Last month, MSCPA members met with our Representatives and Senators or their staff on issues important to the accounting profession during the AICPA Spring Council meeting in Washington, D.C.

Our team included Chairman Scott Christian, Vice-Chairman Jerry Goolsby, Council Representative Cheryl Sykes, Legislation Committee Chair Linda Keng, President/CEO Karen Moody, and Jan Lewis as outgoing AICPA Tax Executive Committee Chair and newly elected AICPA Board member, to advocate for support or reconsideration on several key issues:

• A Congressional resolution on the fiscal state of the nation.
• Establishing the accounting profession as a STEM career pathway.
• Simplifying the tax filing extension process (SAFE Act).
• Expanding eligible uses of 529 savings plans to include fees and expenses required to obtain or maintain recognized postsecondary credentials, such as the Uniform CPA Exam.
• Anti-Money Laundering: Beneficial Ownership Reporting which requires CPA firms and their clients with fewer than 20 full time employees and earning less than $5 million in gross receipts to file a beneficial ownership information with FinCEN (a division of the Treasury Department) or face penalties or imprisonment.
• 1099 K threshold request for another delay in implementing the new $600 threshold and to increase the threshold amount.
• IRS service and reallocation of funding to improve customer service and technology.
• Disaster tax relief.
• Employee Retention Credit (ERC) third party claims for clients who either don’t qualify for the credit or who qualify at a lower amount than stated by the ERC mill promotional ads.

“The MSCPA shared valuable insights from the accounting profession with lawmakers and encouraged support for legislation that would benefit taxpayers and their advisors and improve tax administration,” said Karen Moody. We highlighted principles of good tax policy as a foundation to create a more efficient tax system.”