The Atlanta Lawyer December 2016 / January 2017 | Page 36
SECTION UPDATE
2017 Events
TAX LAW
By Julian A. Fortuna
Taylor English Duma LLP
[email protected]
CLE Seminar
On November 7, 2016, the Tax Law Section co-sponsored with Diversified Trust Company and the Estate
Planning & Probate Section a 3.5 hour CLE seminar on
“Estate Planning for Non-Taxable and Barely Taxable
Estates” at the Cobb Energy Center. The speaker at
this well-attended event was Turney Berry who is a
partner with Wyatt Tarrant & Combs, LLP where he
leads the Firm’s Trusts, Estates & Personal Planning
Service Team. A cocktail party was held afterwards.
December Events
Two events were planned for December this year. On
December 5, 2016, our semi-annual Tax Bar Liaison
Meeting with the Georgia Department of Revenue
was held at their offices. There was a panel moderated by Richard Litwin, Frank O’Connell, General
Counsel of the Georgia Department of Revenue, and
Mace Gunter of Delta Airlines. The event serves as
a semi-annual meeting of the Department and tax
practitioners, discussing updates and developments
on Georgia state tax issues, court decisions, and insight
into tax items for the upcoming legislative session.
On December 9, 2016, scheduled along with the Litigation and the Labor and Employment Sections was a
joint breakfast CLE entitled “Settlement Agreements
in Employment Cases – Avoiding the Landmines” at
which I discussed recent developments in the taxation
of settlement payments alongside Amanda Farahany,
Chair of the Labor and Employment Section. More
than 70 members from the three sections were in
attendance at the event.
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December 2016 / January 2017
Our first event after the start of the new year will be a
joint breakfast CLE on January 12, 2017 with the Real
Estate Section at the office of Arnall Golden Gregory.
The topic is yet to be determined.
On January 17, we will hold our annual “Ethics and
Professionalism” CLE seminar in conjunction with
the Taxation Law Section of the State Bar.
On March 23, 2017, David Golden, Patti Richards,
Richard Litwin, Mona Maerz and I will be teaming
up with Robyn Miller of the Pro Bono Partnership
of Atlanta at the midtown office of Sutherland Asbill
to present a seminar entitled “Working With Georgia
§501(c)(3) Nonprofits.” In connection with the Atlanta Bar Association’s “March Madness” program
this seminar will provide an overview of how Georgia
nonprofits are structured, the basic tax rules for taxexempt organizations, and the restrictions on how
they operate (political activity, lobbying, inurement,
and private benefit). The seminar will also cover how
Georgia nonprofits solicit donations legally, how and
to what extent they can raise money outside their
mission, and how Georgia sales tax and property tax
applies to them.
For April 12, 2017 and May 16, 2017, we have planned
Joint CLE programs with the Estate Planning & Probate Section at the Buckhead Club. The first will be a
breakfast seminar at which we will team up with an
estate planner to discuss how various states determine
residency for income, estate and gift tax purposes.
The second will be a late afternoon seminar on “Secondary Planning for Charitable Remainder Trusts” to
be presented by Evan Unzelman, president of our
sponsor, Sterling Foundation Management. Evan’s
presentation will be followed by a cocktail party.
We hope to see you at one or more of these upcoming events!