advocacy
Session ends, session begins
T
he 2018 Virginia General Assembly session is over — for now. While most of Virginia’s (and the VSCPA’s) legislative priorities have been dealt with, there are two large issues looming on the horizon: The budget and tax reform. Those topics should necessitate two special sessions to determine how Virginia will spend its money the next two years and how it will incorporate the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act into its tax code. The budget session is already underway, having started April 11. This session didn’t necessitate as much direct input from the VSCPA as the tax reform session, which will occur later in the year, but we’ll continue to keep you updated on key developments through our Session Watch e-newsletter. With that covered, here’s how things went for the VSCPA during the regular legislative session.
TAX CONFORMITY Tax conformity proved more complicated than usual because of the aforementioned Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, as well as tax extenders included in federal budget legislation passed in February. The General Assembly delayed much of the discussion until the special
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session but did focus on items dealing with the 2017 tax year, conforming to those provisions with the exception of the decrease in the medical deduction floor. That floor remains at 10 percent for state returns despite the drop to 7.5 percent for federal returns. While the VBOA did get conformity legislation (HB 154/SB 230) passed, the conformity discussion will ramp back up later in the year when the tax reform special session convenes. We’ll have further updates for you then.
CPA LICENSURE There were two bills introduced at the VSCPA’s request with the goal of simplifying the CPA licensing process in Virginia, and both bills passed. The first bill (HB 752/SB 428), which went into effect with Gov. Ralph Northam’s signature Feb. 26, moves the Virginia Board of Accountancy (VBOA) one step closer to a uniform license renewal date of June 30. All Virginia CPA licenses will have an expiration date of June 30 effective that date in 2019. Until then, renewal breaks down as follows:
DISCLOSURES.VSCPA.COM
