Archive for February, 2010

EO Tax Journal 201-23

Paul Streckfus, February 12, 2010 at 10:06 pm

Monday’s email update on excerpts from Sarah Hall Ingram’s Feb. 5 remarks has drawn comments.

Former EO Branch Chief Connie Rosenberg had this to say:

“I think Sarah’s answer to the question about Service failure to publish formal guidance was quite truthful, if you parse it out carefully. What she said, in effect, was: we can’t figure out how to get publications out because we, collectively, can’t figure out how to stop tripping over each other. As Winston Churchill once said (whenever I’m not sure who said something, I always cite Churchill, and I’m usually right): the way to begin is to begin. The way to stop tripping over each other is to stop tripping over each other. Set up a formal procedure for initiating and clearing a publication; follow that procedure; establish due dates for movement at each stage of the process; appoint a high-ranking management official to monitor the due dates and insist that they be met, and provide consequences for the bureaucrat who fails to meet them; be prepared to deal with the consequences of actually making a decision. Those things are the jobs of management. It ain’t rocket science now, any more than it was 25 years ago, but it does take some guts.”

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EO Tax Journal 2010-22

Paul Streckfus, February 10, 2010 at 10:06 pm

William Wilkins, Chief Counsel of the Internal Revenue Service, was the luncheon speaker at the January 22 meeting of the EO Committee of the ABA’s Tax Section. Kudos to Bill for not making any “I hope I don’t give you indigestion” jokes. It was funny the first time I heard an IRS speaker use that line, but it’s getting old. Speaking of getting old, when will the last panel of the day no longer be introduced as “the only thing standing between you and the cash bar?”

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EO Tax Journal 2010-21

Paul Streckfus, February 8, 2010 at 10:06 pm

The use of gmail seems to be working. I’ll continue to use it this week and, if successful, get back to replacing the lost emails caused by AOL. The next issue of the print issue of theEO Tax Journal will have all the email updates, so that may be the answer for those who receive it. I’ll keep you posted as we try to get past this latest snafu.

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EO Tax Journal 2010-20

Paul Streckfus, February 5, 2010 at 10:06 pm

Proposed Regulations on Supporting Organizations


What follows is a transcript of the fourth session of the January 22 meeting of the EO Committee of the ABA’s Tax Section. The moderator of the session is LaVerne Woods of Davis Wright Tremaine, Seattle.

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EO Tax Journal 2010-19

Paul Streckfus, February 4, 2010 at 10:06 pm

If this transmission is successful, I have in the wings (sorry for the redundancy) a transcript of the recent ABA panel on supporting organizations ready to go. I suspect a lot of people would like to read what was discussed in Texas with Emily Lam and Phil Hackney, so we’ll see. Hopefully you received the panel discussion on News from the IRS and Treasury, sent on Monday.

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