2013 General Assembly

The 2013 Virginia General Assembly Session convened today, though legislation has been trickling in for several months already. For the first time in several years, the VSCPA doesn't have any of its own legislation to champion. However, that certainly doesn't mean we can sit back and relax. Already on tap is the annual fixed date conformity legislation and a bill introduced at the request of the Virginia Board of Accountancy (VBOA) to put into place a statute of limitations for filing complaints against CPAs. Both of these bills have the support of the VSCPA.

Other issues being discussed for potential positions involve tort reform and procurement preferences. Additionally, we'll be looking at some tax administration issues in Gov. McDonnell's introduced budget. Specifically, these involve mandatory e-Filing of withholding and W-2's and e-Filing of pass-through entity returns. We've gotten mixed input on these issues so far, so please let us know if you have feedback you'd like VSCPA leadership to take into consideration in formulating our positions.

It's always a challenge to mine through the hundreds of bills introduced during each session in order to determine which issues to get involved in. One of our best sources of information is member input. While we may not be able to take on every issue that we're asked to, the leadership does evaluate every request and most of the VSCPA's biggest advocacy successes have resulted from members reaching out and providing input. If you know about a piece of legislation that will have an impact on the CPA profession, please let us know. Chances are high that if it's important to you, it will be important to other members as well!

Keep an eye on your email inbox for the first issue of "2013 Session Watch" this Friday and don't forget to visit the "Session Watch" page on the VSCPA website for detailed information on the legislation we're tracking.