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CSTC Newsletter

October 2020

In This Issue...

  1. From the President
  2. October Events
  3. Welcome New CSTC Members
  4. Legislative Advocacy
  5. News from the IRS
  6. Join CSTC!

CSTC Member Benefits

CSTC members have access to benefits such as free payroll processing services for your tax practice, and the opportunity to earn new revenue through their flexible partnership options.

CSTC is pleased to include the VeriFyle ProTM premium secure online document and message sharing service at no cost to CSTC members!

Wolters Kluwer: Discounts on Tax, Accounting & Audit Resources, Software, Information & Services. 

 CSTC members receive the TaxBook WebLibrary at a special price

Other Member Benefits Include:

$ Savings on all Society Educational Events

$ Savings on Contact, Correspondence & Self Study Education

$ Savings with member specialty CSTC Connects (previouslyYellow Pages) list

$ Savings with E & O Insurance, plus specialty coverage relevant to your profession

$ Online CSTC Find-a-Tax Consultant search to help promote your business!

$ CSTC Member Listserv

Office Depot has partnered with us to provide exclusive savings in-store and online, plus fantastic additional benefits. This program is all about providing preferred pricing to our clubs, and the savings extend to almost every item.

Savings include 20% to 55% off item office supply core list, 20% to 55% off retail on cleaning  & break room items, 10% off branded; 20% off private brand  ink & toner core list, Average 10% off  retail on 200 technology core items, Free next-day shipping on orders of $50 or more, and SIGNIFICANT savings on copy & print. Become a CSTC member to sign up for our Office Depot Small Business Savings Program, administered by Excelerate America.


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If you are interested in buying or selling a practice, contact us today! ATB is operated by Enrolled Agents ensuring a complete understanding of our profession. Please give us a call at (855) 428-2225 or visit us online at www.ATBCAL.com for more information and to view our current listings.
CA DRE 02002824

 

CSTC Mission Statement

CSTC advances professionalism within the tax industry by:

  • Providing quality education
  • Creating networking opportunities
  • Advocating professional standards

 

From the President
Lessons from Skippy & Zorro 

Is it possible to learn to run how a volunteer organization by watching cats? Most of us know that the Internet is full of cat videos. Cats doing funny things. Cats being angry. Cats doing tricks. Cats doing everything imaginable. Is it possible that we could learn how to run a volunteer organization by watching cat videos?

My wife Cheryl and I recently acquired two Siamese kittens. Though they are from the same litter, they are pretty much the opposite in coloration. Skippy is a traditional black pointed Siamese cat with dark paws, tail, face, and ears. Zorro on the other hand is a Snowshoe Siamese with white paws, white face, and a light body, but with a dark tale. He even has pink ears and a pink nose. Not your typical Siamese, but he is Skippy’s brother and I am quite sure they do not notice their differences. In addition to their coloring, many things they do are completely different. Skippy tends to be braver and Zorro will flee at the sight of a stranger. However, Skippy is not as physically capable as Zorro who gets into more mischief around the house than Skippy. Watching them interact is quite entertaining and helps get my mind off a busy day.

They can be independent, dependent, active, relaxed, and lazy all within minutes. They seem to be constantly practicing whatever cat skills they might need. At times they are stalking each other preparing for the next attack which will take the form of tackles, flips, head-on crashes, sneak attacks from the rear, and even jumping off tables, chairs, and ledges onto each other’s backs. It is funny to see how much these young cats misjudge their own physical surroundings. I laugh when one tries to jump on a chair but bangs his head on the table and falls back down. Sometimes, in an attempt to get on a table, they make a flying leap and get high centered then fall back down. I have seen many times when they are racing around the house and skid out of control only to slam into a wall and bang their head. As time goes on, they get better at jumping, running, and sneak attacks on each other.

What do we learn from all this? Cats never tire of experimenting. They never stop trying to get something done until they get it accomplished. I cannot count the number of times that they have misjudged the jump or a corner only to smash into a wall or a chair. But they do not give up. They continue to make the attempt until they get it right. The behavior the cats exhibit is pretty much what we would expect. Would you expect a cat to give up on trying to jump on the couch and sit there and moan about not being able to make it? No. Most animals, especially cats, would continue to try until they mastered the skill. They would not completely give up on trying they would just figure out a different way to make it happen.

