1998 Income Tax Conference:
Ten Virginia Locations and Three in West Virginia

Farm Business Management Update, August 1998

By Brenda Chandler and L. Leon Geyer of the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Virginia Tech

The Virginia Tech/West Virginia University Farm and Small Business Income Tax Conferences are scheduled at ten locations in Virginia and three in West Virginia. The conferences will occur in November and December 1998. They feature an intensive study of the new, massive Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, tax law and regulations governing individual, farm, and small business taxes. The table that follows gives the schedule for general sessions and special sessions on farm and forestry taxation.

This is the thirty-eighth year that Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech's Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, the Virginia Department of Taxation, and the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have cooperated in bringing this program to the people who assist taxpayers in preparing and filing federal and state income tax returns. This conference is Virginia's largest workshop for tax practitioners. We are pleased to present this conference in Charleston, Martinsburg, and Morgantown W. Va., in conjunction with West Virginia University, West Virginia Extension and the West Virginia Department of Tax and Revenue.

Faculty from Virginia Tech and West Virginia University, staff from the IRS, private tax practitioners, the Virginia Department of Taxation, and the West Virginia Department of Tax and Revenue will examine new tax laws and their implications and will examine case studies to interpret new regulations. Topics for the major program will include: 1998 Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, Reorganization of the Internal Revenue Service, Taxpayer Protection and Rights, Burden of Proof, Relief for Innocent Spouses and for Taxpayers Unable to Manage Their Financial Affairs Due to Disabilities, Provisions Relating to Interest and Penalties, Protections for Taxpayers Subject to Audit or Collection Activities, Disclosures to Taxpayers, 1997 Tax Payer Relief Act, What's New - Rulings and Cases, Schedule D, Technology and IRS Tax Administration Changes, Choice of Entity Considerations, Tax Practitioner's Question and Answers, Social Security Planning, Individual and Small Business Problems, The Income Taxation of Trust and Estates, Agricultural and Forestry Issues, Net Operating Losses, Depreciation, Ethics, Retirement Plan, Tax Elections, and more.

Brochures for the conferences have been mailed to tax practitioners, CPAs, lawyers, Commissioners of the Revenue, and other past attendees. Brochures are also available in Extension Unit and District Offices. Registration forms can be duplicated, or you may contact Brenda Chandler by phone: (540) 231-7936, fax: (540) 231-7417, or email: bnchan@vt.edu for further information. Our web site (http://www.aaec.vt.edu/tax/index.html) includes a complete brochure, a registration form that can be printed to mail or fax, as well as additional information about the conferences. For the first time, this year we are now offering online registration via our secure server for those who wish to register using a credit card.

Special farm and forestry tax workshops are available to registered participants. Farm and forestry sessions take place from 5 - 7 p.m. at selected locations (see schedule). Virginia Tech agricultural lawyer, Leon Geyer, teaches the farm tax workshops. He will address contract farming, cost of removing trees, hedge rows, amortization of agricultural program quotas, single purpose structures, depreciation issues, like-kind exchange with installment sale, Form 4797 issues, spousal issues, purchase price allocation, and utility easements. Harry Haney of the Virginia Tech Department of Forestry teaches the forestry sessions. Forestry sessions will explore timely issues regarding timber, such as selective cutting and small woodlots.

The tax conference general sessions will run each day from 8:30 a.m. until 4:45 p.m. Pre-registration and pre-payment are required. The registration fee includes a text, reference material, refreshment breaks, and two luncheons, the farm and forestry workshops and the What's New tax update that is mailed in January. Lodging is not included.

The 600-page Farm and Small Business textbook is a comprehensive study manual used in 45 states. It was written and reviewed by CPAs, tax attorneys, IRS agents, and tax practitioners.

Please contact the Farm and Small Business Registrar, Terry Sadler, at the Donaldson Brown Continuing Education Center, phone (540) 231-2008 or fax (540) 231-3306 for registration information.

VIRGINIA
	November 9 - 10		Richmond I
	November 11 - 12		Staunton
	November 16 - 17		Lynchburg
	November 18 - 19		Roanoke
	November 23 - 24		Bristol
	November 30 - December 1		Dulles
	December 2 - 3		Fredericksburg
	December 7 - 8		Williamsburg
	December 9 - 10		Tidewater
	December 14 - 15		Richmond II
WEST VIRGINIA
	November 17-18		Charleston
	December 3-4		Martinsburg
	December 7-8		Morgantown

FARM DATES AND LOCATIONS:
	November 9	-	Richmond I
	November 11	-	Staunton
	November 16	-	Lynchburg
	November 17	-	Charleston, WV
	November 18	-	Roanoke
	November 23	-	Bristol
	November 30	-	Dulles
	December 2	-	Fredericksburg
	December 8	-	Williamsburg
	December 9	-	Tidewater
FORESTRY DATES AND LOCATIONS:
	November 17	-	Lynchburg
	November 19	-	Roanoke
	November 24	-	Bristol
	December 3	-	Martinsburg, WV
	December 14	-	Richmond

Contact the author at geyer@vt.edu.

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