The Virginia Bankers Association strongly supports Delegate Mugler's HB 1916. Providing Virginia banks' access to the R&D and Major R&D tax credit, the bill allows parity among businesses who seek to invest in technology and innovation in the Commonwealth. The bill has no fiscal impact. We appreciate Delegate Mugler's leadership on this issue and encourage your support of the bill.

RVATECH strongly supports this legislation. Virginia's R&D Tax Credit is a powerful tool for helping to recruit jobs and investment to Virginia, especially in the technology sector. Many of Virginia's banks are leading in this area and HB1916 will enable us to recruit more of these investments to the Commonwealth. Thank you to the patron for bringing the legislation and we hope the committee will support its passage.

The Virginia Society of CPAs (VSCPA)strongly supports HB1999. While the COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented deadline extensions and the need for relief, there are other natural disasters that can affect the ability to file and pay timely. In cases where relief is granted for filing deadlines due to such emergency circumstances, it is also appropriate for the Tax Commissioner to have the authority to waive interest accrual.

The Virginia Society of CPAs (VSCPA) supports HB2059, which will align Virginia with the IRS in terms of limiting and requiring taxpayers to file delinquent returns to the most recent six years under most circumstances with the exception of cases of fraud. Record retention for returns older than six years can be problematic for a variety of reasons. We also concur with the comments submitted by the Virginia Society of Enrolled Agents.

2059: I am in favor of the State of Virginia Department of Taxation being required to conform to the IRS guidelines of requiring and limiting taxpayers to file the most recent 6 years of personal tax returns when there is an issue with non-filing of tax returns (as detailed in IRS Policy Statement 5-133 as well as the Internal Revenue Manual sections 4.12.1.3 & 4.12.1.3.1) except in instances of fraud. Today, there is no limit to how many years of unfiled back tax returns the State of Virginia can ask for and that creates situations where computer based systemic letters can go out to taxpayers asking for returns older than 6 years and that no longer have records available to file with. Thus, when the State of VA creates a substitute return for the taxpayer in lieu of being able to file their own return, the taxpayer is left with little to no ability to contest the amount of the tax liability since obtaining records that old is nearly impossible. In addition, the tax balances created from such old returns are so large (due to interest and penalty accruals) that it takes increased State of VA resources to try and collect the large liabilities that has very little chance of being repaid due to the size and age of the debt. I ask that the State of VA conform to the IRS rule of limiting the enforcement period to be no more than 6 years. 2060: I am in favor of the creation of a State of Virginia online portal access for tax practitioners (Enrolled Agents, CPAs, Attorneys) like what the IRS provides as well as some States (Ex: California, New York). Although there will be upfront costs to build the portal, there will also be cost savings over time as tax practitioners can access needed tax information for taxpayer clients online rather than having to call the State of VA Department of Tax service center to request information (such as State of VA withholding information if a taxpayer has lost their W2 forms and can no longer get them from their previous employer.) One place to begin this process would be to leverage the new State of VA Department of Taxation website. Allowing tax power of attorney practitioners to have their own login and then being able to access client information tied to a properly filed State of VA Department of Tax Power of Attorney (Form PAR 101) would be a less expensive option to begin this process and a great starting point. Creating the tax practitioner login would also help with cybersecurity since a taxpayer client would not have to provide their practitioner with the login information for the taxpayer’s online account, rather a Power of Attorney would allow the practitioner to access their client's information with the practitioner's own login. I ask that the State of VA be directed to create an online portal for tax practitioners to access their client's State of VA tax information once a valid Tax Power of Attorney is filed.

HB2059: I am in favor of the State of Virginia Department of Taxation being required to conform to the IRS guidelines of requiring and limiting taxpayers to file the most recent 6 years of personal tax returns when there is an issue with non-filing of tax returns (as detailed in IRS Policy Statement 5-133 as well as the Internal Revenue Manual sections 4.12.1.3 & 4.12.1.3.1) except in instances of fraud. Today, there is no limit to how many years of unfiled back tax returns the State of Virginia can ask for and that creates situations where systemic letters can go out to taxpayers asking for returns that no longer have records available to file with. Thus, when the State of VA creates a substitute return for the taxpayer in lieu of being able to file their own return, the taxpayer is left with little to no ability to contest the amount of the tax liability since obtaining records that old is nearly impossible. In addition, the tax balances created from such old returns are so large (due to interest and penalty accruals) that it takes increased State of VA resources to try and collect the large liabilities that has very little chance of being repaid due to the size and age of the debt. I ask that the State of VA conform to the IRS rule of limiting the enforcement period to be no more than 6 years. HB2060: I am in favor of the creation of a State of Virginia online portal access for tax practitioners (Enrolled Agents, CPAs, Attorneys) like what the IRS provides as well as some States (Ex: California, New York). Although there will be upfront costs to build the portal, there will also be cost savings over time as tax practitioners can access needed tax information for taxpayer clients online rather than having to call the State of VA Department of Tax service center to request information (such as State of VA withholding information if a taxpayer has lost their W2 forms and can no longer get them from their previous employer.) One place to begin this process would be to leverage the new State of VA Department of Taxation website. Allowing tax power of attorney practitioners to have their own login and then being able to access client information tied to a properly filed State of VA Department of Tax Power of Attorney (Form PAR 101) would be a less expensive option to begin this process. Creating the tax practitioner login would also help with cybersecurity since a taxpayer client would not have to provide their practitioner with the login information for the taxpayer's online account, rather a Power of Attorney would allow the practitioner to access their client's information with the practitioner's own login. I ask that the State of VA be directed to create an online portal for tax practitioners to access their client's State of VA tax information once a valid Tax Power of Attorney is filed.

