IACCGH Annual Tax Seminar 2019

By Sowmya Murali

Photo credit: Paresh Shah

The IACCGH Annual Tax seminar which seeks to educate the community on various tax related queries and issues was held on Feb 24^th,2019 at the India House, attracting over 110+ attendees.

Held for the seventh year in a row, the event was ably moderated and chaired by CPA Swapan Dhairyawan. IACCGH Secretary Ashok Garg opened the event by thanking the distinguished panel of CPA’s for contributing their valuable time during the thick of tax season, in educating the community. IACCGH President and Moderator for the seminar, Swapan Dhairyawan introduced the speakers and thanked “Charter Title Company” the sponsor for this event. With the recent changes to many tax related laws in 2018, he emphasized the Chamber’s commitment of bringing “value to the community” through such events.

Panelist CPA Atul Kothari explained the complexity of IRS Code section 199A and interest deduction for qualified business income from a “specified trade or business”. He stated that this new code is significant for small business owners and needs professional assistance to stay in compliance.

CPA Mahesh Desai explained the importance of FBAR (Foreign Bank Account Report) and also highlighted the recent changes on Business & the Individual tax brackets. He went on to explain the new tax percentages changes for each income bracket and how the taxpayers need to comply under current tax laws. CPA Shehan Chandrasekar ventured into the new territory of Cryptocurrency and explained the various tax laws and implications associated with Bitcoin and its significance with emerging Tax compliance.

The presentations were followed by an interactive Q&A session which covered most of the topics & issues raised by the attendees. Madras Pavilion provided refreshments for the event.