Continuing Education
CPE Program Level: Overview
2 CPE Credits Recommended; NO prerequisites or advance preparation
CTEC Course #: 3022-CE-0060
ELMS Course #: 22892
CPE credits and certificates are not available for this program.
Program Content
Tune in to this 100 minute program to hear our expert panelists discuss updates to forms, the latest tax law changes and IRS processing issues that will assist you in preparing your clients 2008 individual and business returns. You'll also get tips on how to avoid common errors that can cost you and your client time and money. Two continuing education credits will be offered for this special Web cast.
Learning Objectives
The primary learning objective is to maintain or increase competency of tax practitioners through expert discussion, explanation and interactive questioning. The programs are designed for learners (tax professionals) to exercise a practical understanding of new and current tax policies, as well as the latest changes, in a complex and continually changing industry.
Program Caption Information
Moderator
Les Witmer, APR
Communications Consultant
Les Witmer is currently a Communications Consultant in Atlanta. He has served as the moderator for Tax Talk Today since March 2000. He retired after a distinguished career of 34 years with the Federal Government serving the last 23 years with the Internal Revenue Service. His last year with the IRS he worked on the design of the Wage and Investment Division and retired as the Acting Director of Communications for that Division. He was responsible for the communications programs that included employee communications, media relations, practitioner and external stakeholder relations, congressional affairs, public and government liaison and other public relations and information programs.
He previously held responsible IRS communications positions including first Director of Internal Communications for the IRS in Washington, D.C., Assistant to the Southeast Regional Commissioner for Public Affairs and district Public Affairs positions serving as the chief local spokesperson on Federal tax matters.
During his last five years with the IRS, Les was periodically assigned by U.S. Treasury Department to the Office of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to be a member of an international team that advised and conducted seminars on Public Relations and Customer Service programs to tax and ministry of finance officials from Russia and former Soviet Bloc Countries. Preceding IRS, he served with the U.S. Army as an infantry officer in Vietnam, public affairs officer at Ft. Meade, MD, instructor at Department of Defense Information School (DINFOS) and other active duty and reserve assignments.
He retired as a Colonel, U.S. Army Reserves. He's an accredited member and past committee chairman, board member and officer of the Atlanta Chapter of Public Relations Society of America. Les is active in the community and has served in various other capacities including board member for the Georgia Council on Economic Education and worked with the 1996 Olympic Organizational Committee. He holds a B.S. in Journalism from the University of Southern Mississippi and M.S. in Public Administration from the American University.
Host
Phyllis Grimes
Chief, Stakeholder Liaison
Small Business/Self-Employed Division
Internal Revenue Service
Ms. Grimes is the Chief, Stakeholder Liaison for Industry Outreach. In this role, she is responsible for partnering with the small business community to provide education and outreach related to tax administration. Her office serves as a liaison between various industry groups/associations and the IRS to share information, elevate and resolve issues, and further overall tax compliance.
Grimes began her IRS career in 2000 in the Executive Development Program in Washington, DC. Since then, she has held other positions to include Acting Deputy Director for the Office of Tax Administration Coordination, working very closely with the IRS Commissioner's Office and Director of Business Marketing Services, where she was responsible for marketing related to IRS' electronic products and programs.
Prior to joining the IRS, Ms. Grimes enjoyed a long management and executive career in the financial services industry with Bank of America. Ms. Grimes earned both an M.B.A. and B.S. in Finance from the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland.
Panelists
Nancy Aiello
Submission Processing Director
Andover
Internal Revenue Service
A graduate of the 2005 Executive Development class, Nancy began her ascent to the executive ranks as a Data Transcriber in Philadelphia in 1976. Her managerial positions encompass major business units that, as example, include Submission Processing as Section Chief of Program Analysis (PAS) and Assistant Branch Chief, Receipt and Control; Branch Chief for ACS and Customer Service Branches; Assistant Division Chief, Compliance/Customer Service/Accounts Management Division; SB/SE Accounts Management Operation Chief; and W&I Chief, Planning and Analysis. She has also served as the project manager or lead on a number of national special projects or design teams, including Adjustments Customer Experience Improvement and SB/SE Correspondence Imaging Project. Having enjoyed working with Andover employees during an assignment in 2001, it made the offer of her first executive assignment as Field Director, Andover Submission Processing, an easy, enthusiastic "Yes!" for her.
Nancy enjoys walking, reading, crafts and time with family and friends.
Nancy and her husband, Anthony, are the proud parents of their daughter, Amanda. Both Nancy and Amanda earned degrees in 2004.
