2010-2011 Year in Review - California Society of Enrolled Agents

OFFiCERS
6 CSEA 2010-2011 Year in Review
of the workshop is led by a CSEA representative
and covers a lot of these topics but from the practitioner
point of view. Joni Terens, EA has taught
the Laguna Nigel location for several years and
Jennifer Mac Millan, EA taught the new Los Angeles
location, while I taught the Oakland location. In
a follow-up email received by all of us a couple of
days after the final presentation in Oakland, Marc
Zine, IRS Senior Stakeholder and coordinator of the
IRS portion of the workshop, stated that he was
“in awe at the level of expertise in the presentations
of the CSEA instructors.” We were truly well
represented at all of these locations.
In late August several CSEA representatives attended
the IRS Forum in Las Vegas and San Diego.
I had the pleasure of attending the San Diego location
along with President Kastl, EA, Cary M. Steward,
CSEA staff and several other members of CSEA.
We staffed the NAEA booth, talking to attendees
about becoming an Enrolled Agent. Several representatives
from NAEA were also present and it was
great getting the opportunity to spend time with
them. President Kastl, George Van Buren, EA and I
attended the IRS Oversight Committee led by IRS
representatives Mary Turville and Russell Geiman.
Preparer regulations and PTINs were the topic of the
day and we all utilized the opportunity to express
our collective concerns. I happened to sit next to
Mary Turville during this meeting and couldn’t help
but notice that at the end of the hour her notebook
was full of notes that I am sure she took back to
Washington, DC with her. Later in the evening,
President Kastl and I also had the opportunity to
connect with Office of Professional Responsibility
Director Karen Hawkins.
Second Vice President Raven Deerwater, EA, PhD
Immediately after being installed as Second
Vice President of CSEA, I won the first EA Idol
competition. View it at http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=Kg1_t8Sdbfw.
In May of 2010, I volunteered to review the old
Board Policy Manual to eliminate duplications and
evaluate each of the current Board Directives in
light of CSEA’s transition to Policy Governance®.
My final report was submitted to the Executive
Committee for its September 24, 2010 meeting
in Sacramento, and the changes were approved
at the January 2011 Board Meeting.
I served as Cognizant Officer of two very active
Committees, Education and Legislative Affairs.
Margy Dunn, EA, Chair of the Education Committee,
and I worked together developing and
In early November, I attended the NAEA Board
Meeting and Affiliate Presidents’ Exchange (APEX)
Meeting in Alexandria, VA. The APEX Meeting is
a gift to all the Affiliates. During these meetings
we received information on two educational
institutions that CSEA is exploring for possible
future use, a parliamentary procedure primer, a rebranding
presentation, a lunchtime presentation
by Dave Williams, IRS Director of Electronic Tax
Administration and Refundable Credits, regarding
the progress of the Return Preparer Registration
Implementation, and an update from Nadine
McPhail, Chief of the Case Development and
Licensure Branch of OPR, on continuing professional
education (CPE) reporting. We were told
at this time that the IRS was willing to consider a
name change for Enrolled Agents, although we
have since decided after much consideration and
debate not to make this change.
Throughout this year, I have felt that my job
as First Vice President and the Cognizant Officer
to both Membership and PIA has been to lend
assistance however I could, fill in the pieces where
needed and accomplish this while beginning
to formulate a vision of the future that ensures
that our organization and its Members maintain
and build on the resources of those who have
served before us. It has been a pleasure to serve
CSEA again this year and I look forward to 2011
– 2012.
Respectfully submitted,
Jean Nelson, EA
First Vice President
editing forms in light of new Office of Professional
Responsibility (OPR) regulations. These included
a form for Chapters to use to submit to CSEA to
obtain course approval and a form that education
attendees would complete and keep to verify
their continuing education.
The Legislative Affairs Committee has also
used my editing talents. I helped edit a survey
sent to the membership prior to the Franchise
Tax Board (FTB) Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights Hearing.
Gary Anspach, EA, Chair of the Legislative Affairs
Committee, and I solicited and edited articles for
the California Enrolled Agent magazine on the
various legislative advocacy issues. Mr. Anspach
also asked me to join the Conformity Task Force
of the Legislative Affairs Committee, which is