Pub. 2 2020 Issue 1

7 nebraska society of cpas W W W . N E S C P A . O R G Joni Sundquist is president and executive director of the Nebraska Society of CPAs. You may contact her at (402) 476-8482 or joni@nescpa.org. The second session of the 106th Legislature started January 8. Included on the Society’s affirmative agenda is LB 782, introduced by Sen. John Stinner of Gering (District 48), who is chairman of the Nebraska Legislature’s Appropriations Committee. LB 782 would allow individuals to sit for the CPA exam within 120 days of completing the necessary 150 hours of education. Currently, individuals are only allowed to sit for the exam within 60 days of earning the required 150 hours of education. In addition, the bill removes outdated language and extends the amount of time inwhich the individual must notify the State Board, from 90 days to 150 days, following when the first test section of the exam is taken. The Society has worked closely with the NebraskaBoardof PublicAccountancy in the drafting of this legislation. SocietyChairman Shari Munro testified in support of LB 782 before the Nebraska Legislature’s Banking, Insurance, and Commerce Committee on Tuesday, January 20. She explained that the purpose of LB 782 is to ease the burden and provide greater convenience for those CPA examination candidates in Nebraska who choose to sit for the examination before completing the required 150-hour education requirement. Presently, some Nebraska candidates are sitting for the examination in other states; the Society hopes that by expanding theprovisional requirements,more candidates will stay in the state to take the exam. Although this may not impact a large number of candidates, the Society would like to ensure that the requirements to become a CPA remain relevant and are not overly burdensome.Also testifying in favor of the bill was Society Past Chairman Tom Purcell of Creighton University, who was representing the State Board. Purcell currently serves as vice chairman of the State Board. Your Society is also keeping a close eye on LB 946, introduced by Sen. Tom Briese of Albion (District 41). In a nutshell, the bill would tax all services not specifically exempted (current exemptions don’t count) and then lower the sales tax rate so that the result is revenue neutral. This process would be completed over the next year and take effect July 2021. According to Briese, the plan would be to pass LB 946 during this session. Next year, service providers would have the opportunity to plead their cases as to why their service should be exempt. The Legislature would then decide what services to exclude from taxation and the rest would be taxed. Under the plan, in October 2021, the state sales tax rate would drop 1% to 4%. Then the tax commissioner would adjust the sales tax rate according to a schedule set out in the bill, with the final adjustment in 2023. Read the bill at http://bit.ly/LB946-2020. The secondbill that has the potential to impact some of you is LB 989, introduced by Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha (District 13). LB 989 would tax digital advertisements. The bill defines a digital advertisement as “an advertisingmessagedeliveredover the Internet that markets or promotes a particular good, service, or political candidate or message.” Read the bill at http://bit.ly/LB989-2020. A complete list of 2020 new legislation is at http://bit.ly/2020NELegBills. Stay tuned for further updates on legislation we’re tracking that could impact the profession. The next Nebraska Society of CPAs Board of Directors meeting will take place onMay 27 at Quarry Oaks Golf Club in Ashland. Please feel free to contact me or anymember of the Society Board with suggestions or comments before the next meeting. t The Society would like to ensure the requirements to become a CPA remain relevant and are not overly burdensome.