TEC initiatives.

• Author: Purcell, Thomas J., III
• Position: Tax Executive Committee

Since the last cut-off date for this column (Mar. 15, 2006; see TTA, May 2006, p. 300), the AICPA Tax Division's Tax Executive Committee (TEC) has exercised its review function on several projects. TEC actions taken after May 31, 2006 and at its spring meeting (June 19-20, 2006) will be reported in a future column. The February 2006 column focused on the Tax Division's and the TEC's advocacy efforts. The May 2006 column addressed the standard-setting process. This column describes tax products and service available to Tax Division members.

The Tax Section's mission statement recognizes that helping AICPA members to provide the highest quality of professional tax services possible is one of the Section's essential purposes. It fulfills this mission through the efforts of the Tax Division, which comprises volunteers who serve on committees and technical resource panels (TRPs), and organizes the efforts of top CPAs in developing products and outreach services, in addition to participating in other advocacy and self-governance activities. The committees and TRPs receive assistance from the AICPA's professional staff.

Products and Services

The Tax Adviser: One of the Tax Section's most valuable products is The Tax Adviser. Each TRP and committee strives to provide at least one article a year to the magazine. Tax Section members work closely with the editorial staff of the magazine, and many of its editorial advisory board members are current or former Tax Section members. The Tax Adviser is available to Section members at a discounted price of only $30 a year.

Guides and checklists: The annual tax practice guides and checklists are prepared by experts from many of the TRPs and committees, who constantly follow tax law and practice changes in their areas of expertise. These practice aids provide members with up-to-date engagement letters and organizers for preparing and reviewing all types of tax returns. The annual package includes over 100 checklists and is approximately 600 pages. Each year adds new checklists, which help strengthen practices. Over the past few years, the checklists have migrated from hard copy to CD, and are now available at the AICPA's online Tax Center (http:// tax.aicpa.org/).

Committees and TRPs also develop practice guides on a range of topics. For example, currently available guides include The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Tax Section, Disaster Area Practice Guide (available at http://...