• Analyzing possible financial statement effects of IFRS with regard to compensation and benefits programs, including executive compensation, health and welfare, and retirement programs.
• Evaluating the potential impact of IFRS accounting on the operation of your rewards programs, especially those driven by corporate financial performance.
• Assessing IT and process changes, including information gathering, reporting, and internal controls.

• Special tax rules applicable to ESOPs for C corporations and S corporations, including deferral of gain by a selling shareholder and taxation of the business.
• Plan considerations for and financing of an acquisition, disposition, or a leveraged buyout.
• Benefits of employee ownership to shareholders, management, and employees, including interest alignment and improved motivation.

• Stock compensation trends, including restricted stock units and the impact of increasing corporate governance.
• International pressures on U.S. companies, including differences in tax treatment in China, India, and other key countries.
• Plan considerations, including leading practices for restricted stock units and policies and procedures.

Host:

• Challenges sponsors face, including investment policy alignment, governance, centralized risk management, and operational requirements.
• Industry developments impacting the pension landscape, including legislation, capital markets volatility, and managing multiple global plans.
• Strategies for pension asset management, including asset pooling.

• Examples of frequently recurring reporting deficiencies due to controls breakdowns.
• Unique issues for equity compensation and retirement plans in the U.S. and overseas.
• Special challenges for employee mobility, tax equalization, and rewards management.

• Applicability of section 162(m) and compensation subject to disallowance.
• Exceptions to section 162(m), including a more in-depth review of the performance-based compensation requirements and transition rules.
• What Revenue Ruling 2008-13 means for plan design and severance agreements.

Mergers and Acquisitions: Why Tax Accounting Will Never Be the Same Again

• How the new statements affect tax accounting for uncertain tax positions, deferred taxes, and valuation allowances.
• Tax consequences at transition for past and prospective acquisitions.
• Fine-tuning tax due-diligence practices, including pressure points on effective tax rate, FIN 48 liabilities, and valuation allowances.

• Background and objectives of the project.
• Summary of the key differences between FAS 109 and IAS 12 that are proposed to be eliminated, and differences that may remain, including accounting for uncertainty in income taxes.
• Overview of the comment letter process and how to get involved.

• Accounting for state tax law changes, including gross receipts-type taxes.
• Computing state deferred taxes and the effective state tax rate.
• Ongoing FIN 48 multistate tax issues, including the challenges around “effectively settled.”

• Technical requirements of FIN 48, including identification, measurement, and recognition of uncertain tax positions.
• Potential implementation challenges for hedge funds and private equity funds, including potential U.S. trade or business issues and non-U.S. tax issues, such as withholding taxes.
• Application of FIN 48 to fund management companies – the need for U.S. GAAP financials and cross-border tax issues for global investment managers, including transfer pricing.

Understand key challenges of FIN 48 for private investment firms and how you can jumpstart or fine-tune your implementation plans.

• What are material weaknesses and the related disclosure requirements?
• Leading causes of tax-related material weaknesses and strategies for addressing them.
• A technical overview of typical issues causing tax-related restatements.
• Interaction of material weaknesses and restatements; if I have one, do I have the other?

• Legislative developments relating to a possible extension.
• Impact of the potential sunset on intercompany financing transactions and structural alternatives.
• Transactions that should be considered in light of the potential sunset of this provision.

• India — Budget 2008, including a set-off mechanism for dividend distribution tax, increase in capital gains tax, and service tax changes.
• United Kingdom — Budget Statement changes for 2008, including the tax depreciation regime and the proposed move to a full participation exemption from April 1, 2009.
• Key developments in other foreign jurisdictions.

• Leading practices for managing compliance, including tips on automating and getting the best information from ERP systems.
• How to manage risk proactively and more effectively.
• Global trade management solutions — the latest insights and developments.

