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IRS Compliance Initiatives



Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Product Code - LGAU02
Speaker(s): Monika A. Templeman, Internal Revenue Service; Thomas G. Schendt, Alston & Bird LLP
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Join us as our expert panel identifies insightful and cost effective issues for U.S. and multinational employers and provides practical tips for accomplishing solutions and tactics to avoiding penalties.

  

 Educational Objectives:

• Candid talk about compliance efforts from the Director of Employee Plans Examinations
• Many employers are concluding their 5500 filings – learn if what you just marked on the reports could trigger an audit
• Learn what you should disclose under the audit to an agent and what not to disclose
• Did you know the IRS is focused on executing more audits?
• The 401(k) questionnaire was successful for the IRS – now learn about the aftermath!
• What to do when you are currently being audited and want to know how and why you got there and how to get yourself out of it
• Learn who is liable for recordkeeping errors and why it may be the ER’s fault
• What is the probable sanction amount under audit-cap?
• What types of “non-conforming corrections” work?
• SCP/VCP/VFCP – you may know the rules, but what is the “reality”?
• Learn how many years you need to go back to correct errors
• Experts discuss tactics and viable alternatives, not the standard types of corrections.

Program Highlights

• What goes on behind the “curtain” of an audit
• You selected SCP and are now under audit. What can you expect?
• Practical tips for identifying plan issues and how to resolve them
• What do other companies do in these situations?
• You owe how much in a CAP sanction?! What real factors went into the dollar amount? How can you get it lower?
• Should you tell the IRS auditor everything?

Who would benefit most from attending this program? (This program assumes the listener has some basic knowledge of audits and plan corrections from practice or prior seminars.)

• In-house legal practitioners in the areas of tax and employee benefits/executive compensation
• HR professionals
• Financial individuals
• Payroll department

Monika A. Templeman, Internal Revenue Service; Thomas G. Schendt, Alston & Bird LLP

Monika A. Templeman / Internal Revenue Service
Ms. Templeman is the Director of Employee Plans Examinations. She serves as the Executive Sponsor for the TE/GE International Initiative and for the cross-functional Memorandum of Understanding on Promoter Investigations to deter and stop abusive schemes. She also serves as the IRS Executive Champion for 412 (i) Abusive Tax Avoidance Transaction enforcement efforts and for the Enrolled Retirement Plan Agent (ERPA) program that provides limited enrollment opportunities for un-enrolled preparers.

Ms. Templeman has over 20 years of experience in IRS management positions. Her previous position was EP Area Manager, Great Lakes. She acted as Director EP Rulings and Agreements in 2005 after graduating from the Executive Readiness Program. She is an attorney, former Corporate Counsel, former Law Professor and a member of the California Bar.

Thomas G. Schendt / Alston & Bird LLP
Mr. Schendt is a partner in Alston & Bird’s Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Group. His practice focuses on employee plan litigation, agency civil and criminal audits, investigations and disputes and voluntary compliance initiatives involving the Internal Revenue Service, Department of the Treasury, Department of Labor, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice. Mr. Schendt also regularly counsels large employers on the practical effect of various qualification requirements that are issued by appropriate government agencies. This includes assisting clients with the execution of various plan administration and qualification requirements under Titles I & II of ERISA.

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Schendt was with the Internal Revenue Service, where he held a number of positions beginning in 1988. As technical assistant to the associate chief counsel, Employee Benefits and Exempt Organizations (EBEO) for the Office of Chief Counsel, Internal Revenue Service, Mr. Schendt assisted in the coordination of national employee benefits litigation for the IRS, including plan disputes and compliance initiatives. He also acted as a liaison between the National Office of the Internal Revenue Service and various field offices, including Exam and Appeals. The unique combination of Mr. Schendt's prior experience dealing with sensitive IRS, DOL and SEC compliance issues plus his understanding of the practical aspects in the administration and management of retirement plans provides clients with strategic alternatives in a cost effective manner. He earned J.D., M.B.A., and B.S. degrees from Marquette University.