Whirlwind Start: Year Starts with Considerable Legislative Inroads.

• Author: Fox, Jason
• Position: CapitolBeat

This year began with a successful CalCPA Legislative Summit that featured a series of conversations with special guests discussing the current California public policy environment and the opportunities for CPAs to help. Recordings of our conversation with CalCPA consultants. California Treasurer Fiona Ma. legislative leaders, CBA staff and the CalChamber can be viewed at youtube.com/watch?v=R2N"vCAheUrQ.

In late January, CalCPA members engaged in virtual CPA Day meetings with legislators to advocate for various issues facing the CPA profession in California. Among the topics discussed:

* The need for timely legislative action to address important tax issues that may impact the 2021 tax year, including the expansion of the pass-through entity (PTE) tax, conformity to federal lax treatment for certain relief grams. restoration of the Net Operating Loss (NOL) deduction and other business incentive tax credits.

* The importance of financial education. policies that help advance access to financial resources and how CalCPA and its members can assist.

* Other issues being discussed in the CPA profession. incluiding California's business climate, the CPA Evolution initiative to update the CPA Exam, and diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. finally. CalCPA worked closely with the AICPA and CPA societies across the country to advocate directly with Congress to push the Treasury and IRS to provide needed relief to taxpayers and practitioners as the IRS struggles with a processing backlog. These efforts, spearheaded by Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA), facilitated a large bipartisan coalition to sign a letter to the Treasury requesting immediate action ahead of the upcoming tax season. As a result, the IRS announced that it would be taking steps to implement some of the relief provisions advocated by the profession and Congress (irs.gov newsroom irs-statement-providing-meaningful-assistance-to-taxpayers-in-the-current-environmenl).

Tax-related Legislation Signed

SB 113 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/feces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_ id=202120220SB113) has been signed by Gov. Newsom and enacts several tax-related changes that impact the 2021 tax year and current filing season:

Expansion of the Pass-through Entity Tax (PTE) for Additional Relief from State & Local Tax (SALT) Deduction Limits

In 2021, California established an elective PTE lax framework to allow certain California taxpayers to structure their tax compliance in a manner that provides relief from...