Running a business requires a lot of trial and error and a lot of testing theories. Any successful business or organization has suffered setbacks. The question after a setback is whether to persevere on course or to pivot. Business consultant and entrepreneur Eric Ries, in his book The Lean Startup, talks about the method for successfully navigating the rough waters of business. He suggests that the business develop an idea or theory and pursue it. He suggests that you not spend an inordinately long time thoroughly developing an idea or theory, but that you establish what he calls a Minimum Viable Product, “MVP”. The MVP is the product you produce that helps you measure how customers respond and then learn whether to pivot or persevere. The MVP is the version of the new product which will allow a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning with the least amount of effort. In other words, we need to come up with a basic idea or theory and move forward. Like my cats, we should experiment with what we think will work and make changes when we find out what will not work. Perhaps we change how a task is being done, how it is implemented, or some other factor to allow us to continue in the direction we like to pursue.

The pandemic has caused CSTC to look deeply inside of its workings to determine under the dramatically new environment, what would be the best way to move forward. The pandemic helped us move in a direction that we have wanted to move for years, that of online education. Once the decision to go online was made, it became necessary to determine how online education would be implemented. CSTC chose to use the platform Zoom and run the seminars from the Society office. As CSTC has provided opportunities for hundreds of people to receive thousands of hours of education this year using the Zoom platform, we have learned a tremendous amount about providing online education. We have not perfected it, there is a lot of work to do, but it seems to be what people want.

Can we go back to doing business the way we were doing it in March? At this point in time, no. We still provide education but in a new format. Eventually, we will be able to meet in person, but it will never be the same as before the pandemic. Many chapters have discussed continuing online education and eventually adding in-person education to be able to maximize the reach of CSTC. These new theories of operation need to be tested and if they work, we will persevere. If they do not work, we will pivot.

Like my cats, we have banged our heads and crashed into walls, but we have learned better ways of doing things and we will continue to learn.

11 of our 15 chapters now provide online education to members and nonmembers. What a wonderful thing! At last, we are capable of providing excellent online education!

I would like to personally thank everyone that is working to provide online education through their chapters with the expert guidance of CSTC society. This monumental shift in the way we do business is defining CSTC in new and better ways. I believe that every effort put into this new way of doing business will pay huge dividends.

Thank you for all you do for each other and for CSTC!

Keep it up!

Your friend,
Gary Quackenbush, CSTC President

October Virtual Chapter Events

October 1, 2020

Topic: Retirement Accounts for Tax Planning
San Gabriel Valley Chapter Virtual Meeting
2 Federal Law Hours (Topics covering existing tax law)
Click here to learn more and register

October 5, 2020

Topic: Business Bootcamp - 6 Part Webinar Series
Orange County Chapter and Orange County South Chapter Virtual Workshop
3 Federal Tax Law Hours (Topics covering existing tax law)
Click here to learn more and register 

October 6, 2020

Topic: 2020 Federal Tax Update Individual and Business Highlights
East County San Diego Virtual Meeting
2 Federal Law Hours (Topics covering existing tax law)
Click here to learn more and register

October 7, 2020

Topic: Business Bootcamp - 6 Part Webinar Series
Orange County Chapter and Orange County South Chapter Virtual Workshop
3 Federal Tax Law Hours (Topics covering existing tax law)
Click here to learn more and register

Topic: Ethics
San Francisco Bay Chapter Virtual Meeting
2 Ethics Hours (Topics meeting the ethics requirements under Cir 230)
Click here to learn more and register

October 8, 2020

Topic: Filing The Non-Filer: The Step-By-Step Tutorial
North County San Diego Chapter Virtual Meeting
2 Federal Tax Law Hours (Topics covering existing tax law)
Click here to learn more and register

October 14, 2020

Topic: California Tax Update
Orange County Chapter Virtual Meeting
2 California Hours (Topics covering California law issues)
Click here to learn more and register

October 16, 2020

Topic: Spidell CA Update
San Diego Chapter Virtual Meeting
2 California Hours (Topics covering California law issues)
Click here to learn more and register

October 21, 2020

Topic: The Tax Consequences of Choice: Options, Futures, Rights & Warrants
San Jose Chapter Virtual Meeting
2 Federal Law hours (Topics covering existing tax law)
Click here to learn more and register

Topic: Maximizing QBI
Inland Empire Chapter Virtual Meeting
2 Federal Law hours (Topics covering existing tax law)
More information coming soon

October 27, 2020

Topic: Three-Part Webinar: Specialty Occupations - Preachers, Firefighters, Teachers, and Others | Recordkeeping For Small Business - Loans and Grants | Advance 1031 Exchanges with Delaware Statutory Trust
Central Valley Chapter Virtual Meeting
Part One - 2 Federal Law Hours (Topics covering existing tax law)
Part Two - 2 Federal Update Hours (Topics covering new tax laws)
Part Three - 2 Federal Law Hours (Topics covering existing tax law)
Click here to learn more and register

Topic: 2020 California Update
Sacramento Chapter Virtual Meeting
2 California Hours (Topics covering California law issues)
Click here to learn more and register

October 28, 2020

Topic: 2020 Tax Update - COVID, CARES, PPP, SECURE....
Wine Country Chapter Virtual Meeting
2 Federal Update Hours (Topics covering new tax laws)
Click here to learn more and register

Click here to view the CSTC calendar.

