Kennesaw, December 29, 2015 ― VJI President and CEO Valerie Jordan attended the Institute for Professionals in Taxation® (IPT) Georgia One-Day Tax Seminar held at the Westin Atlanta Perimeter North hotel on November 20, 2015. These annual events are held in 20 states for the purpose of keeping tax professionals aware of current and emerging tax issues specific to their individual states. Also attending these programs are senior state tax officials, who are available to meet the seminar attendees.

“The seminar this year was once again attended by staff representing the Georgia Department of Revenue, tax executives from many of Georgia’s largest employers, and employees from local accounting and tax consulting companies. I’m happy to say that this year’s seminar was exceptional and I enjoyed every minute of it.”
Jordan paid special attention to the parts of the seminar that would have the most impact on VJI’s clients. “Georgia DOR Commissioner Lynne Riley gave opening comments that focused on the changes made during her first year as the new commissioner. She also announced the upcoming retirement of Anita DeGumbia, the DOR Director of Audits Division. Chief Tax Officer Staci Guest discussed the recent initiatives at the DOR including combining the taxpayer services division with the processing division and splitting the compliance division into audits and collections divisions. These changes will have an effect on how we assist our clients.”

One of the new DOR employees introduced at the seminar by Director of the DOR Office of Special Investigations Josh Waites was Sid. “Sid is a drug-sniffing dog that works in the DOR Office of Special Investigations,” notes Jordan. “Sid’s trainer and handler, James Beveridge, was on hand to explain how Sid spends most days working at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. His job is to detect contaminated cash carried by travelers who may be trafficking drugs through the airport.”

“There were other topics covered at the seminar including updates to taxpayer services, special investigations, legal affairs and tax policies,” says Jordan. “I took copious notes during the seminar and was introduced to some of the other attendees. I’m reviewing and summarizing my notes so that I can share what I learned with my consulting staff, who will then pass it along to our clients. All I can say is that there is no substitute for learning what’s happening at the DOR than hearing it in-person straight from the top.”