Thoughts from the Chair
By Erik Pronovost
TAXING TIMES, December 2021
In the last two years, the Taxation Section has been successful in embracing new technologies and the transition to a more virtual world. It started with our highly regarded newsletter, TAXING TIMES, that has been reformatted to be an online version. Many of our in-person sessions at major meetings of the Society of Actuaries has been cancelled, but our webcast team stepped up and offered a rich webcast program covering a vast array of topics such as:
- Latest regulations regarding the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA),
- Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act,
- Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act
- Modifications of Section 7702 of the Internal Revenue Code
- The Product Tax Seminar, and
- Our popular series on Mergers and Acquisition.
I want to thank all the volunteers who devoted time to make this transition successful. Most importantly, I want to thank our different audiences who embrace these new technologies and continue to consume its content.
This coming year should also have its fair amount of challenge as we will move from a fully virtual format to a hybrid format, which will become our new “normal.” We might have conferences with audience both in-person and online, but also with speakers both in-person and online. There will be a technology learning curve, the same way we had to learn the perks of virtual conference when quarantine started in 2020. It will be interesting to follow how the industry is impacted and how it is adapting to all the recent changes in the tax world.
I hope you will enjoy the content the Taxation Section has to offer in 2022 and invite you to contact me directly with your suggestions. I wish you all a very good year and hopefully we will all be back to normal soon.
Statements of fact and opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors and are not necessarily those of the Society of Actuaries, the editors, or the respective authors’ employers.
Erik Pronovost, FSA, CERA, is an Actuary at RGA. He can be reached at Erik.Pronovost@rgare.com.