The Virginia Society of CPAs (VSCPA) supports HB2060 related to studying the feasibility of creating a secure, online portal for tax practitioners to be able to access their client information when they hold a valid Power of Attorney (POA). We believe this would be a valuable tool for tax practitioners as well as creating efficiencies and cost savings for the Virginia Department of Taxation. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and several states already have similar system in place which work well and save staff time and resources on all sides. The VSCPA would also be happy to assist with the study as appropriate.

As we testified to in subcommittee, RVATECH supports Delegate Coyner's HB2060 to increase efficiencies for taxpayers, tax professionals, and the Department through the utilization of greater technology, and we look forward to the study.

2059: I am in favor of the State of Virginia Department of Taxation being required to conform to the IRS guidelines of requiring and limiting taxpayers to file the most recent 6 years of personal tax returns when there is an issue with non-filing of tax returns (as detailed in IRS Policy Statement 5-133 as well as the Internal Revenue Manual sections 4.12.1.3 & 4.12.1.3.1) except in instances of fraud. Today, there is no limit to how many years of unfiled back tax returns the State of Virginia can ask for and that creates situations where computer based systemic letters can go out to taxpayers asking for returns older than 6 years and that no longer have records available to file with. Thus, when the State of VA creates a substitute return for the taxpayer in lieu of being able to file their own return, the taxpayer is left with little to no ability to contest the amount of the tax liability since obtaining records that old is nearly impossible. In addition, the tax balances created from such old returns are so large (due to interest and penalty accruals) that it takes increased State of VA resources to try and collect the large liabilities that has very little chance of being repaid due to the size and age of the debt. I ask that the State of VA conform to the IRS rule of limiting the enforcement period to be no more than 6 years. 2060: I am in favor of the creation of a State of Virginia online portal access for tax practitioners (Enrolled Agents, CPAs, Attorneys) like what the IRS provides as well as some States (Ex: California, New York). Although there will be upfront costs to build the portal, there will also be cost savings over time as tax practitioners can access needed tax information for taxpayer clients online rather than having to call the State of VA Department of Tax service center to request information (such as State of VA withholding information if a taxpayer has lost their W2 forms and can no longer get them from their previous employer.) One place to begin this process would be to leverage the new State of VA Department of Taxation website. Allowing tax power of attorney practitioners to have their own login and then being able to access client information tied to a properly filed State of VA Department of Tax Power of Attorney (Form PAR 101) would be a less expensive option to begin this process and a great starting point. Creating the tax practitioner login would also help with cybersecurity since a taxpayer client would not have to provide their practitioner with the login information for the taxpayer’s online account, rather a Power of Attorney would allow the practitioner to access their client's information with the practitioner's own login. I ask that the State of VA be directed to create an online portal for tax practitioners to access their client's State of VA tax information once a valid Tax Power of Attorney is filed.

HB2059: I am in favor of the State of Virginia Department of Taxation being required to conform to the IRS guidelines of requiring and limiting taxpayers to file the most recent 6 years of personal tax returns when there is an issue with non-filing of tax returns (as detailed in IRS Policy Statement 5-133 as well as the Internal Revenue Manual sections 4.12.1.3 & 4.12.1.3.1) except in instances of fraud. Today, there is no limit to how many years of unfiled back tax returns the State of Virginia can ask for and that creates situations where systemic letters can go out to taxpayers asking for returns that no longer have records available to file with. Thus, when the State of VA creates a substitute return for the taxpayer in lieu of being able to file their own return, the taxpayer is left with little to no ability to contest the amount of the tax liability since obtaining records that old is nearly impossible. In addition, the tax balances created from such old returns are so large (due to interest and penalty accruals) that it takes increased State of VA resources to try and collect the large liabilities that has very little chance of being repaid due to the size and age of the debt. I ask that the State of VA conform to the IRS rule of limiting the enforcement period to be no more than 6 years. HB2060: I am in favor of the creation of a State of Virginia online portal access for tax practitioners (Enrolled Agents, CPAs, Attorneys) like what the IRS provides as well as some States (Ex: California, New York). Although there will be upfront costs to build the portal, there will also be cost savings over time as tax practitioners can access needed tax information for taxpayer clients online rather than having to call the State of VA Department of Tax service center to request information (such as State of VA withholding information if a taxpayer has lost their W2 forms and can no longer get them from their previous employer.) One place to begin this process would be to leverage the new State of VA Department of Taxation website. Allowing tax power of attorney practitioners to have their own login and then being able to access client information tied to a properly filed State of VA Department of Tax Power of Attorney (Form PAR 101) would be a less expensive option to begin this process. Creating the tax practitioner login would also help with cybersecurity since a taxpayer client would not have to provide their practitioner with the login information for the taxpayer's online account, rather a Power of Attorney would allow the practitioner to access their client's information with the practitioner's own login. I ask that the State of VA be directed to create an online portal for tax practitioners to access their client's State of VA tax information once a valid Tax Power of Attorney is filed.