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A Message from the President Our 2019 Annual Fall Meeting marked our Chapter’s 25th Anniversary. We had a grand celebration and missed those who could not attend. I would like to thank the Event Planners and all the others who did such wonderful work on the meal planning and the decorations. I also want to thank our members for their generous contributions to our charity the Baldwin County Boys Ranch.
Once again for our 2020 Charity, I have chosen the Baldwin County Boys Ranch. Please start gathering hygienic products, paper products and cleaning supplies. If you would like to see more of what the Ranch does for these young men, please visit https://boysandgirlsranches.org/baldwin. You can also check out their U-tube video: https://youtu.be/XTyKJapsG3E.
We have chosen to host only one meeting in 2020. Your education committee is working hard for the one and only Spring Fling Seminar in May of 2020. I hope to see you all there for some wonderful education and networking opportunities. Please do not forget our famous Stone-Lewis Scholarship Auction with Ms. Nelda Bunch as our Auctioneer. Start thinking of items to bring as well as saving some money to buy those special items that catch your eye.
I am extremely honored to serve as the President of this Chapter for another year. I want to welcome back my existing Board Members: Brandon Jones; Pam Worsham; Amanda Elrod; Nelda Bunch; Carol Bates, Kathy Hallford; Gwendolyn Harris Brooks; Victoria Kokemor; and Deidree Jones. A special welcome goes to our newest Board Member, Starla Smith. I feel that 2020 is going to be a great year for our AL NATP Chapter!
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact myself or any Board Member. I would like to thank our hard-working Board of Directors and our Membership for your continued support of our Alabama NATP Chapter!
Volume 5, Issue 4
Bama News
Board of Directors President: Sheila Sutton [email protected] 256-586-2366
Vice President: Kathy Hallford [email protected] 251-843-5153
Secretary: Deidree Jones [email protected] 205-436-8481
Treasurer: Pam Worsham Co-Chair [email protected] 251-478-6044 Treasurer: Elizabeth Johnson Co-Chair [email protected] 251-653-5575
Gwendolyn Harris Brooks [email protected] 334-664-3581
Nelda Bunch [email protected] 251-957-6566
Amanda Elrod [email protected] 256-547-9909
Carol Bates [email protected] 251-679-9216
Brandon Jones [email protected] 205-518-8850
Vicky Kokemor [email protected] 251-216-1975
Doug Crump [email protected] 205-556-0042
In this issue: • Message from the President • Education News • Welcome new members • Anniversaries • New Form W-4 Release • Member Brags • Upcoming Events
News from your Alabama Chapter
Sheila M Sutton, EA AL NATP Chapter President
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July Jenelle Ruiz Caraballo Vernitta Anderson Aug Anna Troxell Peggy Wall, CPA Valarie Gaston, AFSP Sept John McCabe, ATT Melissa Pope, EA Nov Latoya Robinson Patricia Ann McLain, EA Takeya Mack Timothy Hall
5 Years Walter Montgomery Caroline Bates Debra Blackburn Claudette Richardson Sharlyn Williams 10 Years James Driskell 15 Years Cris Nelson Sheila Sutton 20 Years Douglas Crump 25 Years Frank Reid 30 Years Jimmy Vick
Fall Conference and Thanksgiving are behind us and Christmas is upon us. I wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year & a Successful Tax Season!
Fall conference was a great success. Special appreciation to Liz Johnson and her committee on the Anniversary decorations & the awesome food!! I think everyone loved the photo booth, I know I did! I wished I had thought to get a picture with everyone in attendance. I know we all enjoyed looking at the pictures from our history!! Special thanks to Mrs. Tony Elrod for the “25” pictures and their arrangement! I thoroughly enjoyed playing Bingo! Thank you to everyone that brought Bingo prizes and participated in the games!! Last, but not least, thanks for supporting our charity, The Baldwin County Sherriff’s Boys Ranch by bringing supplies and/or purchasing raffle tickets.
2020 is before us… The Board has voted to have “ONE” meeting in 2020!! SO, mark your calendars now and make your plans to attend. Spring Fling will also serve as our Annual Membership Meeting for 2020. May 3-6, 2020 is the date and the Hampton Inn, Orange Beach, AL will again be our host facility. Per our Spring Fling past attendees’ requests, the now renown, Mrs. Kathryn Keane, EA will be our primary instructor! If you have a specific request for a topic, please let me or Brandon Jones know what you would like. (Brandon’s contact information is on page 1.)
Please feel free to reach out to me or any of our BOD members with requests, thoughts and/or complaints. I can be reached via email at [email protected] or 251-843-5153 Office or 251-605-0644 mobile.
Visit us on: Facebook page Alabama NATP And www.natptax.com
Kathy R Hallford, EA AL NATP VP/Ed Chair
Education News!
