12:00 – 12:30 pm:

Registration & Lunch

12:30 – 2:00 pm:

Form 433… A, F, or OIC? Options for Resolving an Outstanding Tax Debt

Taxpayers continue to find themselves in the IRS Collection Division inventory in ever greater numbers – nearly 13.4 million accounts as of the end of 2015.  Practitioners recognize the need and potential work-flow from assisting these taxpayers yet have questions.  This panel will review the options for resolving an outstanding tax debt, how to determine which option is best and what forms are needed to get to the IRS.  Finally, the panel will also discuss strategies and options for adjusting a taxpayer’s financial picture to make his or her Offer or collection alternative more likely to be accepted.

Moderator:

• Caren Zhan, EA, Agostino & Associates, Hackensack, NJ

Panel:

• Frank Agostino, Esq., Agostino & Associates, Hackensack, NJ
• Lisa Perkins, Esq., Green & Sklarz LLC and University of Connecticut School of Law, Director – Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic
• Amanda Evans, EA, Green & Sklarz LLC, New Haven, CT

2:00 – 3:00 pm:

The Offer: Resolving the Outstanding Tax Debt

Our first panel reviewed the various options for resolving a tax debt and what the practitioner should consider when deciding.  Now our second panel will actually create the Offer, utilizing Tax Help Software and walk through the analysis and the implementation of the strategies discussed in the first panel.  There will also be a discussion of the various documentation requirements and how to actually file the Offer package with the IRS.

Moderator:

• Eric Green, Esq., Green & Sklarz LLC, New Haven, CT

Panel:

• Roger Nemeth, EA, Audit Detective, LLC, Nashville, TN
• Sara Spodick, Quinnipiac Law School, Director – Low Income Taxpayer Clinic, North Haven, CT

8:30 – 8:45 am:

Introduction / Housekeeping Items

Presenter:

• Eric L. Green, Esq., Green & Sklarz LLC, New Haven, CT

8:45 – 10:10 am:

IRS Update: The Future State of the IRS

Join our IRS executives as they explain to practitioners what to expect to see from the IRS in the coming year.  Everything from changes in forms and the online portal, to field exam and collection procedures.  Attendees will get to hear the inside IRS scoop directly from the executives who are implementing these procedures.

Moderator:

• Jeffrey M. Sklarz, Esq., Green & Sklarz LLC, New Haven, CT

Panel:

• Mary Beth Murphy, IRS Commissioner, SB/SE Division, Washington, DC
• Darren J. Guillot, Director, IRS Field Collection Operations, Washington, DC
• Paul Mamo, Director, IRS Online Services, Washington, DC

10:10 – 10:30 am:

Break

10:40 – 12:00 pm:

Gift Tax Issues and IRS Examinations, Part 2

In 2016, one of our most popular panels dealt with IRS examinations surrounding the transfer of wealth and gift tax returns, including generation skipping transfers.  Based on attendee feedback we have recalled our group of experts to pick-up where they left off.  This panel will review the issues raised at the 2016 conference and continue walking practitioners through the potential pitfalls surrounding gifting done by clients and the documentation necessary when the IRS comes calling.  This panel will also review the practical issues with completing the IRS and State gift tax returns and things practitioners need to be on the watch for when completing and filing these returns.

Moderator:

• Seth Cohen, Esq., Withers Bergman, Greenwich, CT

Panel:

• Anthony Vitiello, Esq., Connell Foley, Roseland, NJ
• Lawrence Sannicandro, Agostino & Associates, Hackensack, NJ

12:00 – 1:00 pm:

Lunch & Lunch Interview: Where Government Enforcement is Today

Interviewer:

• Frank Agostino, Agostino & Associates, Hackensack, NJ

Interviewee:

• Kathryn Keneally, Esq., Jones Day, New York, NY (former Assistant Attorney General, Department of Justice, Tax Division)

1:00 – 2:00 pm:

Ethical Dilemmas in Representation: Do I Need to Tell the IRS?

This panel will investigate the ethical issues that come up frequently when representing taxpayers before the IRS.  The panel will discuss not only conflict of interest issues and preparer conundrums, but also issues that arise when handling an IRS collection case.  The asset that is discovered or obtained after the Offer-in-Compromise is filed, the sudden change in circumstances before the Revenue officer has closed their file, and the client who admits they lied to you after you’ve responded to the IRS.  Attendees are encouraged to bring their thorniest ethical dilemmas to this insightful program so our panel of experts can give them the answers they’ve longed to receive!

Moderator:

• Frank Agostino, Esq., Agostino & Associates, Hackensack, NJ

Panelists:

• Barbara T. Kaplan, Esq., Greenberg Traurig, New York, NY
• Noelle Geiger, Esq., Grassi & Company, Jericho, NY
• Richard J. Sapinski, Esq., Sills, Cummis & Gross, Newark, NJ

2:00 – 3:00 pm:

The Information Document Request: Preparing and Handling an IRS Exam Request

This panel will discuss how to prepare your client and their records to respond to government requests during an IRS Examination.  The panel will explore the frequent topics of dealing with the request for a taxpayer interview, the electronic bookkeeping files, and how to document your client’s case when the records are less-than-stellar.

Moderator:

• Jeffrey Sklarz, Esq. Green & Sklarz LLC, New Haven, CT

Panel:

• Walter Pagano, CPA, CFF, CFE, Eisner Amper, New York, NY
• Megan Brackney, Esq., Kostelanetz & Fink, New York, NY
• Robert McKenzie, Esq., Arnstein & Lehr, Chicago, IL

3:00 – 3:20 pm:

Break

3:20 – 4:15 pm:

Non-Traditional Advocacy in Representation

This panel, formerly called “How to Win by Whining!”, introduces the attendees to nontraditional advocacy in tax controversy cases and the ethical rules related to it. The topics covered by the panel will include: when and how to complain to elected officials (i.e., the availability & role of their constituent services offices in tax controversies); when and how to complain to the Taxpayer Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA complaint); when and how to request assistance from the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS); and when and how to use the traditional media and social media in tax cases.  Attendees will get a fun and informative lesson in the other places to go for help when advocating for one’s client.

Moderator:

• Frank Agostino, Esq., Agostino & Associates, Hackensack, NJ

Panelists:

• Patrick Firth, Asst. Special Agent in Charge, TIGTA, New York, NY
• Kathy Bass, Constituent Services, Office of Senator Chris Murphy
• Darol Tucker, IRS Taxpayer Advocate, Brooklyn, NY
• Ronald Magas, Magas Media Consultants, Monroe, CT

4:15 – 5:15 pm:

Waking Up The Dead: Reopening Those Tax Assessments You Thought Were Final

From overlooked notices to procedural missteps, taxpayers sometimes find themselves with a tax assessment that they should not owe. While paying and suing for a refund is theoretically possible, full payment is not always a practical option. This panel reviews techniques for practitioners to reopen and correct these assessments through procedures such as a Collection Due Process Hearing, a request for audit reconsideration, or the filing of a doubt as to liability Offer in Compromise.

Moderator:

• Eric Green, Esq., Green & Sklarz LLC, New Haven, CT

Panel:

• Michael Villa, Esq., Meadows Collier Reed Cousins Crouch & Ungerman, Dallas, TX
• Caroline Ciraolo, Esq., Kostelanetz & Fink, Washington, DC
• Frank Rudewicz, CPP, CAMS, Marcum, Boston, MA

5:15 pm:

Frank Agostino’s Giveaway!

Conference giveaway sponsored by Agostino & Associates

5:30 – 7:00 pm:

Cocktail Reception

Reception sponsored by J&J Financial and the Connecticut Society of Enrolled Agents