Spotlight Interview Part 1:
Chuck Levun and Michael Cohen on Educating CPAs, Attorneys and Other Tax Planning Professionals – As Well as Their Seasoned Advice for Tax Professionals New and Old
For more than thirty-seven years, Charles R. Levun and Michael J. Cohen (the founders of Tax Forum) have been creating and presenting the preeminent seminars on flow-through taxation. The two flagship Tax Forum programs are Fundamentals of Flow-Through® and Tax Planning Forum®. In addition, Tax Forum is expanding its programs to include self-study (on-demand) training, as well as working on an additional course, which they will share with us soon.
Please read Part 1 of this special interview for Chuck’s and Michael’s descriptions of these programs and education in the flow-through taxation arena. Part 2 will focus on significant tax planning challenges that partnerships face … and the biggest mistakes Chuck and Michael have seen, that they will help you avoid.
Speaking of avoiding potential big mistakes, take a moment to register for Tax Forum’s complimentary webinar:
Avoiding Costly Mistakes: Four Essential Tax Concepts for the Non-Tax Business Attorney or CPA taking place on Thursday, May 16th at Noon CDT
You will appreciate what you will learn by spending time with these leading tax experts/educators.
Kat Jennings’ Question:
First of all, tell us about your favorite career accomplishments?
Chuck Levun’s Answer:
I’ve had many. However, perhaps my favorite is to have developed the Tax Planning Forum and the Fundamentals of Flow-Through tax programs with my partner, Michael Cohen. We’re in our 38th year of presenting these partnership, LLC and S corporation flow-through programs for tax professionals, and I feel that we have assisted several decades of tax professionals to be better educated and better able to assist their clients in closely held business matters.
Michael and I have also been very fortunate to have served as the editors-in-chief of the Journal of Passthrough Entities during its entire 20-year publication, and to have written 400 monthly Partner’s Perspective columns for the Wolters Kluwer (CCH) Partnership Tax Planning and Practice Guide. These vehicles enabled us to learn and assist others to learn at the same time.
But maybe, the most rewarding aspect of all this is the opportunity we have had to not only educate other professionals but also to assist them in growing their practices and retaining clients who are in need of creative business structuring. I also have been involved in mentoring other professionals, both officially and unofficially. More recently, I have been involved with both the Chicago Bar Association and the ABA Tax Section in their mentoring and diversity programs. These mentoring relationships have turned into friendships, and it’s been amazing watching young professionals blossom and grow.
Kat Jennings’ Question:
What is Tax Forum and what is its origin?
Chuck Levun’s Answer:
Back in 1985, I was engaged to be the consultant for the CCH Partnership Tax and Practice Guide. When the project was close to being finalized in the summer of 1987, I asked myself – “how can I help market this product?” I remember pitching the Tax Forum® concept to CCH and meeting with Dick Merrill, CCH’s CEO, who said to the 6 VPs present in the conference room, and I quote, “you guys make this work.” The Tax Forum started in the fall of 1987 as a 1-1/2 day in-person program presented in four cities. After four years, CCH indicated that they no longer were interested in being in the seminar business (although for many years CCH remained a Tax Forum sponsor), and my partner, Michael Cohen, and I took over the entire concept and grew it to what it is today. At one point, we were presenting two-day in-person programs in seven cities, as well as presenting private seminars to national CPA firms in another seven or so cities. Today, the Tax Forum is presented both virtually (which we had been urged to do even before COVID), and in-person, providing up to 20 hours of CPE credit (with CLE credit varying by state). And the national firms to which we presented are now part of a growing “Premier Partner” group with whom we have special pricing arrangements for, in some cases, the hundreds of attendees that they have sent to our programs to obtain their flow-through training and knowledge of cutting-edge flow-through taxation principles and techniques. Currently, we have two comprehensive transactionally presented programs, our advanced program, the Tax Planning Forum, and our program dealing with fundamental flow-through concepts and planning techniques, Fundamentals of Flow-Through® Partnership, LLC and S Corporation Tax Seminar.
Kat Jennings’ Question:
What do you think separates the Tax Forum programs from the multitudes of other tax training that CPAs and attorneys can find?
