Massachusetts / Rhode Island NATP Chapter: Massachusetts / Rhode Island NATP Chapter Annual State Update Seminar-January 9th 2014

Today, the MA/RI NATP Chapter held the Annual State Update Seminar in Sturbridge, MA.

Michael Romeo, Tax Divison Chief of CT Department of Revenue came to present updates and developments on CT Sales Tax, Corporate Taxes and Individual Income Tax. Of cource, CT has introduced mandates on E-File like the IRS and other states. It sounds like CT is focusing on fraud issues related to the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). We had some great questions from the crowd.

Brian Lynch speaking

Joining us from the MA Department of Revenue Training Division were Brian Lynch, William Lauziere & George Barresi.
Brian presented the improved WebFile for Income for individuals, different from WebFile for Business. There is also an improved abatement process online as an alternative to filing on paper. The push is definitely to get everyone filing everything electronically.
Bill Lauziere presented on Sales & Use Tax and the DOR's push for more taxpayers filing and paying Use Tax returns. As always, Bill brought his humor to his presentation and kept the energy going.
George Barresi took the floor next and covered the MA Income Tax Updates speaking about appeals, statutory collections, gambling winnings and various real life income tax cases from the MA DOR.
The Rhode Island Division of Taxation sent over our friends Matthew Lawlor & Richard Coia. Matthew is a Principal Revenue Agent on the Individual Income Tax side and Richard is a Principal Revenue Agent on the Corporation & Business Tax section.

Richard Coia & Matthew Lawlor from RI

Matthew not only spoke about the new look to the Individual tax forms and some of the inflationary changes, but also the creation of a Special Investigation Unit (SIU) and the additional time RI is devoting to Fraud Prevention.

Richard covered the business tax updates from RI. None of the forms have changed, there are no line item changes at all to any of the forms. The business section is about a year behind the individual side for updating and re-desigining their forms. They have re-coupled with the IRS on the Depreiation and Section 179. RI is also looking to increase the push towards E-File mandates.
A tasty lunch buffet of Baked Haddock, London Broil, salad, veggies, bread, chowder and desserts was served and then it was back to the action for our afternoon sessions.

Kathryn Keane from NY

We welcomed Kathryn Keane from Brooklyn to present a NY State Update and a 2 hour Federal Tax Update as well. She is the Vice President of the NY NATP Chapter and always brings her humor, her real life applications and her contagious smile.
On the NY update, Kathryn talked about the new NY Net Operating Loss (NOL) computation, sales & use taxes, NY collections and proposed regulations coming down the wire from the New York State Department of Taxation & Finance. One of the big things is the NY Tax Preparer ID# that is needed on every return.
Kathryn then went on to offer us a 2 hour CE approved Federal update to kick off our tax season. She covered topics such as E-Filing, the Loving Case, EITC Due Dilligence, updated Schedule D, DOMA and of course, ACA - The Affordable Care Act.
If you attended the seminar, we thank you for joing us. If you missed it, we hope to catch you next year. Here are a few photos from the day.