CE HOURS: 4
Program Number: 4Z48U-T-00216-23-I

TSBPA Sponsor: 004882

AGENDA:

9am - 10am. Registration and networking over coffee and Danish
10:00 a.m. – Taxpayer Advocate Service, William Roberts, Local Taxpayer Advocate
11:00 a.m. – Collection, Claude Watkins, Manager
12:00 p.m. - 1:30 Lunch Break 
1:30 p.m. – Communications & Liaison, Velena McRae, Senior Stakeholder Liaison
2:30 p.m. – Criminal Investigation, Christopher J. Altemus Jr. , CI Special Agent in Charge
4:00 p.m. - Closing

SPEAKERS:

Christopher J. Altemus Jr.
Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation’s (CI) Dallas Field Office (FO). He is responsible for planning, directing, and evaluating of over 100 employees in the states of Arkansas, Oklahoma and North Texas and reports directly to the Director of Field Operations for the Southern area. Christopher began his law enforcement career as a special agent assigned to the Philadelphia Field Office in July 2002. He has since served in numerous leadership positions including Supervisory Special Agent in the Raleigh Post of Duty, Senior Analyst Operations Policy & Support in Washington, D.C., Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Charlotte Field Office, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Nashville Field Office and most recently Director of the National Criminal Investigations Training Academy (NCITA) for IRS Criminal Investigation.

Velena McRae
Velena McRae is a Senior Stakeholder Liaison in Dallas, TX. She has previously served as Acting Manager for various Stakeholder liaison groups across the United States, Stakeholder Liasson focuses on the local engagement of the payroll and practitioner community and stakeholder organizations to provided information about the policies, practices, and procedures the IRS uses to ensure compliance with the tax laws.

Velena started her career with the IRS in 1994, as a Revenue agent in Dallas, TX. She examined high income taxpayers, large businesses, corporations, and partnerships. For several years she specialized in Innocent Spouse cases and before becoming a Stakeholder Liaison, worked as an agent in the Abusive Transaction and Tax Avoidance schemes group. Velena has a B.S. Degree in Accounting, a master’s degree in business administration and a Certification in Business Analytics.

William Roberts
Bill Roberts has over 30 years of experience with the IRS, including almost 10 as the Local Taxpayer Advocate (LTA) in the Dallas Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) office. He formerly worked as a Collector manager and served as a Collection Policy Analyst. As the Dallas LTA he leads of the bigger TAS offices with 3 managers and about 30Case Advocates (CA). He served as a coordinator for the National Tax Forum and managed the Case Resolution Room.

Claude Watkins
Claude Watkins is the Territory Manager for field collection in Fort Worth, TX. He has been with the service for 37 years. He started his career in 1986 as a GS-7 Revenue Officer in Odessa, TX. He has been in management 22 years; 15 years as a Senior Manager. His team covers North Texas up to the Oklahoma border and as far west as El Paso, TX. He has spent time in Insolvency, Offer in Compromise and Advisory as a Frontline and Senior Manager. Claude holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Ar.

lEARNING OBJECTIVES:

1. Learn an overview of the Taxpayer Advocates Service, what it is, what they do and how to submit a referral.
2. Update on Collection Activities post Pandemic. The program will cover procedures, processes and how practitioners can work with collections.
3. Communications and Liaison: The Stakeholder Liaison will present updates on energy credits.
4. Criminal Investigations. CI at a glance, priorities, and trends.

Criminal Investigation
Topic: CI at a Glance, Priorities, and Trends
Learn about IRS: CI and the lates trends in tax and financial scams, how these crimes are evolving, and how IRS:CI is responding to them.

Communications & Liaison
Inflation Reduction Act (Public Law 117 -169, 136 Stat. 1818). Enacted on August 16, 2022, amended the credits for energy efficient home improvements under § 25C of the Internal Revenue Code and residential energy property under §25D of the Code.  The Inflation Reduction Act empowers and equips homeowners who want to make upgrades so they can save energy and reduce their energy costs.

Taxpayer Advocate Service
Overview of the Taxpayer Advocate Service. This presentation will cover who TAS is, what we do, and how to submit a referral. We’ll also discuss systemic advocacy, TAS reports, and updates.

Claude Watkins from Collections
Update on Collection Activities post Pandemic. The presentation will cover Collection procedures and processes and how practitioners can work with IRS Collection to better serve their clients.