Advocacy

New beneficial ownership information reporting requirements will affect small businesses including small CPA firms starting Jan. 1. The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 5119, Protect Small Business and Prevent Illicit Financial Activity Act, providing a one-year delay to the start of the rule. Reach out to your senators to ask them to pass the bill.

In a letter addressed to members of the House Financial Services Committee and Senate Banking Committee, the AICPA and all 54 state CPA societies, including the WSCPA, asked that H.R. 4035 and S. 2623, the Protecting Small Business Information Act of 2023, or similar legislation to delay, be included in any year-end legislative package.

The WSCPA has joined AICPA and dozens of other state CPA societies to ask the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to extend and expand the deadline for beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting requirements, specifically for Reporting Companies Created or Registered in 2024.  

It is no secret that the new Washington Capital Gains Excise Tax, which taxpayers have begun paying for the 2022 tax year, has been a controversial and complex tax. In feedback shared with the DOR yesterday, the WSCPA highlighted the ambiguities in the language and additional unanticipated problems which came to light during the recently-concluded tax season.

At the Washington Board of Accountancy (WBOA) meeting on October 20, a CPA exam credit reinstatement program was adopted and is effective immediately. As a result of this program, Washington exam candidates who lost CPA exam credits between January 30, 2020, and December 31, 2023, will have until June 30, 2025, to complete the remaining sections of the exam.

The Washington State Board of Accountancy adopted a rule change to allow CPA candidates in our state to have 36 months to complete all four sections of the CPA exam.

The Department of Revenue (DOR) recently issued interim guidance statements regarding the capital gains tax. The statements reflect DOR's current position where final guidance has not yet been published.

The number of students earning U.S. postsecondary accounting degrees fell sharply in the 2021-22 academic year, according to a biennial American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) report on trends related to accounting graduation rates, the CPA Exam and hiring demand by accounting firms.

The contingency plan calls for furloughs of two-thirds of IRS staff, which Treasury said will result in “significant harmful impacts" on taxpayers.

The AICPA submitted a letter to the Department of the Treasury, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Congressional leadership requesting the release of the IRS contingency plan that would go into effect in the event of a government shutdown on October 1, 2023. Additionally, the AICPA has urged the IRS to base any decision to furlough employees on a broader interpretation of the Office of Management and Budget guidance to include not only the government’s safety of human life and protection of property, but also for the taxpayer, thereby excepting IRS employees.

Two bills have been introduced in U.S. Congress to delay the Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting requirement, an anti-money laundering initiative enacted through the Corporate Transparency Act in 2021. You can help keep these bills moving by reaching out to your Congressional representatives.

The WSCPA has called on federal legislators to support two bills that have been introduced that would delay the start date for the Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting requirements until all required rulemaking is final, and all rules would take effect on the same date.

The WSCPA has joined with more than 500 businesses and employers to advocate to help pass the Freedom to Invest in Tomorrow's Workforce Act, which would expand qualified expenses under 529 savings plans to include postsecondary training and credentialing.

The AICPA and all 54 State CPA Societies, including the Washington Society of CPAs, sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) requesting DHS recognize accounting under the “T” for Technology in Science Technology Engineering Math (STEM) education.

Kimberly Scott, CAE, President & CEO of the Washington Society of CPAs, and Thomas Neill, CPA (retired), WSCPA member, have been named to the American Institute of CPAs’ (AICPA) newly-formed advisory group representing a broad spectrum of the accounting profession that will help shape a national strategy to address the profession’s talent, including accounting students who go on to obtain a CPA license.

The Washington State Department of Revenue (DOR) recently published a draft rule proposing modifications to the Washington Capital Gains Tax. As many CPAs and taxpayers have been grappling with this new tax, it has become evident that numerous challenges are associated with this new type of tax.

The Washington State Board of Accountancy (WBOA) voted to expose for final consideration a rule change that would grant exam candidates 36 months to complete the CPA Exam. During the WBOA meeting on July 21, 2023, the Board voted unanimously to take the 36-month recommendation of the Exam Window Task Force, which had been established by WBOA in April 2023. This would mean that candidates would have 36 months following their first passing grade to complete all four sections of the CPA exam.

While the 2023 Washington State legislative session ended in April there are still many challenges and changes coming toward the profession in the months ahead. The Department of Revenue (DOR) and Washington State Board of Accountancy (WBOA) are both going through rulemaking.

The Seattle Office of City Finance has scheduled a public hearing on updated rules for Penalties, Warranties and Maintenance Agreements, Computer Software, Computer Hardware, Taxation of Information Services and Computer-Related Services. New rules are also being introduced for Digital Products and Information Requests—Aggregation and Confidentiality. The hearing will be held on July 11, 2023, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Last month, CPAs from Washington joined their partners at the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) in Washington, D.C. to meet with lawmakers on issues important to the accounting profession during the AICPA Spring Meeting of Council and Annual Members Meeting.

