The compelling need to engage.

• Author: Boyle, Michael P.
• Position: Financial accounting for income taxes - President's Page

Like other voluntary associations, Tax Executives Institute was founded in the belief that, by sharing information and working together, in-house tax professionals can accomplish more than if they "go it alone." Sixty-one years later, becomingly collectively engaged in tax issues remains just as, if not more so, important. The various areas in which TEI's committees have been involved the last two months--and the progress we've made--underscore the wisdom of our founders and, importantly, stand as a testament of the value of tax executives' working together to improve the tax system.

The Eye of the Storm

By some measures, tax professionals are in the eye the storm. While impending change swirls around us, the fall of 2005 has been relatively calm for tax executives, permitting us to work on several significant projects without being pulled off to address one crisis or another. Three major projects and several minor ones have occupied the Institute's committees the last few months. First, TEI's Financial Accounting Task Force worked diligently to prepare comments on the Financial Accounting Standards Board's exposure draft on uncertain tax positions. The release of the exposure draft (after several delays and much speculation of its terms) was somewhat anticlimactic, but the new interpretation would undeniably upend the financial accounting for income taxes and therefore was a wholly appropriate subject for TEI's attention.

The result of our task force's work is reprinted in this issue, and I commend Neil Traubenberg who has led our efforts and the other members of the task force for their stellar work. I am especially pleased that the implications of the FASB's project spurred many previously quiescent members to become engaged. While TEI is hardly alone in engaging on this important topic, I have no doubt that the work of the task force will have a positive effect on the end product (including, at a minimum, a delayed effective date).

Corporate E-Filing, Cuno, and Other Projects

The second area of involvement is corporate e-filing. From the release of the IRS's mandate in January, TEI has been front and center in meeting with both government officials and vendors, providing a reality check on what's possible and what's not, and educating our members about what lies ahead. While the IRS has regrettably indicated that it will not defer the effective date of the general mandate and has not yet issued guidance on taxpayer-specific waivers, it...