Francis X. Degen, EA
Owner
Francis X. Degen, EA
Francis X. Degen, EA, is the owner of Francis X. Degen, EA, in Setauket, New York. His practice includes tax preparation and tax planning for individuals and small businesses. Mr. Degen also specializes in taxpayer representation before the Internal Revenue Service and other taxing authorities. He is one of the few non-attorneys that have been admitted to practice in the United States Tax Court. In addition, he is a member and a former President of the National Association of Enrolled Agents (NAEA) and has served on the NAEA board of directors. He has testified on behalf of NAEA before both houses of Congress. Mr. Degen holds a Bachelors degree in mathematics from Iona College and a Masters from Johns Hopkins University.
Susan A. Hansen
Field Director
Cincinnati Submission Processing Center
Internal Revenue Service
Susan Hansen began her Internal Revenue Service (IRS) career in 1978 as a seasonal clerk in the Orlando, Florida, Taxpayer Service office. Prior to her selection in 2006 as Field Director, Cincinnati Submission Processing Center, Susan held a number of increasingly responsible positions, including Field Director, Cincinnati Compliance Services Center, and Chief of the Adjustments, International, and Tax Systems Modernization sections at the Cincinnati IRS Center in Covington, Kentucky.
As the Field Director of the Cincinnati Submission Processing Center, Susan manages one of the three centers which comprise the Cincinnati IRS Center, based in Covington, Kentucky. The other two centers are the Cincinnati Accounts Management Center and the Cincinnati Campus Compliance Operations.
Susan's staff includes approximately 2,600 seasonal and permanent employees in Northern Kentucky. They are responsible for depositing tax payments and processing paper tax returns for business taxpayers with less than $10 million in assets in the eastern half of the United States. The other IRS business tax processing center is located in Ogden, Utah.
Susan is a graduate of the 2003 IRS Executive Development Program. Susan serves as the 2007 Chair of the Greater Cincinnati Federal Executive Board, and she has served as the Treasury Agency Chair for the Greater Cincinnati Combined Federal Campaign since 2003.
A native of New Jersey, Susan and her husband, Tom, live in Florence, Kentucky, and they have two adult children.
Theodore Prioleau, EA
Owner
The Tax & Mortgage Shop of America
Theodore Prioleau is an Enrolled Agent, who has been in practice for over a quarter century. He has a weekly segment on WBFF Fox 45 Morning News, where he discusses personal and business tax issues, in addition to accepting live calls from amongst a one million household viewing audience.
Teddy is the founder of The Tax & Mortgage Shop of America, where he prepares business and personal tax returns, offers investment products and services, mortgages, payroll and other financial services to clients all over the United States. Teddy is the past chairman of the board of a 14,000 member credit union, where he still actively serves on the board. He is a past chairman of the membership committee of the Maryland Society of Accountants, and continues to serve on other boards that gladly use his talents to further their advancement in their areas of service.
The professional societies of which Theodore Prioleau is a member include The National Association of Enrolled Agents, The Maryland Society of Accountants and the National Association of Tax Professionals.
Virginia M. Tarris
Tax Law Specialist (Reviewer)
Individual Tax Forms and Publications
Internal Revenue Service
Ms. Tarris is a Tax Law Specialist in the Tax Forms and Publications division at the Internal Revenue Service. Her duties include analyzing legislation, regulations, and revenue rulings and procedures to determine their impact on current forms, instructions, and publications, as well as reviewing changes to forms, instructions, or publications for accuracy.
Prior to joining the IRS in 2006, Ms. Tarris was a tax attorney at a large corporation. She recently presented the Overview of 2008 Income Tax Law Changes at two of the 2008 IRS Nationwide Tax Forums and spoke on the First-Time Homebuyers Credit at the Annual National Association of Realtors Meeting in Orlando, FL.
Ms. Tarris earned both her J.D. and her Master of Laws in Taxation degrees from Georgetown University.
Bill Woolf
Tax Law Specialist (Reviewer)
Business Forms and Publications
Internal Revenue Service
Bill Woolf began his IRS career in 1983 as a Contact Representative in the Atlanta, Georgia, Taxpayer Service Call Site. He moved up into increasingly responsible positions where he participated in several state and national television and radio programs to discuss tax law changes. In 1990 he moved to Washington, D.C., and found his way to the Tax Forms and Publications Division. He is currently a reviewer in the Business Forms and Publications Branch. His main areas of responsibility include S corporation, general business credit, and low-income housing tax forms. He also reviews Publication 334, Tax Guide for Small Business (For Individuals Who Use Schedule C or C-EZ).
Bill has a Master of Science in Accounting degree from George Mason University.