Michael Cohen’s Answer:
Several items. First, our courses don’t “tease.” We start with a client fact pattern that our attendees are likely to encounter. Second, we lay out the planning options and discuss the pros and cons, letting the attendees know what is controversial and what is not. We discuss and illustrate how to apply the relevant concepts. Our detailed analysis of the transaction and its various components allows the attendee to move forward with the client with an understanding of the concepts to be addressed. Third, we always make ourselves available by phone or email to assist our attendees with any questions that may arise. With this approach, we very commonly hear, “I just set up meetings with three of my clients to discuss exactly what you just covered. My partner told me that would be the case.” We also receive between 10 to 15 calls and emails per week from the attendees to discuss offshoots of the transactions we presented. In fact, we received an email recently that said, “By the way, isn’t it awesome to have a resource like Levun and Cohen available? So many of the guys that speak at various conferences never tackle the ‘tough’ or ‘real life’ transactions – Chuck and Mike always have…and to have them pick up the phone for a consult is pretty friggin’ awesome.”
Kat Jennings’ Question:
What is your favorite part of the education series you provide on partnership taxation?
Michael Cohen’s Answer:
It’s all about the personal interaction with the attendees, whether it’s in person or during the live Q&A sessions we have at our virtual programs. We have developed some very close business and personal relationships with many of our more than 40,000 attendees over the 37 years we have been presenting these programs (many of whom have attended our courses numerous times).
Chuck Levun’s Answer:
Sometimes it is just catching up with stories about an attendee’s children or grandchildren, and other times it’s assisting the attendee in being a hero to the attendee’s client with knowledge that we have provided.
Kat Jennings’ Question:
What new workshops or courses are planned?
Michael Cohen’s Answer:
In addition to our Tax Forum program, which is brand new every year and contains the latest flow-through planning ideas and analysis of new developments, and our Fundamentals program, which covers the core concepts of flow-through taxation, we expect this fall to introduce a course for the business attorney or CPA that does not know tax concepts very well, but needs to be aware of the foot faults to avoid and the critical concepts to consider when providing core services to the closely held business. It is expected that this one-of-a-kind course will be divided into several topics, so that it can be viewed by the professional in segments of one to two hours, with the professional being able to decide which of the topics are relevant to the professional’s practice. We expect that all the segments likely will aggregate a full day of material and will be presented in a self-study format. If sufficient demand exists, we also might stream the full course content combined with one or more live Q&A sessions.
Chuck Levun’s Answer:
We also have started offering other self-study courses on selected topics. So far, we have two: “The §465 At-Risk Rules: Important Concepts” and “Planning and More Under the S Corporation §1374 Built-In Gain Rules.” It is anticipated that more will be on the way.
Kat Jennings’ Question:
What would you advise a less experienced tax professional working in partnerships?
Chuck Levun’s Answer:
Get involved in the tax sections of bar associations to align yourself with experienced tax professionals. Be a sponge for knowledge, and get involved in projects, such as commenting on Treasury and IRS pronouncements. Getting to know and gaining the respect of other tax professionals is extremely valuable, and will be of enormous help in growing one’s knowledge and developing resources when a difficult question arises. Also – read, read, read!
Kat Jennings’ Question:
What is the best way for a person to be successful in flow-through taxation?
Michael Cohen’s Answer:
While almost anyone who is willing to learn and work hard in the flow-through arena can be successful, I feel that for an attorney who wants to work in this arena, having an undergraduate education in the business arena or even just taking an accounting course provides a leg up. So much of flow-through business structuring is based on a solid foundation of understanding how debits and credits work. And for anyone on either the legal side or the CPA side, I cannot stress enough how important it is to read professional journals and align oneself with a great mentor.
Kat Jennings’ Question:
Why is education in partnership taxation so important?
Chuck Levun Answer:
This is an easy one. The partnership tax arena is very flexible and allows for all kinds of creative planning, but with flexibility comes complication, and it is only with education and practical experience can a tax professional acquire the necessary competence to assist clients effectively.
Kat Jennings: For those reading this Spotlight Interview, you are invited to register and attend a Tax Forum complimentary webinar:
