NEW THIS SPRING
Careers in Taxation — A World of Opportunity Beyond the 1040
Host/Presenter: Wolfe Tone
Presenters: Maggie Zellers and Mike Horina, Senior Director, Tax and Treasury, DeVry Inc.

A tax professional's life is more than just cranking out tax returns. As trusted business advisors, tax professionals can influence a company's bottom line or a family's financial goals. So what's involved? We'll discuss:

• Starting a career in tax - comparisons between corporate and public accounting roles, including expectations, responsibilities, career progression, and personal development.
• A day in the life of a new tax consultant in a public and private tax department.
• Career preparation - what it takes to be successful in this dynamic yet challenging tax environment.

Learn about the many dimensions of a career in taxation and what you can do to prepare.

Top

NEW THIS SPRING
The Impact of Tax on Corporate Decision Making — How Its Role is Evolving in Today's Economy
Host: Wolfe Tone
Presenter: Chet Wood, Chairman & CEO, Deloitte Tax LLP and Patti Johnson, Vice President, Tax, Target Corporation

The tax department's influence on the success of an enterprise is often underestimated and misunderstood. What should business majors know to be effective today? We'll discuss:

• The impact of tax on corporate cash planning and overall strategy - what has changed and why?
• How tax executives balance today's urgent issues - the acute need for cash, addressing monetary and reputational risks, resource challenges, and still achieving lower effective tax rates - while maintaining required levels of quality, efficiency, compliance, and transparency.
• How corporate tax departments and professional services firms team to achieve optimal results.

Understand the dynamic world of corporate tax and its expanding responsibilities across the enterprise.

Top

NEW THIS SPRING
The Art and Science of Entity Choices
Host: Wolfe Tone
Presenters: Jim Calzaretta and Jon Oleksyk

Business owners use different entity types to achieve various business and tax objectives. What factors should be considered in the decision-making process and what are the potential consequences? We'll discuss:

• An overview of entity choices - C and S corporations, partnerships, LLCs, and sole proprietorships - and how they are taxed.
• Pros and cons of each entity type and issues that arise during business formation, operation, and liquidation.
• How companies today incorporate multiple entity types into their business strategies.

Learn about the pivotal role tax professionals play in sorting out the business and tax implications of entity choices.

Top

NEW THIS SPRING
Life! Death! Love! Hate! Greed! Benevolence! Taxes! — Welcome to the World of Estate Planning
This webcast will be recorded and available following the passage of legislation to determine 2010 estate tax law.
Host: Jim Schlesser
Presenters: Eric Johnson and Laura Peebles

Taxes at death can exceed 100 percent - a fact that brings into sharp focus the importance of proper estate planning. How do tax professionals assist families to achieve charitable goals, and other estate planning objectives? We'll discuss:

• An overview of the integrated estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax system.
• Benefits of proper estate planning - making sure the right assets go to the right people in a tax efficient manner.
• Common planning strategies, including proper use of QTIPs, ILITs, dynasty trusts, and credit shelter trusts.

Understand the tax professional's contribution to effective estate planning and how you can benefit from it in your career and your own family situation.

Top

Note: Federal Tax Accounting and IFRS and Tax will not be offered Spring '10.

Accounting for Income Tax Uncertainties — An Ongoing Challenge
Host/Presenter: Kathy McEligot
Presenters: Vickie Carr and Neil Traubenberg, Vice President Corporate Tax, Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Two years after most public companies implemented FASB Interpretation No. 48 - Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes - these rules still get the attention of accounting and tax professionals. Why? We'll discuss:

• What the rules are and how they impact both tax and accounting.
• Working through the two-step process for recognizing uncertain tax benefits in financial statements, including challenges of each step, such as effectively settled.
• Required disclosures, including total unrecognized tax benefits at balance sheet date and estimating benefit changes in coming years.
• How investors and tax authorities use the disclosures when they read financial statements.

Learn about complexities and opportunities associated with the rules on uncertain tax positions. 58 minutes

Top

The Alternative Minimum Tax — Dealing With the Hottest Topic in Individual Taxation Today

Host: Elizabeth Drigotas
Presenters: Patty Cornell and Frank Garcia

Originally designed to tax the wealthy, the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) now affects many middle-class Americans. Tax professionals need to understand the complexities of the AMT to help themselves and clients minimize exposure to it. We'll discuss:

• Why the AMT was enacted, its unintended consequences, and, in an era of declining tax rates, why its structure hasn't changed.
• Factors that can drive individuals into the AMT, including real estate taxes, state taxes, investment income, depreciation, and miscellaneous itemized deductions.
• Planning strategies, including the timing of payments, review of net operating loss deductions, and exercising stock options.

