OUR Mission: To establish a respected public image of accounting & tax professionals who are dedicated to public practice.

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1 2012 GREETINGS FROM MAUI...PAGE 2 ANNUAL BOARD MINUTES...PAGE 3-4 IRS NEWS..PAGE 5 UPCOMING EVENTS & EDUCATION.PAGE 6 FYI ALERTS & NOTICES..PAGE 7 UPDATED OFFICER CONTACT INFO..BACK COVER OUR Mission: To establish a respected public image of accounting & tax professionals who are dedicated to public practice. To encourage a professional level of competence, character and integrity by providing continuing education to increase the knowledge and efficiency of its members. To promote then highest standard of ethical conduct among its members. To represent the accounting & tax professionals at the state and national levels and protect the right to practice. To seek the enactment of laws and the correction or modification of existing laws in the interests of the profession and the general public. To alert members to some of the significant developments in tax laws, regulations and court decisions, through NSA and MSPA newsletters, publications and bulletins. To publicize the achievements of individual members through appropriate national, state and local media. To serve as a clearing house for the dissemination of timely information on all matters of interest to accountants in public practice. To encourage the camaraderie among its members. 1

2 Greetings from Maui!!! What a beautiful hotel and what wonderful snorkeling. Three members attended from Montana, Mary Lemons, Lenita Hansen and Becky Spencer. I have to say it was the best convention ever with about 40 members from Hawaii as first timers. What a grass roots delegation; I wish Montana had been better represented. Our keynote speaker was David Williams who is in charge of the Registered Tax Return Preparer registration. Mr. Williams is concerned because so few have actually taken the exam. One 94 year old has taken it and passed with flying colors so do not let the test slow you down. I have heard the Pub 17 is now searchable but remember the Circular 230 is not available while you take the test. If you do not pass the ethics you do not pass even if you Ace the rest of the exam. Mary Lemons is now our State Director and has now been appointed as the Chair of the Leadership on the national level. GO MARY!!! See you all this fall at our update schools. Becky Spencer 2

3 ANNUAL BOARD MEETING MINUTES JUNE 23, 2012 The meeting was called to order at 8:07 PM by President Van Barron. Members in attendance included President Van Barron, Vice-President Gloria Albright, Past- President Mary Lemons, Duane McCullough, Lenita Hansen, Cora Christensen, Rebecca Spencer, and Executive Secretary Gary Mariegard. Guests included Chelsea Erickson. Cora moved to accept the minutes from the previous MSPA Board Meeting. Rebecca seconded, and the motion carried along with kudos to Gloria for stepping in while President Van Barron was occupied with the fire near his home. Van asked Gloria to explain the recent activities related to the IRS approval of MSPA offered CPE. Each year every CPE provider must register with the IRS. Registration begins in October and must be completed by December 31 st. Each seminar must qualify or be approved by the IRS for CPE to be awarded. The State of Montana Liaison course is not eligible to be recognized as CPE credit for IRS purposes. Gloria also indicated that for seminar attendees to receive IRS CPE credit the PTIN must be provided at registration and on the seminar sign in. Discussion followed. Van clarified that MSPA is responsible to issue a CPE completion certificate to all attendees and forward the CPE documentation to the IRS for PTIN holders. Seminar attendees that do not have a PTIN would be required to preserve their completion certificate and provide that information to the organization through which they are accredited. There was a suggestion to use PTINs as the new MSPA member number. It appeared well received. Van called on Mary to discuss membership. Mary handed out the redesigned application along with the modified MSPA logo. There was general agreement among the MSPA Board that the changes to the logo were a significant improvement. The Board asked the Executive Secretary to contact applicants that send in incomplete information. Cora is attempting to set up an MSPA address to receive applications submitted electronically. Mary suggested offering a discount to new members to compete with online CPE providers. Discussion followed. It was determined that MSPA would not offer a discount at this time. Van asked Lenita to provide an update on E-Commerce modernization. Lenita indicated the following web providers responded. Comments follow the pricing detail. 3