The internet has been buzzing with the latest leap in technology, ChatGPT. This innovative AI tool has the potential to revolutionize the way CPAs work. Find out what this means for our profession and you.

On April 24th, the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) announced that they adopted Uniform Accountancy Act (UAA) Model Rule that allows exam candidates 30 months, from the time they receive their first section score, to pass all four sections of the CPA exam.

On Monday, April 17, the Department of Revenue began a new pilot program to allow individuals to make comments on proposed Washington Tax Decisions (WTD). This program will allow individuals to comment on proposed WTDs before they are published.

On February 15, NASBA released an exposure draft of the Uniform Accountancy Act Rule 5-7. The draft proposes multiple changes, but notably would increase the amount of time that a CPA candidate has to pass all required CPA exam sections from a rolling 18-month period to a rolling 24-month period. Comments are due April 17

The exposure draft would increase the amount of time that a CPA candidate has to pass all required CPA exam sections from a rolling 18-month window to 24 months. The WSCPA Board wants 36+ months.

On Friday, March 24, 2023, the Washington State Supreme Court upheld the capital gains tax. In a 7-2 ruling in the Quinn v Washington State case, the majority ruled that the capital gains tax is an excise tax and is, therefore, legal in Washington State. Since it was ruled an excise tax, they did not weigh in on the constitutional questions.

The WSCPA has been closely watching two bills, one that would replace the B&O tax with a margin tax, and a potential wealth tax bill. Mike Nelson shares an update on whether these bills are expected to move forward in the legislative process.

At its meeting on January 27 in SeaTac, Washington, the Washington State Board of Accountancy adopted a rule that allows candidates in Washington to sit for the CPA exam after having earned 120 semester hours. This rule change does not modify the 150 hours required to be licensed as a CPA.

With the 2022 elections behind us, we adjust our focus to the 2023 Legislative Session. As we prepare for the launch of the session, WSCPA members will be meeting with legislators in Olympia during Hill Day on January 19 to discuss key matters expected to come before the legislature.

Join us in Olympia on January 19 for one of the year's most important advocacy events. This upcoming legislative session will be the first in-person session since 2020 and will be our first Hill Day in three years due to COVID-19.

The Tax Structure Work Group is considering recommending that the legislature replace Washington State's B&O tax with what many are calling a Texas-style margin tax. How close is this to becoming a reality? Mike Nelson, WSCPA Manager of Government Affairs, takes a look at the current state of the margin tax proposal.

While the profession has navigated through the health and economic turmoil of the last few years, the WSCPA Advocacy Team has spent the last several months monitoring the legislative session and preparing for the future.

As negotiations continue on the fast-approaching reconciliation bill, the AICPA remains active in its advocacy efforts, which includes pushing back on the implementation of a minimum book income tax on corporations. With a deadline of September 30, there is little time to pass a bill and sign it into law.

The Tax Structure Work Group (TSWG) is nearing the finish line of their five-year exercise to recommend a new fairer tax system in Washington. At their May meeting, the TSWG voted on a number of proposals and decision points in directing the Department of Revenue to model and draft proposal language for different taxes in Washington.

On Friday, March 4, 2022, House Bill 1648 and Senate Bill 5519 were each passed unanimously in the State Legislature. These bills were previously passed unanimously as they worked their way through the legislature. Both bills are identical and will implement a new CPA – Inactive license status while phasing out the previously issued Certificates. They have been sent to Governor Jay Inslee where he is expected to sign one of the bills into law in the coming weeks.

On February 24, 2022, the AICPA and 52 state CPA societies sent a letter to Assistant Treasury Secretary Lily Batchelder and IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig regarding widespread concerns on the Schedules K-2 and K-3 reporting.

On February 9, the IRS announced that it would suspend notices and letters for unfiled returns and unpaid balances. The IRS said it was doing this in recognition of the fact that the returns may have, in fact, been filed but not yet processed due to the agency’s significant backlog.

The launch of income tax filing season last week comes as taxpayers and preparers are already feeling frustration with the IRS over unprocessed prior year returns and unanswered correspondence.

A package of two bills to delay and expand exemptions for the Long Term Care Trust Act (Long Term Care Act) were signed by Governor Inslee on January 27.

AICPA and other members of the Taxpayer Relief Coalition have sent a letter to the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committee members regarding the considerable delays in response from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the challenges getting ahold of them.

The 2022 Legislative Session got underway today, Monday, January 10. This year is shaping up to be another mostly virtual session given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The House of Representatives has moved to an entirely virtual setup to start, while the Senate is currently planning to vote in person but will hold committee meetings virtually.