PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Prior to my role as NCCPAP’s public relations manager, its members had been regularly meeting with the IRS, testifying before members of Congress and shaping tax policy in their respective states with little to no recognition in the press. Our PR efforts significantly increased NCCPAP’s visibility as members became regular contributors to financial and tax publications.
Recognition in local and national media outlets further solidified NCCPAP members’ reputations as experts in their field. CPAs who serve NCCPAP to shape tax policy do so on a voluntary basis. Getting them recognized in publications that garnered press for the organization had a positive secondary effect by providing marketing for their own practices. This not only increased their own value in the view of their clients and prospective clients, but elevated the value of a NCCPAP membership.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NCCPAP Opposes Congress Forcing IRS to Hire Collection Agency
Issued by the National Conference of CPA Practitioners (NCCPAP)
May 28, 2013, Mineola, NY -- The National Conference of CPA Practitioners (NCCPAP) opposes SEC. 304 of S2260, which would require the IRS to hire collection agencies to act on the IRS’ behalf. In response to this section of the bill NCCPAP Tax Policy Committee Chair Stephen Mankowski, CPA said, “Only federal employees, who have been screened and vetted through the Internal Revenue Service, should be permitted to represent the federal government in matters pertaining to individual taxes.”
NCCPAP believes there are many challenges that accompany allowing collection agencies access to an individual’s social security number and other personal identification information; items that would need to be provided to the agency in order to collect outstanding tax debt.
“Not only can privacy be compromised but if this bill becomes a law, it puts the taxpayer at a greater risk for identity theft,” says Mankowski. “It gets more complicated because when you hire collection agencies on a contingency basis, as is proposed in this bill, the collection agencies are motivated to do what it takes to get paid, including reporting delinquent taxpayers to credit bureaus if the taxpayers do not respond to the collection agency within that agency’s allotted timeframe.”
NCCPAP President Ed Caine, CPA said, “Even what is considered delinquent can be confusing. The IRS sends out letters to taxpayers who potentially underpaid their taxes, but this only occurs 12-15 months after that particular tax return was filed. By the time a taxpayer learns that an issue needs to be addressed, it is technically already at least a year late. A taxpayer’s delinquent status is just one of many potential situations in which something could fall through the cracks if the bill passes and Congress forces the IRS to coordinate with outside collection agencies.” Caine and Mankowski are both CPAs from Pennsylvania, a state that has implemented a system similar to that which is proposed in SEC 304; they have seen, via their clients, the pitfalls that can occur when the government hires collection agencies to collect past due tax debts.
Mankowski questions whether or not this will truly save the IRS money or be effective citing two other times the IRS has attempted similar programs that have been unsuccessful. Since the collection agencies will be given only basic information, taxpayers still need to go back to the IRS for further clarification to check whether or not the error is in fact valid.
Sanford Zinman, CPA and former Chair of NCCPAP’s Tax Policy Committee explains it this way, “Although SEC. 304 attempts to limit collection issues to certain inactive tax receivables, there may still be open issues that a taxpayer considers unresolved. Forcing a taxpayer to communicate with a collection agent while actively trying to resolve a tax discrepancy with the IRS not only slows the collection process, but punishes the taxpayer who is trying to work things out with the IRS.”
The National Conference of CPA Practitioners (NCCPAP) supports S2260: EXPIRE Act of 2014 with the exception of SEC. 304.
ABOUT NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF CPA PRACTITIONERS (NCCPAP)
NCCPAP is a professional organization that advocates on issues that are of importance to CPAs in Public Practice throughout the United States. NCCPAP members represent over one million businesses and individual clients. NCCPAP monitors and influences tax administration and tax policy by meeting with Internal Revenue Service representatives and state taxing authorities as well as national and state elected officials. In addition, NCCPAP provides a platform for its members to exchange ideas and information on managing and running a successful CPA practice in today’s competitive environment.
“It has been my pleasure to know and work with Alexis Burd in my capacity as chair of the public relations committee of the National Conference of CPA Practitioners. Alexis is an excellent writer, a very good listener and has been very attentive to our organization’s needs. Her follow-up with assignments has been excellent and we have achieved significant growth in our public relations activities under her guidance.”
Carol Markman, CPA
Public Relations Committee Chair
NCCPAP