4 Jason Rodriguez Design $1,500 Maintenance $3,000 Cage Urquhart Design $2,000 Maintenance $ 300 Other $ 740 George Dillner Design $1,000 Maintenance $1.320 Board discussion followed which included testimonials regarding work completed for previous clients and the various competencies of the providers. It was stated that the electronic site would integrate; membership, collection of fees, website, and CPE registration. During the discussion it was noted that C-vent would need a 60 day notice of intent to terminate. Rebecca made a motion to use George Dillner as the website/e-commerce provider. Duane seconded. The motion carried. Van called on Gloria to provide an update on NSA. Gloria indicated that an item from Montana Silversmiths had been purchased at a cost of $105. Gloria also needed $550 for the NSA Scholarship Foundation and a $419 reimbursement for setting up the CPE sponsorship with the IRS. Mary needed the Allegro bill paid as well. The Board agreed to pay all outstanding bills. Van called on Duane to provide an update on the MSPA Administrative Rules and By-Laws. Duane solicited responses from the Board regarding the number of hours MSPA Member Registered Tax Return Preparers would be required to complete. The Board elected to continue to require 24 hours of CPE annually or 72 every three years and each member will be required to agree on membership renewal to check a box stating, I have met the CPE requirements for the Montana Society of Public Accountants. Duane will add By-Laws which state MSPA officers can be reimbursed for Airfare, Registration, and Hotel. The remaining funds will be split evenly among the remaining delegates. Elizabeth McCullough will publish the changes in the next news letter at least 60-days before the Annual Member Meeting. Gary asked the Board for direction on the retention of MSPA documents. It was determined that records would be kept as follows: CPE 5 years Tax Returns in perpetuity Financial Records 5 years Minutes in perpetuity The Board approved reimbursing Gary for the shredding costs associated with the MSPA records that are no longer useful or that meet the retention criteria. A motion was made to adjourn, seconded and carried. 4

5 * * IRS NEWS * * NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS WITH CURRENT PREPARER TAX IDENTIFICATION NUMBERS (PTINS) FOR 2012: 717,161 PROFESSIONAL CREDITALS: ATTORNEYS 31,189 CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS 212,975 ENROLLED ACTUARIES 537 ENROLLED AGENTS 42,895 ENROLLED RETIREMENT PLAN AGENTS 530 REGISTERED TAX RETURN PREPARERS 4,893 OTHER CATEGORIES: SUPERVISED PREPARERS 54,818 NON-1040 PREPARERS 42,524 PREPARERS WITH PROVISIONAL PTINS 338,127 WHO HAVE NOT YET PASSED THE RTRP EXAM IRS HAS BEEN VERY CLEAR ABOUT THE REQUIREMENTS TO CONTINUE TO PREPARE 1040 SERIES RETURNS. IF YOU NEED TO TAKE THE EXAM DO IT NOW!!! SCHEDULING AN EXAM TIME IS AS EASY AS GO TO IRS.GOV AND LOG ON TO YOUR PTIN REGISTRATION, AND CLICK RTRP EXAM. YOU WILL THEN BE DIRECTED TO INPUT YOUR ZIP CODE TO SHOW YOU NEAREST TESTING SITE. 5

