Rochester, Syracuse & Niagara Frontier Chapters Hold 41st Tri-Chapter Conference, Celebrate Rochester's 50th Anniversary.

On May 2, 2000, the Rochester, Syracuse, and Niagara Frontier Chapters held their 41st Annual Tri-Chapter Conference at the Rochester Marriott Thruway. The host chapter this year was the Rochester Chapter. About 140 people attended the conference and celebrated the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Rochester Chapter. Attending as guests of the Rochester Chapter were five students enrolled in the Masters of Taxation program at St. John Fisher College.

Art Rosen of McDermott, Will & Emery kicked off the conference with an update on recent New York state and city tax matters. Of particular interest to participants were Art's comments about the differences in approach taken by the state and the city on the same audit issues.

Gillian Spooner of KPMG analyzed the prospects for federal tax legislation during the upcoming election year. She discussed current budget projections and provided detailed insights into several factors that effect potential federal legislation.

In a very entertaining presentation, Handy Hevener of Weil, Gotshal & Manges focused primarily on two employee benefit tax issues: worker classification and corporate aircraft deductions. She specifically discussed an unpublished Technical Advice Memorandum made available in late April recognizing that employers can condition qualified plan eligibility on objective factors, such as whether a person was reported as an employee on the payroll records, even if this person is later reclassified as an independent contractor.

Tom Smith, Industry Director, Heavy Manufacturing, Construction & Transportation for the IRS's Large and Mid-Size Business Division, provided his insights into the IRS's significant internal restructuring efforts. He affirmed that the Large and Mid-Size Business Division will be "standing up" by its target date of June 4, though there are still some details to finalize. He also noted corporate taxpayer enthusiasm for the prefiling agreement program currently being piloted by the IRS.

The luncheon featured a presentation commemorating the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Rochester Chapter. Winthrop Heyer of the Ritter Company was instrumental in organizing the Chapter. The National Office formally recognized it as Chapter Number 10 on...