Learn why the AMT is such a burning issue in individual taxation and how tax professionals are dealing with it proactively. 49 minutes

Top

Business Tax Credits — Carrot or Stick?
Host: Scott Dinwiddie
Presenters: Gary Hecimovich and Jim Watts

Governments often use tax credits as policy tools to influence business and public behavior. How can businesses, governments, and the public benefit from credits? We'll discuss:

• A historical perspective on tax credits and how they steer issues such as job creation, energy usage, and the environment.
• Distinctions between tax credits and discretionary incentives - their intent, application, and benefits.
• State audit and defense issues that impact the life expectancy of credits and the calculation of their worth.

Learn about this niche area of the tax profession and how current lawmakers may leverage tax credits to reshape public policy and business decisions. 58 minutes

Top

Deferral of Foreign Earnings — Its Purpose and Proposed Changes
Host/Presenter: Tim Tuerff
Presenter: Seth Goldstein

U.S. multinational companies currently may defer taxation of certain income earned by their controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) until that income is brought back to the United States. However, the Obama administration and Congress are reexamining the current application of the deferral rules. What does this mean? We'll discuss:

• Types of income that can and cannot be deferred under current law and the policies reflected in these rules.
• How other countries tax offshore profits.
• The potential impact Congressional changes could have on U.S. multinational corporations.

Learn how these important changes could affect businesses and tax professionals. 48 minutes

Top

Individual Income Taxation — Understanding and Reporting Capital Gains and Losses
Host: Wolfe Tone
Presenters: Bill Dexter and Christine Lussier

Preferential tax treatment makes capital gains and losses a popular area of tax planning for individuals and businesses. What basic principles should you know? We'll discuss:

• What constitutes a capital asset, and how are different types of capital gains and losses created?
• Calculations and reporting, including loss limitations and tips for interpreting Forms 1099-B and 1099-DIV and preparing Form 1040.
• Specific tax basis situations and holding periods, including what constitutes long-term versus short-term gains.

Understand how to use capital gains and losses in tax planning and learn basic techniques for interpreting and completing related tax forms. 43 minutes.

Top

Effective Writing — What, When, and How to Say It Electronically

Host: Scott Dinwiddie
Presenter: Joan Millett

Email is now the predominate form of written communication in business today. How do successful professionals use email to communicate effectively? We'll discuss:

• Keys to effective writing, such as targeting your reader, formulating persuasive and informative statements, using appropriate tone, and making time to self-edit.
• Roles of electronic communication in the enterprise today, including information, persuasion, and documentation.
• Considerations for incoming and outgoing messages, including overall volume, confidentiality and privacy, etiquette, and traceability.

Discover how effective email communication can expand your professional skills and help you stand out from the crowd. 59 minutes.

Top

Financial Reporting of Income Taxes — The Best of Both Worlds for Tax Practitioners

Host: Jim Calzaretta
Presenters: Vickie Carr and Kathleen McEligot

Tax practitioners today need to understand the financial reporting rules for income taxes as well as the technical tax rules. Knowing how to account for income taxes is one of the most sought after skill sets in the marketplace. We'll discuss:

• U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) for income tax accounting, including required financial statement disclosures (FAS 109/FIN 48).
• What the investor community looks for in the financial statement disclosures of income taxes.
• A preview of changes resulting from the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), including IAS 12.
• Best practices for tax departments on effective teaming with the accounting and finance functions in the provision process.

Learn why it's important for tax practitioners to keep current on accounting standards and to understand the roles played by corporate tax departments and tax advisory firms in accounting for income taxes. 49 minutes.

Top

How Tax Influences HR Decisions — And Why You Have a Vested Interest

Host: Elizabeth Drigotas
Presenters: Laura Mills and Ron Sonenthal

Tax professionals should know how and why organizations choose certain structures for their compensation and benefits programs. Could the answers affect where you look for a job? We'll discuss:

• Common types of rewards programs, including stock options, deferred compensation, and health care and retirement plans.
• Plan structures - incentive versus nonqualified stock options, 401(k) programs versus pension plans, and cafeteria and consumer-defined health plans.
• How tax rules drive plan design and administration, including nondiscrimination rules for retirement plans and penalties for noncompliance.

Understand the tax dynamics that affect a company's rewards programs and the personal and professional stake tax practitioners have in the decision-making process. 50 minutes.

Top

International Taxation — How Companies' International Activities Hit Home

Host: Jim Schlesser
Presenter: Tim Tuerff

As businesses grow globally, their activities create increasingly complex international tax implications. What international tax principles do professionals need to know today? We'll discuss:

• Non-U.S. companies doing business in the U.S. - taxes on a non-U.S. company's trade or business within the U.S.; withholding taxes on certain payments from U.S. entities to non-U.S. companies, including dividends and interest.
• U.S. companies doing business internationally - taxes on a U.S. company's foreign branch income or income earned by its foreign subsidiaries; the importance of foreign tax credits in preventing double taxation.