Welcome New CSTC Members!

Please help us in joining our newest CSTC Members!

Sophia Ahmad
San Jose Chapter

Steve Arsulich
San Diego Chapter

Helen Baddon
Greater Long Beach Chapter

Angela Carmouche
Los Angeles Chapter

Maria Castillo
San Diego Chapter

Marlon Dorsey
Los Angeles Chapter

Sima Engelstein
Los Angeles Chapter

Lynne Fletcher
San Diego Chapter

Lawrence Johnson
Inland Empire Chapter

Robin Johnson
Greater Long Beach Chapter

Maria Lara De Rodriguez
San Diego Chapter

Thu Le
Greater Long Beach Chapter

Noemi Mayo
Orange County Chapter

Jessica Perez
Inland Empire Chapter

Nelia Stearns
Los Angeles Chapter

Susanne Stevens
San Francisco Bay Chapter

Janet Stotler
East County San Diego Chapter

Daniela Villafuerte-Banales
North County San Diego Chapter

Vern West
Orange County South Chapter

Martha Zamora
San Francisco Bay Chapter

Pamela Zaninovich
Central Valley Chapter

Legislative Advocacy

CSTC has been the leading Association in supporting legislation to provide protection for our profession, to support our profession, and to enhance our profession. CSTC continuously leads our industry through legislative advocacy, educational opportunities, and professional inclusion.

CSTC works closely with a Legislative Consultant to keep an eye on important bills that would affect taxpayers and small business owners.

Please click here to view the bills that CSTC is currently monitoring.

   

News from the IRS

Treasury, IRS provide regulations to help businesses claim credits for carbon capture

IR-2020-108, May 28, 2020 — The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service today issued proposed regulations to help businesses understand how legislation passed in 2018 may benefit those claiming carbon capture credits.

IRS announces Form 1040-X electronic filing options coming this summer; major milestone reached for electronic returns

IR-2020-107, May 28, 2020 — The Internal Revenue Service announced today that later this summer taxpayers will for the first time be able to file their Form 1040-X, Amended U.S Individual Income Tax Return, electronically using available tax software products.

Treasury, IRS provide safe harbor for taxpayers that develop renewable energy projects

IR-2020-106, May 27, 2020 — The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service today provided tax relief for taxpayers that develop renewable energy projects that produce electricity from sources such as wind, biomass, geothermal, landfill gas, trash, and hydropower, and use technologies such as solar panels, fuel cells, microturbines, and combined heat and power systems.

Economic Impact Payments being sent by prepaid debit cards, arrive in plain envelope; IRS.gov answers frequently asked questions

IR-2020-105, May 27, 2020 – As Economic Impact Payments continue to be successfully delivered, the Internal Revenue Service today reminds taxpayers that some payments are being sent by prepaid debit card.

IRS provides guidance on income tax withholding on certain periodic retirement and annuity payments

IR-2020-104, May 27, 2020 — The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service today issued a proposed regulation updating the federal income tax withholding rules for periodic retirement and annuity payments made after December 31, 2020.

Treasury, IRS issue final regulations providing relief for certain tax-exempt organizations

IR-2020-103, May 26, 2020 — The Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service today issued final regulations clarifying the reporting requirements generally applicable to tax-exempt organizations.

IRS Fraud Enforcement Program adds Schenck as National Fraud Counsel

IR-2020-102, May 26, 2020 — The Internal Revenue Service has named attorney Carolyn Schenck as the National Fraud Counsel serving the agency’s new Fraud Enforcement Program.

Treasury, IRS release latest state-by-state Economic Impact Payment figures for May 22, 2020

IR-2020-101, May 22, 2020 — The Treasury Department and the IRS today released updated state-by-state figures for Economic Impact Payments reflecting the opening weeks of the program.

IRS Nationwide Tax Forums go virtual in 2020

IR-2020-100, May 21, 2020 — The IRS today announced the 2020 IRS Nationwide Tax Forums will be held virtually in 2020 with a series of live-streamed webinars beginning this July.

