Tax Talk Today - To Yourself Be True – Fulfilling Your Ethical Duty to Client, IRS, and Yourself

Program Content

This online learning program, presented as a live webcast, will be also archived for QAS Self Study. The program will be available for viewing for 12 months after the live webcast. A panel of IRS and industry experts will present the content during a live, interactive discussion, where participant questions can be submitted. Questions will be answered live on the program or posted on the Resources page.

The program, through a lively round-table discussion and real time interaction with the audience, examines the changes that affect the rules governing practice before the IRS and the prospects for additional changes. The program will focus on how the IRS assures that practitioners maintain the highest ethical standards. Panelists also will focus on ethical problems most often faced by tax practitioners, the dilemma when client's wishes clash with a professional's responsibilities, and the penalties that may be imposed on practitioners.

By the end of the program, participants will have a practical understanding, through accurate, current, and effectively designed communications, of the ethical obligations of practitioners, the enforcement of those ethical obligations, the penalties imposed on practitioners who fall short, and the resolution of conflicts that arise between client and the professional's responsibilities.

Program Learning Objectives

Identify the IRS Publication that contains general information about the federal tax laws that apply to small business owners who are sole proprietors and to statutory employees.
Identify the IRS Publication that is a tax guidance document specifically for businesses and those who are self-employed, or sole proprietorships. It covers what expenses can be deducted, how to do so, and which records to keep to be fully compliant.
Identify the IRS Publication that provides basic federal tax information for people who are starting a business. It also provides information on keeping records and illustrates a recordkeeping system.
Identify the section of Circular 230 that sets forth the rules governing diligence as to accuracy.

Program Outline

The Broad Reach of Circular 230

Tax Return Preparers
Enrolled Agents
Other Tax Professionals
Recent Developments
Proposed Changes

Issues Arising in the Performance of a Professional's Responsibilities

Due Diligence
Competence
Protection for Client's Records
Multi-Party Representation
Contingent fees
Other Duties

Office of Professional Responsibility

OPR's Function
Tax Professional's Rights in OPR Actions
Representation Before OPR
Penalties OPR may impose

Best Practices to Avoid Penalties

Failure to Follow Procedures
Disclosure or Use of Return Information
Lack of Diligence
Aiding or Abetting Tax Liability Understatements
Excessive vs reasonable fees
Policy to ensure best practices
Know your limits

Panelists

Moderator

Alan Pinck, EA
A. Pinck & Associates

Alan Pinck is an Enrolled Agent with over 30 years of tax preparation experience in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has built a practice specializing in individual, small business tax preparation and audit representation. You have seen Alan presenting at NTPI events, CSEA Super Seminar, Spidell Publishing as well as a variety of other presentations for tax groups and small business associations. Having represented thousands of tax returns in audit, Alan has obtained tremendous insight of the audit process as well as knowledge on a wide variety of tax issues.

IRS Panelist

Sharyn Fisk
Director, Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), Internal Revenue Service

As Director, Sharyn is responsible for the IRS' oversight of tax professionals who practice before the IRS as set out in Treasury Circular 230. Sharyn's extensive background in the tax community brings over 20 years of tax experience to the OPR position. Before coming to the IRS, Sharyn was Professor of Tax at Cal Poly Pomona and Director of the University's VITA program. Prior to teaching, Sharyn was in private practice specializing in tax controversies where she represented hundreds of individuals, businesses, and corporate taxpayers before the IRS, the Department of Justice Tax Division, federal and state courts, and state taxing authorities. These matters involved civil examinations and appeals, criminal investigations, and tax collection issues. In addition to her role at OPR, Sharyn has been leading in implementing the Clean Energy tax provisions outlined in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Her work in this area ensures that the IRS effectively administers the tax incentives designed to promote clean energy initiatives and sustainability practices.

