Pittsburgh Chapter winter meetings.

The Pittsburgh Chapter held six events during the months of November through February consisting of one half-day seminar, one evening meeting, and four luncheon meetings.

On November 4, 2003, the chapter held an IRS Liaison luncheon meeting entitled "The Joint Audit Planning Process." The luncheon speakers included John Niederst, Case Manager, LMSB, and Ron Loncharich, Territory Manager, Natural Resources, LMSB. John and Ron presented the TEI/IRS video on the Joint Audit Planning Process and answered questions regarding the LMSB initiative to make IRS audits more effective and efficient for both the IRS and taxpayers.

The chapter's annual state and local half-day seminar was held on November 19th. Chuck Potter of Pepper Hamilton opened the seminar with a discussion of recent developments in Pennsylvania taxes. Several Deloitte tax experts (including Jeff Kessel, William Poad, Dave Hurrell, Richard Sloniker, Ed Kenawell, and Josiah Osibodu) discussed various legislative changes in state taxes.

The Chapter's holiday luncheon was held on December 10th. Linda Burke, who recently left the Internal Revenue Service where she served as Large and Mid-Size Business Division Counsel, gave her impressions and relayed her experiences while at the IRS. Ms. Burke's many years in industry enabled her to impart a unique perspective on current tax events and the relationship between industry and the IRS.

On January 7th, Harry (Hal) Hicks, Associate Chief Counsel-International, addressed the Chapter and some questions from the Pittsburgh Tax Club. Mr. Hicks gave a great presentation and also was kind enough to stay after the meeting for a roundtable discussion with international practitioners.

Mr. Hicks gave the group an update of hot issues in the International area, addressing the recently issued transfer pricing service regulations and the FSC/ETI replacement. He also addressed a number of questions from the chapter members, including Treasury's perspective on the tax shelter disclosure regulations, inversion transactions, check and sell transactions, and overall tax simplification plans in the international area.

Pennsylvania's Deputy Secretary of Revenue, Joseph G. Breen, spoke to a large crowd at the Chapter's January 22nd meeting. Mr. Breen provided an insider's view of the Department of Revenue. He commented that the Department is totally paperless, with all documents being scanned before being sent to storage. DOR employees can access all documents from their computers. In 2003, DOR began a strong focus on customer service, and views taxpayers as their customers. The DOR is preparing for corporate forms to be filled electronically for the 2005 tax year. They are also preparing for a very high number of retirements and are attempting to increase the number of CPAs and lawyers on the DOR staff.

Donald Applegarth and Steven Thompson of Schneider Downs & Co. presented a Financial Accounting Update on February llth. They addressed four issues that are currently at the forefront of financial reporting: consolidation of variable interest entities (VIEs), accounting for certain financial instruments with characteristics of both liabilities and equity, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, and consideration of fraud in a financial statement audit.