This event for intermediate to advanced-level campus tax professionals offers the latest information on issues and best practices in higher education tax compliance and administration. This forum serves as both an annual update and future outlook. Participants hear and engage in discussions on timely subjects impacting the college and university tax community.
Past forums have addressed issues such as IRS audits, tax management approaches, Form 990 preparation, unrelated business income issues, charitable gifts, executive compensation, treatment of fringe benefits, scholarships and fellowships, reporting and withholding for nonresident aliens, mitigating tax risks of international activities, bonds compliance, and athletics. This year's program will include discussion related to COVID-relief tax provisions.
TaxWebcastWorkshop
What You Will Learn
NACUBO’s professional development programs are designed to deliver the skills, concepts, and best practices for success to individuals in the business of higher education. The following course information is provided to help you determine the best learning experience to meet your needs
Demonstrate an understanding of guidance for managing tax compliance
Determine how tax reporting requirements and regulations may impact your institution
Share tips gained from fellow campus tax professionals with peers on campus
Who Should Attend
Assistant Controllers
Chief Financial Officers
Controllers
Tax Managers
Prerequisites
No prerequisites and/or advance preparation required.
CPE Information
Estimated 12 CPE Credits
CPE credits can be earned in the following categories: Taxes, Specialized Knowledge.
NACUBO is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its website www.nasbaregistry.org.
Rates
Member and Nonmember Single Bundle registration includes webcasts airing only October 21-22 or November 4-5.
Member and Nonmember BothBundles registration includes webcasts airing on both October 21-22 and November 4-5.
Registration Assistance: 877.797.7698 or support@nacubo.org
Along with all of the pandemic-related changes on campuses, there are new employee issues to address. This session will address some of these new tax considerations, including: ‐ How to provide assistance to employees. -What can be provided under a §139 disaster relief programs? -When might a separate 501(c)(3) be considered for ongoing employee assistance? -What is an assistance fund, and what are the restrictions and pitfalls? ‐ Accountable plan issues. ‐ How to handle unusual reimbursement request from employees as well as their tax treatment.
2:00 PM
A Winning Game Plan for Managing Tax Issues for Recreational Sports and Athletics
Recreational Sports and Athletics activities continue to run up the score, consequently expanding the potential tax issues an institution’s tax/accounting department will encounter. The panel will share real world examples of tax issues they've tackled in recent years. Institutions have evolved significantly while the regulations and tax code applicable to this area have remained relatively unchanged. This presentation will provide a playbook for analyzing tax issues that may arise amidst an ever‐changing environment. With a primary focus on unrelated business income, topics include: sponsorships comprising exclusive provider, license, image and likeness (coach appearances) arrangements, facility usage, space rental, and parking.
Rodney Dole, University of Wisconsin System Administration
The presentation will give an initial overview of relatively new requirement to report and calculate unrelated business income by activity or business, rather than in the aggregate. Panelists will discuss the proposed regulations in detail and provide a debrief of how 512(a)(6) affected the 2018 Forms 990‐T that most higher education institutions filed by July 15, 2020.
12:30 PM
Case Study - Alternative Investment Reporting Compliance
Alternative investment reporting compliance (for an entity new to alternative investments).
Three Parts:
Treasury‐Tax (investment strategy; communicating investment strategy to tax; exchanging information)
Tax‐Controller (building a reporting structure)
Tax‐Controller‐ OGC (determining and substantiating tax positions)
1:45 PM
Safeguarding Treatment of Independent Contractors in Advance of IRS Audit
Presenter(s):
John Barrett, University of California Office of the President
Edward Bower, University of Cincinnati Main Campus
The IRS and state tax departments (particularly California) have been quick to assert that college or university‐hired independent contracts are misclassified and should be treated as subject to withholding taxes. Under tax audit, the institution can be subject to penalties. This presentation will detail best practices for preparing for worker classification audits to ensure minimal adjustments.
The COVID‐19 pandemic has significantly impacted the higher education sector. If colleges and universities didn't have plans for virtual teaching and learning across borders, they do now. And even the most well laid plans have been accelerated and altered. Pre‐COVID, there was a trend towards global activities, and now with COVID, everyone seems to have some sort of global presence, if only because now faculty and students are teaching and learning virtually. Panelists will focus on tax risks for universities, reporting, and Forms 5471, 8858, and 8865 including practical examples and scenarios.
For all institutions ‐ especially those with limited or no tax staff - it is important to formulate a practical tax compliance plan to address risks. This panel discussion will provide an institutional perspective on the greatest tax risks facing both public and private institutions along with a practical approach to minimization of the identified risks. Attendees will be asked to rank within their institution the tax and compliance topics during the presentation allowing them to begin to develop a manageable approach to these compliance areas.
Session Duration: 75 minutes; 2:00 - 3:15pm EST
2:00 PM
Lessons Learned: Implementing the Section 4968 Net Investment Income Excise Tax
With the passage of The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), certain colleges and universities must comply with a “new” net investment income (NII) excise tax. This session will explore how affected colleges and universities implemented the necessary institutional changes for compliance. This session also will provide practical considerations and lessons learned for colleges and universities that either already are subject to this excise tax, or expect that they soon will be, as the guidance in this space continues to evolve.
Explore the current state of play in the nation's capital, discuss the issues that will take shape in the coming year, including those impacted by the 2020 elections, and examine what could lie ahead for colleges and universities.
Session Duration: 60 minutes; 11:00am - 12:00pm EST
12:30 PM
Telework Issues: Tax Implications of a Multi-State Workforce
Universities are balancing the need for students and employees to be safe from the novel coronavirus while delivering education and research. This session will focus on remote workers and how the tax function on campus plays a role with this issue. During the pandemic, employees are working remotely anywhere in the world, and academic courses are delivered virtually to students in states and countries, anywhere other than the university’s campus. The session will feature insights of tax practitioners working on multi‐state employment matters and international global mobility and insights from a university tax director with extensive experience in this area.
Understand how to evaluate your institution’s compliance with multiple state tax obligations such as income, sales/use, and payroll taxes. Where liabilities are identified, practical approaches to addressing these liabilities with state voluntary disclosure programs will be discussed. Information about the different types of federal voluntary programs will also be covered, with specific focus on the U.S. withholding agent disclosure program, which is specifically designed to help Form 1042/1042-S filers get into compliance.