• Changes in current law, including the addition of a new “substantial contribution” exception, and removal of support for avoiding subpart F due to the manufacturing activities conducted solely by other related or unrelated manufacturing entities.
• New guidance for multiple manufacturing and sales branch activities.
• Comments for taxpayers to consider in deciding whether to elect to apply the new rules now.

• Recent sales factor market sourcing and increased sales factor weighting changes.
• New unitary combined reporting and consolidated filing methods.
• Working through the maze of safe harbor exceptions to the now more than 20 states that disallow certain related party expenses.

• Recent sales factor market sourcing and increased sales factor weighting changes.
• New unitary combined reporting and consolidated filing methods.
• Working through the maze of safe harbor exceptions to the now more than 20 states that disallow certain related party expenses.

 
State Tax Audits: Are You Ready?
May 6, 2008

Host: Karen Boucher, Partner - Deloitte Tax LLP

The expanded arsenal of state tax auditor powers range from tax- raising statutes and anti-abuse laws and regulations to the ability to impose severe interest and penalties. This arsenal has the feel of an all-out blitz to many companies. Will you fumble when your state tax returns are audited? We’ll discuss:

• Common issues currently being raised by auditors.
• Significant pending cases.
• How auditors are handling the new gross receipts tax regimes in key states.
• Pro-active steps to take before the audit begins.

• IRC section 382 — limiting use of NOLs following a change in ownership.
• IRC section 108 — requiring reductions in NOLs and asset basis following a debt restructuring.
• Why most state filing methods require computations that are substantially different from the federal consolidated computations.

• Assessing your overall vision and strategy for business succession and related issues, including identifying and preparing future leaders.
• Talents and skills the successor management team will need, and strategies and leading practices for addressing gaps.
• A case study illustrating how unseen obstacles can stall progress

• An overview of the U.S. wealth-transfer tax system and potential costs to private enterprise owners who don't plan ahead.
• How successful families have traditionally passed wealth through trusts and other tax-efficient vehicles.
• Why lower business valuations and interest rates near historic lows may provide favorable conditions for launching tax-efficient succession plans now.

• The global landscape — key drivers forcing mid-sized and private companies to address their globalization strategy.
• The primary challenges and opportunities to consider as your company evaluates expanding it’s global footprint.
• International tax considerations that may impact your global plan.

• Penalties most often asserted by examiners during an IRS examination.
• Potential defenses against these penalties.

• What is a qualified amended return, who can file one, and when can one be filed?
• The effect of a qualified amended return.
• Voluntary disclosures after an exam has begun.

IRS Examination Procedures With Emphasis on Statutes and TEFRA Rules

• The difference between TEFRA and non-TEFRA partnerships and why rules were enacted to provide a unified administrative and judicial proceeding for the tax treatment of partnership items.
• The role and procedural rights of the tax matters partner and the difference between partnership and non-partnership items.
• The statute of limitations on assessments and the rights of partners to challenge or settle issues.

• Changes at the Canada Revenue Agency and updates on CRA positions regarding the penalty regime, audit positions, and qualified CCAs.
• CRA positions on U.S service regulations, royalty payments, intangibles, recharacterizations, foreign exchange, and plant closures.
• Options for appeals, Competent Authority, and APAs.
• The impact of current court cases on audit activity.

State and Local Transfer Pricing: Not a Time for Complacency

• Legislative and litigation updates, and value chain structures that companies are using today.
• Issues states are attacking under audit, including economic substance, contractual gaps, and stale transfer pricing analyses.
• What companies can do to assess risks, steps for reducing exposure, options for strengthening structures, and addressing specific scenarios.

• U.S. audit landscape — hot audit issues, including an update on cost sharing.
• Foreign audit trends — widely varying methodology and documentation requirements in various countries and how to manage them.
• Strategic audit considerations.

• The recent IRS coordinated issues paper on intellectual property buy-ins and cost-sharing.
• Anticipated guidance from the U.S. Treasury Department on what constitutes manufacturing under subpart F regulations.
• New perspectives on tax alignment arising from changes in the regulations on pricing of intercompany services.

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program guide
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