6 CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EDUCATION & ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING 2012 Billings: Business Gear-Up September 20th & 21st Two-Day Business Entities Annual Business Meeting & Dinner to follow class On 20th MEMBER FEE: $275 NON-MEMBER: $325 Room Rates: $106 (single/db) + tax (406) (877) CrownPlaza.com Missoula: November 13th & 14th 1040 Update November 15th MT Presenter: Bob Jennings MEMBER FEE: $275 NON-MEMBER: $325 Room Rates: $99 (single/db) + tax 3720 N Reserve St Missoula MT (406) (877) Hiltongardeninn.hilton.com Billings: 1040 Update Gear-Up October 24th & 25th October 26th MT & IRS MEMBER FEE: $275 NON-MEMBER: $325 Billings Hotel & Convention Center 1223 Mullowney Lane (406) (800) Billingshotel.net Room Rates: $85 (single/db) + tax CONTACT INFORMATION: GLORIA ALBRIGHT PO BOX BILLINGS MT (406) albrighttax@180com.net CORA CHRISTENSEN 750 2ND ST W STE A WHITEFISH MT (406) ccora000@centurytel.net REMIT PAYMENT TO: MSPA c/o GARY MARIEGARD 1018 W CUSTER STE 1 HELENA MT

7 BUSINESS ELECTRONIC FILING APPLICATION: WHEN YOU REGISTER YOUR BUSINESS CLIENTS TO E-FILE THEIR 941 S, PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO BUSINESS CONTACT NAME & TITLE. THE CONTACT NAME AND THE AUTHORIZED SIGNER NAME MUST BE THE SAME. THE PERSON LISTED AS THE CONTACT/AUTHORIZED SIGNER MUST BE A PERSON WHO CAN LEGALLY BIND THE ORGANIZATION. A THIRD PARTY, SUCH AS A TAX PRO FESSIONAL OR POA WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED AS THE CONTACT/AUTHORIZED SIGNER. THE TITLE GIVEN MUST BE APPROPRIATE FOR THE TYPE OF BUSINESS ENTITY: SOLE PROPRIETOR.OWNER OR SOLE PROPRIETOR SINGLE MEMBER LLC TREATED AS A DISREGARDED ENTITY MEMBER OR SOLE PROPRIETOR CORPORATION OR LLC THAT HAS ELECTED TO BE TAXED AS A CORPORATION..A CORP TITLE (i.e. PRESIDENT, VICE PRESIDENT, SECRETARY, TREASURER) PARTNERSHIP OR LLC MEMBER ELECTED TO BE TAXED AS A PARTNERSHIP..PARTNER OR MEMBER TAX EXEMPT ORGANIZATION OR LLC...OFFICER,, TRUSTEE, OR OTHER OFFICIAL WHO IS AUTHORIZED TO SIGN 7

8 PRESIDENT VAN BARRON, CPA 1417 Helena Ave Helena MT (406) TREASURER GARY KASPER PO Box 308 Fairfield, MT (406) PAST PRESIDENT MARY LEMONS PO Box 470 Darby MT (406) VICE PRESIDENT GLORIA ALBRIGHT th St W Ste 312 Billings MT (406) albrightax@180com.net BECKY SPENCER, EA 121 Grand Ave Billings MT (406) becky@laser1040.com CORA CHRISTENSEN 750 2nd St W Ste A Whitefish MT (406) ccora000@centurytel.net EXEC SECRETARY GARY MARIEGARD 1018 W Custer Ste 1 Helena MT (406) gmariegard@hotmail.com DUANE McCULLOUGH 3570 East Shore Helena MT (406) duane_mcc@mcn.com LENITA HANSEN PO Box 470 Darby MT (406) lenita@itabk.com Montana Society of Public Accountants 1018 W Custer Ste 1 Helena MT (406) Fax (406) Website: mspamt.org PLEASE TO NOTE: IN ORDER TO CORRECTLY APPLY ANY PAYMENTS FOR MEMBERSHIP, SEMINARS, CONTINUING ED, OR ANY MONIES ASSOCIATED WITH MSPA, PLEASE SEND TO: MSPA c/o EXECUTIVE SECRETARY GARY MARIEGARD 1018 W CUSTER SUITE 1 HELENA MT THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING ME TO CONTINUE MAKING THE NEWLETTER. I WELCOME ANY ARTICLES OR INTERESTING HAPPENINGS. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT ANY INFOR- MATION IN THIS NEWSLETTER: PLEASE SEND TO ELIZABETH@LASER1040.COM 8