ACPEN Signature: Small Business Hot Tax Issues Today

Bill Wilson, CPA, is a manager in the Passthrough Entities Practice Area in the Internal Revenue Service's Large Business and International Division. He holds a B.S. in Business Administration with a major in accounting from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, and a Master of Taxation degree from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. In addition to his work at the IRS, Bill is an adjunct lecturer in the Graduate School of Management at the University of Texas at Dallas.

James A. (Jim) Smith, CPA, CGMA, serves as Managing Director of Smith, Jackson, Boyer & Bovard, PLLC, a Dallas Certified Public Accounting firm. He practices extensively in tax compliance, planning and controversy representation for individuals and entrepreneurial businesses. He also is engaged in the preparation, compilation and review of financial statements; exit strategy planning for entrepreneurs; merger and acquisition planning and transactions; and forensic accounting and litigation services.

Mr. Smith served as Chair of the Texas Society of CPAs (TSCPA) for the 2007-2008 year, and as a member of its Professional Standards and Federal Tax Policy Committees since their inception. He served as a member of the AICPA Council 2007 through 2011 and from 2012 through 2015. He also served as an appointed member of two of the AICPA's key standard setting committees: the Accounting and Review Services Committee from 2008 through 2011 and the Tax Practice Responsibilities Committee, 2014 to 2017.

Kathy Ploch, CPA, currently serves as a Tax Manager at Durio & Company, P.C., in the Houston, Texas area. She prepares individual, corporate, partnership, estate, trust, and non-profit federal and state tax returns. She also assists with IRS and collection issues. She has been with this firm since 2019. Previous to this position, Kathy worked for Harper & Pearson Company, P.C. where she served as Entrepreneurial Services Department Manager from 2012-2019. From 1997-2012 she worked as a Tax Manager for Zientek & Company, P.C.

Kathy received her Master of Business Administration, Accounting degree from the University of Houston in May, 1994 and became a Texas Certified Public Accountant in April, 1999.

Kathy served as President of the Houston CPA Society in 2009-2010 and was the Past Burden Reduction Sub-Group Chair of the Internal Revenue Service from 2009-2011. From 2006 to the present, she has been on the Board of Directors for the Texas Society of CPAs, serves on the TXCPA Federal Tax Policy Committee, and was a Past-President and volunteer for the Texas Accountants & Lawyers for the Arts. From 2014-2016, Kathy was a member of the AICPA Advocacy & Relations Committee, and from 2014-2019, she was an online reviewer of IRS Nationwide Tax Forum presentations. She was a member of the AICPA Tax Executive Committee from 2016-2020. Since 2020, Kathy has been serving as the Chair of the TXCPA Relations with IRS Committee and as an Associate Member of the AICPA Tax-Exempt Technical Resource Panel.

C. Clinton Davis JR, is with the law firm of Krage & Janvey, LLP in downtown Dallas. He graduated cum laude from the SMU Dedman School of Law in 1980 and first in his graduating class from Northwestern State University of Louisiana in 1977 with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting. He was first licensed in Florida as an attorney in 1980 and then in Texas in 1982. He has been a licensed CPA in Texas since 1980. He has been Board Certified in Tax Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 1988. He has been named as a Super Lawyer, a Top Attorney in Texas by Texas Monthly, one of the Best Lawyers in Dallas by D Magazine and a Top Rated Lawyer by the Dallas Morning News, all in the tax area.

Clint has in the past been an author and discussion leader for numerous CPE courses for the Texas Society of CPAs. Clint also speaks before various bar associations and accounting conferences. and is a frequent presenter and moderator on the Accountants' Continuing Professional Education Network.

Clint primarily represents high net worth individuals and closely held businesses with much of his time devoted to real estate tax planning, implementation of S corporation ESOPs, mergers and acquisitions and private foundations.