Washington (May 2, 2002) -- Opposition to sales tax on financial services, elimination of income limits on IRAs, and simplification of tax and pension laws top the priority list for financial planners, according to a member survey by the Financial Planning Association.
Support for uniform investment adviser licensing and regulation and support for individual alternative minimum tax relief ranked fourth, while support for licensing of individuals as investment advisers who hold themselves out as financial planners and support of a charitable tax deduction/credit ranked fifth on planners' priority list, according to survey results.
Rounding out the top ten were: opposition to insurance, bank, industry/professional exemptions from Advisers Act and reducing compliance costs as financial planners, tied for sixth; opposition to an increase in state registration fees and inspection costs; support for suitability requirements in insurance product sales and uniformity in insurance licensing, continuing education credits, tied for eighth; support for inclusion of CFP insurance CEs for state insurance CE requirements; support making permanent 2001 federal tax reform law; and support federal tax credit for long-term care insurance.
Rankings were based on a random survey of 274 FPA members conducted in January and were based on issues where at least 70 percent of respondents ranked topics between 5 to 7 on a seven-point scale, with one being "not important" and seven being "very important."
Full survey results are available online at
--Electronic Accountant Newswire staff