Cruising for Education?? What about an
“Educational Cruise? We are working on putting together a 4-5 day cruise out of the Mobile Port. Possible dates in October or November 2020 with pricing starting at $264 per person for double occupancy. Pricing varies according to room occupancy and location, i.e. interior, ocean view, balcony or suite. Pricing includes sleeping room, food, and non-alcoholic beverages. There would be classes available during the two days at sea with 4 to 6 hours each day for a total of 8-12 CPE hours available.
Telephone Directory
Practitioner Priority Service Individuals
866.860.4259
Business 800.829.4933
National Taxpayer Advocate
877.777.4778
Alabama Taxpayer Advocate 334.242.1055
EFTPS
800.555.3453
IRS Refund Hotline 800.829.1040
Alabama Department of
Revenue 334.242.1170
A Little Humor
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New Form W-4 Release
Volunteering
Volunteers are always needed and very much welcomed. There is always something that can be done or someone that could use help doing a task. As a Non-Profit Organization we depend on our volunteers to help make our events a success. If you could spare a little of your time to help with some of the tasks, please let Sheila Sutton know. You can email her at [email protected] or call her at 256-586-2366.
The final version of the 2020 Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Certificate is now available on IRS.gov. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4.pdf The new W-4 form better incorporates the changes ushered in by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act allowing employees to more accurately estimate the amount of tax they ask their employers to withhold from their paychecks beginning in 2020. In addition, the goal of the new design is to balance simplicity, accuracy and privacy for employees while minimizing burden for employers and payroll processors. A few of the visual changes that were made in the last draft shared include:
• it is now a full page • there are no withholding allowances (which is why the title of the form
changed to “Employee’s Withholding Certificate”) • steps 1 through 5 to guide employees through the form • instructions, worksheets, and tables follow the first page
Changes since the last draft include minor edits to verbiage, but more notably, on page 2, under “Your Privacy,” more language was added to help the taxpayer understand exactly what checking the box in step 2(c) may do to withholdings. The IRS encourages all payroll professionals to become familiar with the new form now so that they can help employers and employees with proper withholding in 2020. The new Publication 15-T, Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods, to be released in mid-December for use with the new 2020 Form W-4, will provide the employer steps to figure federal withholding. Go to Irs.gov for more information.
25th Anniversary Celebration
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Thank you to everyone that helped make the 25th Anniversary Celebration a huge success. If you were not there, you missed out on all the fun and wonderful food!
2019 National Convention
Chicago, IL
This year’s National Convention was a blast. We had great education, a wonderful city to explore, chances to meet people in our field from all over the US, and a great party to boot! If you missed this year’s National Convention in Chicago, you really need to plan to be at the next one in San Antonio, TX, July 27-30, 2020. I’m sure that you will be glad that you went.
Below are just a few of the pictures from our endeavors during the National Convention. As you can see, it was a great time for everyone.
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Alabama State Updates Jan 9, 202 Online Webinar
LIVE EDUCATION: 2020 Spring Fling Education & Annual Membership Meeting Conference May 3-6, 2020 Orange Beach, AL NATP National Conference July 27-30, 2020 San Antonio, TX
Member Brags
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Hello! Thank you for taking the time to read the AL NATP Bama News. With the bulk of tax season finished...we are all playing catch up with extensions, bookkeeping and/or taking some well-deserved time off. I would like to take a minute to ask each of you to consider submitting an article, accomplishment, or story, etc. for our newsletter. If you find something interesting, please share it with the rest of us.
I guarantee most will find it just as interesting as you. Maybe you want to share a feel-good story, funny picture or just toot your own horn. It just takes a few minutes to write something up and submit it. I look forward to seeing what everyone else is up too.
Deidree Jones [email protected]
Notes from the Editor
Facebook Don’t forget to check out our Facebook group! The group is closed, so we can ask our peers questions about tax situations our clients are facing, or for advice, or just share information. Please remember to not post personally identifying information about your clients or others. The group can be reached at https://www.facebook.com/groups/210377679417271 or by searching for Alabama NATP in Facebook
Brandon Jones served at the Motion Conference at the BJCC were there were over 16,000 kids. He was on the concourse team and this was his third time to serve at this event.
Congratulations to Gwen Harris-Brooks who was recently selected as President of the Alabama Association of School Board of Directors. What an honor this is. Way to go Gwen!
Deidree Jones served on the Helena Festival Committee that held its annual holiday bazaar. This bazaar is where vendors come together to sell their hometown items while the children get to see Santa as well as get a story told to them from Mrs. Claus. This is one of the largest community events held in the town.
Big Congratulations to Kathy Hallford for winning Small Business of the Year from the local Chamber of Commerce. Being recognized by her piers speaks volumes of her dedication to the community and her business. Congratulations to our very own Kathy Hallford for her much deserving recognition.
