George Hani and Anne Batter will present on "Current Issues in Accounting, Compensation/Benefits, Tax Controversy."

Tax Accounting -- Overview and discussion of current tax accounting "hot topics," including the new "repair regulations," the tax treatment of gift cards, an update on Section 199 audit activity, the IRS scrutiny of Section 118 non-shareholder contributions to capital, proposed changes to the IRS accounting method change program, and any other developments prior to the February meeting. These and other specific tax accounting topics also may be discussed in the tax controversy segment as case studies for current IRS audit trends.

Compensation / Benefits -- Discussion of current trends in executive compensation and fringe benefit plan design, and the tax rules (for example, under Sections 409A, 162(m), and 461) that are driving these changes. We also will focus on common mistakes in the tax treatment of compensation and benefits and the issues (such as discounted options and cell phone use) that are being raised in the IRS audit context.

Tax Controversy -- Trends in IRS/LMSB enforcement efforts - what the increased coordination within LMSB probably means for you (using selected tiered issues as illustrative examples); protecting tax accrual workpapers [this could have a large focus if the Textron case is decided by then; otherwise the focus would be on the IRS' desire to require greater transparency in the returns]; effective audit techniques - how to make your audit as painless as possible.

For more information, please visit www.tei.org.