IRS.gov helps taxpayers get tax information they need; find tools for filing, paying, checking accounts and answering questions

IR-2020-99, May 21, 2020 — The IRS reminds taxpayers today about several online tools available to help them get the tax information they need as the IRS has limited operations due to the coronavirus.

Andy Keyso named Chief of IRS Independent Office of Appeals

IR-2020-98, May 20, 2020 — The Internal Revenue Service announced today that Andy Keyso has been selected to serve as the Chief of the IRS Independent Office of Appeals.

IRS adds phone operators to answer Economic Impact Payment questions

IR-2020-97, May 18, 2020 — Today, the Internal Revenue Service is starting to add 3,500 telephone representatives to answer some of the most common questions about Economic Impact Payments.

IRS expands partner materials for Economic Impact Payments; continues sweeping effort to share details in multiple languages

IR-2020-96, May 15, 2020 — The Internal Revenue Service announced today the availability of additional material for partner groups sharing information related to Economic Impact Payments, including a new toolkit in Spanish and a variety of other print and visual items available.

IRS provides tax relief through increased flexibility for taxpayers in section 125 cafeteria plans

IR-2020-95, May 12, 2020 — The Internal Revenue Service today released guidance to allow temporary changes to section 125 cafeteria plans.

IRS provides guidance on the deductibility and reporting of certain amounts paid to, or at the direction of, governments

IR-2020-94, May 12, 2020 — The Internal Revenue Service today issued proposed regulations under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) that provide guidance to taxpayers and governments with respect to fines, penalties and certain other amounts.

Why the Economic Impact Payment amount could be different than anticipated

IR-2020-93, May 11, 2020 — The IRS and Treasury have successfully delivered nearly 130 million Economic Impact Payments to Americans in less than a month, and more are on the way.

Act by Wednesday for chance to get quicker Economic Impact Payment; timeline for payments continues to accelerate

IR-2020-92, May 8, 2020 — With a variety of steps underway to speed Economic Impact Payments, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service urged people to use Get My Payment by noon Wednesday, May 13, for a chance to get a quicker delivery.

Treasury, IRS release latest state-by-state Economic Impact Payment figures

IR-2020-91, May 8, 2020 — The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service today released updated state-by-state figures for Economic Impact Payments, with approximately 130 million individuals receiving payments worth more than $200 billion in the program’s first four weeks.

IRS provides guidance for estates and trusts for itemizing deductions

IR-2020-90, May 7, 2020 — The Internal Revenue Service today issued proposed regulations that provide guidance for estates and trusts clarifying that certain deductions of estates and non-grantor trusts are not miscellaneous itemized deductions.

IRS: Three new credits are available to many businesses hit by COVID-19

IR-2020-89, May 7, 2020 — The Internal Revenue Service today reminds employers affected by COVID-19 about three important new credits available to them.

IRS seeking applications for TCE and VITA grants

IR-2020-88, May 6, 2020 — The IRS is accepting applications for the Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) and Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) grant programs, which will allow some organizations to apply for annual funding for up to three years.

IRS retools Settlement Days program in response to COVID-19 pandemic; allows unrepresented taxpayers to settle their cases virtually and reach finality

IR-2020-87, May 5, 2020 – The Internal Revenue Service Office of Chief Counsel today announced the Settlement Days program will continue remotely enabling unrepresented taxpayers to work towards resolving their pending United States Tax Court case despite "stay-at-home" orders in many jurisdictions.

VA, SSI recipients with eligible children need to act by Tuesday, May 5 to quickly add money to their automatic Economic Impact Payment; ‘Plus $500 Push’ continues

IR-2020-86, May 1, 2020 — The Internal Revenue Service today reminded Supplemental Security Income and Department of Veterans Affairs beneficiaries to act by Tuesday, May 5 if they didn’t file a tax return in 2018 or 2019 and have dependents so they can quickly receive the full amount of their Economic Impact Payment.

News Release and Fact Sheet Archive

Find an archive of news releases and fact sheets from November 2002 and news releases and a listing of fact sheets from 1997.

Click here for more information fro the IRS

Join the California Society of Tax Consultants!

Click here to fill out an online application.

CSTC advances professionalism within the tax industry by:

  • Providing quality education
  • Creating networking opportunities
  • Advocating professional standards

California Society of Tax Consultants | 320 Pine Ave, Suite #1050, Long Beach, CA 90802
Phone (949) 715-4192 | [email protected]