators to sign the companion bill when introduced in the Senate. STEM education programs have greater access to federal resources and including accounting as part of STEM will...