Sharyn has held leadership roles in several tax professional organizations including the Taxation Sections of the American Bar Association (ABA), California State Bar, the Los Angeles County Bar Association, and the Beverly Hills Bar Association. In 2019, Sharyn concluded a three-year term as a member of the IRS Advisory Council (IRSAC). She chaired a task force on unenrolled return preparers on behalf of the Standards of Tax Practice Committee for the ABA Taxation Section. She is also a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel. Sharyn wrote and spoke extensively before national, state, and local tax professional organizations on all aspects of civil and criminal tax controversy issues and ethics in tax practice.

Sharyn earned a B.A. in Journalism from San Diego State University, a J.D. from Rutgers University, and an LL.M in taxation from the New York University School of Law.

Industry Panelists

Michael R. Miranda CPA, QKA, AEP
MIRANDA CPA & Consulting LLC

Bringing 45 years of experience with tax consulting, estate planning, and employee benefits to his work as an independent consultant, Michael is the owner of MIRANDA CPA & Consulting LLC in Sioux Falls, SD. His tax practice focuses on corporate, individual, estate and gift, and tax accounting. He also provides employee benefit planning and consultation services for qualified, non-qualified, and health and welfare benefit plans. As part of his IRS representation practice, Michael has worked with the National Office to obtain private letter rulings for clients, in addition to numerous EPCRS submissions and audits. As a nationally recognized tax speaker, he maintains an active schedule presenting webinars and seminars on tax law, employee benefit planning, and estate planning. He currently works with the National Tax Institute, the National Association of Enrolled Agents, Basics & Beyond, and other organizations that request speaker presentations.

Michael spent much of his career as a CPA with a regional CPA firm located in Northwestern Iowa, retiring after 27 years as a senior manager-shareholder with said firm. Prior to this experience, he was a Tax Specialist with a Big 8 accounting firm in their South Bend and Minneapolis offices, providing tax and estate planning for individuals and small to medium-sized businesses. He has earned professional designations including CPA, QKA, and AEP and through professional memberships with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the American Society of Pension and Professional Actuaries, and the National Association of Estate Planning Councils. Michael resides in Sioux Falls, SD with his wife Jeanette.

Jennifer MacMillan, EA

Jennifer MacMillan has been an enrolled agent, licensed to practice before the Internal Revenue Service, since 1994. After selling her practice in California in 2020, Ms. MacMillan now has a small practice in Colorado, specializing in individual income tax preparation and planning services. She is a Fellow of the National Association of Enrolled Agents' (NAEA) National Tax Practice Institute (NTPI™) and was on the faculty of NTPI™ for many years, teaching advanced representation skills and ethics courses to Circular 230 practitioners.

Ms. MacMillan has written numerous articles for NAEA's EA Journal as well as a variety of other tax-related publications over the years. She has appeared as a tax expert on NBC's Today Show, has been a panelist on Tax Talk Today on four previous occasions, and testified before Congress on reforming the IRS in 2017. Jennifer was the Chair of the 2016 Internal Revenue Service Advisory Council (IRSAC), is a Past President of the California Society of Enrolled Agents (CSEA), and currently serves as President-Elect of NAEA.

Content Consultant

David F. Windish, J.D., LL.M
Content Consultant

David F. Windish, J.D., LL.M. in taxation, is a tax attorney and consultant. He has served as an instructor of tax-advantaged investments at the New York Institute of Finance; an Instructor of business law at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Point, N.Y.; and an adjunct professor at George Mason University, Fairfax, Va. He has also served as executive editor for Tax Analysts; managing editor for Business Strategies, published by CCH; and senior editor for the Institute for Business Planning.

Mr. Windish is the author of Practical Guide to Real Estate Taxation, published by CCH and currently going into its sixth edition. Earlier works include Tax Advantaged Investments and Investor's Guide to Limited Partnerships, both published by the New York Institute of Finance. Through the Center for Video Education, he authored continuing education courses dealing with real estate and closely held corporations. Those courses included readings, case studies, and videotape segments.

Mr. Windish is a graduate of Rutgers University Law School and the New York University School of Law, Graduate Division. He has been heard as a guest speaker at professional meetings and seminars and on popular radio programs.

To Yourself Be True – Fulfilling Your Ethical Duty to Client, IRS, and Yourself

Continuing Education