Learn why tax issues facing multinational companies and international investors are an important factor in making cross-border investment decisions. 46 minutes.

Top

IRS Disputes — How Tax Controversies are Resolved

Host: Elizabeth Drigotas
Presenters: Bob Brazzil and Bryan Slone

Beyond acting as technical and planning advisors, tax professionals are also skilled negotiators who deal with IRS exams, appeals, and notices. Handling IRS disputes is a stimulating and challenging aspect of tax that lets practitioners exercise personal relationship skills and the art of negotiation. We'll discuss:

• The IRS — how it functions, is organized, and approaches taxpayer disputes.
• After the examination notice arrives — how the IRS gathers information, procedural safeguards for the taxpayer, and key decision points at each stage of the audit.
• Current enforcement strategies, including application of penalties.

Learn from the ground up how successful tax professionals approach the resolution of tax controversies. 50 minutes.

Top

Partnerships and LLCs — Understanding a Popular but Complex Entity Choice

Host: Jim Calzaretta
Presenters: Boake Munsch and Wolfe Tone

Partnerships represent one of the last opportunities for innovative planning. The more practitioners understand the complex rules of partnership taxation, the more value they can provide. We'll discuss:

• What partnerships are and their relevance in today's business environment, including why they are an entity of choice for many businesses and the benefits partnerships offer over other entities.
• Practical considerations for structuring partnership deals, including understanding the "deal," choosing the right partners, and managing operational issues and exit strategies.
• Common uses of partnerships and LLCs, including hedge funds, private equity, real estate, and corporate joint ventures.

Discover how tax professionals help establish, maintain, and exit partnerships and learn how they deal with real-world partnership issues. 43 minutes.

Top

State Taxation — The Last Piece of the U.S. Tax Puzzle?
Host: Wolfe Tone
Presenters: Linda Bonelli and Margot Howard

Fifty unique tax jurisdictions make corporate tax planning and compliance highly dynamic, especially in a down economy. How do tax professionals help pull all the pieces together? We'll discuss:

• The economy's impact on state budgets - why and how states pressure businesses to pay more taxes.
• How companies operating in multiple states determine the taxes owed in each state and manage their tax exposure when facing more aggressive audits.
• The federal government's influence on state taxation, and approaches states use to decide whether to tax a business within its jurisdiction.

Explore the basics of state taxation and learn the important role of tax professionals in this fascinating area.
45 minutes

Top

Tax Basics — What Every Accounting Major Should Know
Host: Jim Schlesser
Presenters: Joanna Theis and Kate Mantzke, Keiso Professor of Accountancy, Northern Illinois University

Virtually all business decisions have both financial reporting and tax implications. So how do these two areas of accounting relate and what does their interaction mean for businesses? We'll discuss:

• The amazing variety of taxes, who makes and implements tax laws, and the social and economic goals of tax policy.
• The foundational role of GAAP financial statements in tax accounting.
• Taxation's surprising influence on how business activities are structured and when deals are done.
• Why there's more to the practice of tax than preparing tax forms.

Learn about the vital role taxation plays in the conduct of business and explore this fascinating area of accounting. 46 minutes.

Top

The Tax Legislative Process — Being in the Right Place at the Right Time
Host: Jim Schlesser
Presenters: Mark Garay, Jeff Kummer and John Barrick, Accountant, Joint Committee on Taxation, United States Congress

In 2010 and 2011, the U.S. Tax Code will undergo monumental changes. What is driving these changes and what does it mean for young tax professionals? We'll discuss:

• Factors influencing tax law changes, including expiration of current tax cuts, national health care reform, and changes in energy production and consumption.
• The interplay between tax policy and legislation, including case studies and the role of lobbying.
• The importance of staff behind the scenes, including the Joint Committee on Taxation's role in revenue-estimating and as technical resources for Congressional tax-writing committees.

Understand the fundamental shift taking place in federal tax laws and how young tax professionals can benefit.
56 minutes

Top

Tax Research — The Foundation Every Tax Professional Builds On

Host: Jim Calzaretta
Presenters: Amy Magenheim and Bart Massey

Tax research is at the heart of what tax professionals do to substantiate and support tax positions. What are the critical concepts you should master? We'll discuss:

• Defining, investigating, and drawing conclusions about the facts surrounding tax issues.
• Leading practices in tax research - understanding the evolving nature of facts; using sources of technical information, including LexisNexis, CCH, BNA, and Tax Analyst; discerning different levels of authority; citing references; and building effective documentation.
• Case studies to illustrate key points.

Learn the critical role that tax research plays in tax planning and compliance and how tax professionals help organizations create tangible value through effective research techniques. 52 minutes.

Top

Note: Federal Tax Accounting and IFRS and Tax will not be offered Spring '10.