The American Institute of CPAs is urging the House to pass legislation this week to establish a uniform national standard governing the withholding of state income taxes for nonresident employees.

Barry Melancon

The bill is scheduled for a vote in the House on Tuesday, The AICPA has been pushing for passage of the bill since last year (see AICPA Backs New Worker Tax Simplification Legislation).

“The AICPA urges all members of the U.S. House of Representatives to vote for H.R. 1864, the Mobile Workforce State Income Tax Simplification Act of 2011, which is scheduled to be voted upon on Tuesday,” said AICPA president and CEO Barry Melancon in a statement. “The measure would streamline tax withholding compliance requirements for employers and for their employees who work in multiple states. We currently have numerous state income tax withholding laws and varying de minimis exemption periods that make compliance extremely difficult and time consuming.

“This bill would enhance compliance by instituting a uniform rule for employees who work for more than 30 days in any one state outside their resident state,” Melancon added. “The change would make state income tax withholding easier to administer and would help ensure that states and local jurisdictions get the taxes they are owed.”

Melancon thanked Congressmen Howard Coble, R-N.C., and Hank Johnson, D-Ga., for their bipartisan leadership in moving the bill forward.

The AICPA signed an April 24 coalition letter to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to request that H.R. 1864 be considered by the House, citing the strong bipartisan support for the bill.  The coalition represents more than 495 businesses and organizations that support the bill. 

The AICPA also testified in favor of the bill at a hearing last May by a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee and in November wrote a letter to members of the Judiciary Committee encouraging them to approve the bill so it could be considered by the full House.

Members of the AICPA will be visiting Capitol Hill this week to meet with lawmakers and lobby for legislative priorities like the mobile workforce bill. The Institute will be celebrating its 125th anniversary in Washington this week during its Spring Meeting of Council with gala events planned, along with appearances by lawmakers and accounting profession leaders.