Popularity and profile of telephone seminars increasing. (Continuing Education Update).

Nearly 150 registrants participated in a November 21 telephone seminar on the temporary and proposed tax shelter disclosure regulations issued by the government in October. (Based on a post-seminar survey, more than 550 people listened to the call.) Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary for Regulatory Affairs Eric Solomon provided an overview of the rules as well as the government's objectives in issuing the fifth round of disclosure regulations. In addition, LMSB Division Counsel (and past TEI President) Linda B. Burke provided a news-breaking update on the IRS's tax shelter settlement initiatives.

After Mr. Solomon and Ms. Burke delivered their remarks and exited the call, Gerald Kafka and Rita Cavanagh of McKee Nelson discussed the disclosure regulations and discussed how the initiatives fit with other strategic IRS thrusts against shelter activity, including the revision of the IRS policy on seeking tax accrual workpapers and the IRS's efforts to narrow the attorney-client privilege for tax return items. Dave Bernard of Kimberly-Clark Corporation, chair of TEI's IRS Administrative Affairs Committee, moderated the seminar and encouraged members to submit comments about the regulations to TEI.

Ray Rossi, chair of TEI's Continuing Education Committee, said that the strong participation during the session, coupled with the Institute's earlier telephone seminar on the Sarbanes Oxley Act, demonstrates that "value-added distance learning is no longer an optional part of TEI's continuing education program. TEI members and their staffs demand timely and low-cost training to supplement the in-person networking and educational experiences at conferences, seminars, and schools."

2003 Midyear Conference

Both Sarbanes-Oxley and LMSB developments will be high on the agenda for TEI's 53rd Midyear Conference, which will begin in Washington on Sunday, March 23. So will the President's tax legislative program, top-notch technical programs on international, Canadian, federal, and state & local topics, judicial developments, and myriad other issues of interest to tax professionals. Following up on the success of the Toronto Conference, TEI will retain a third track to the concurrent sessions, thereby giving registrants even more choices.

"Planning continues apace with a goal of making you wish you could be in two or three places at once," Mr. Rossi stated.

In addition, on Wednesday afternoon, March 26, TEI will team up with LMSB to host once again several "bonus sessions." These small breakout sessions will complement the formal conference program and provide not only valuable information and insights about key IRS programs--including tax shelters, records retention, and audit "best practices"--but also sought-after CPE credits. Click on www.tei.org for additional information and to register.

Consolidated Returns Seminar Returns in 2003

To ensure the continuing professionalism of TEI members in the area of consolidated returns, TEI's Federal Tax Committee has planned a comprehensive Practical Update on Consolidated Tax Return Issues. The seminar will be held February 19-21, 2003, at the Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport in Orlando, Florida.

The first two days of the programs will concentrate on the nuts and bolts of consolidated tax returns, enabling corporate tax executives and their staffs to learn or become reacquainted with the consolidated return regime. The third day will build on that foundation and focus on more advanced topics of acquisitions and separations of members of affiliated groups and joint venture planning with affiliated groups. Members and guests will be able to register for one, two, or three days.

Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary for Regulatory Affairs Eric Solomon will be among the many outstanding speakers assembled for this program, including practitioners who participated in drafting the rules that undergird the current regime. Additional information about the program sessions, faculty, and fees is available in the registration brochure that was mailed to all members in late November. The brochure and information are also available on TEI's website at www.tei.org.

As an added bonus of TEI's affinity agreement with RIA, participants will be eligible for a special offer. Anyone who registers for this seminar will be eligible for a 25-percent discount on the purchase of the outstanding Warren Gorham & Lamont treatise, The Consolidated Tax Return (6th Edition), by Kevin M. Hennessey, James W. Banks, Patricia W. Pellervo, and Richard F. Yates.

Mr. Rossi commended the Federal Tax Committee, especially its chair, Mitch Trager of Georgia Pacific Corporation, for developing the program. He also encouraged TEI members and staff to register early, noting that the last time TEI offered the program at a hotel in Chicago in November 1998, "it was regrettably oversubscribed and some members were turned away."

"That, plus the slightly warmer Florida weather in February," he said, "contributed to a decision by the Continuing Education Committee to change the venue for the 2003 program."