COST is a trusted source among state tax professionals for its many offerings including, but not limited to: Top-Notch Schools, National Conferences and Regional Meetings – COST offers its members high quality education, including conferences, schools, regional meetings and special symposia, featuring the hottest topics, delivered by the nation's most recognized experts. COST programs qualify with state boards of accountancy and state bar associations for continuing education credits. COST events include: SALT Basics School Sales Tax Conference and Audit Session Spring Audit Session and Income Tax Conference Intermediate/Advanced Sales and Use Tax School; Intermediate/Advanced State Income Tax School Annual Meeting (including Members-Only Audit Sessions, Tax Policy Conference & Legal Symposium) Property Tax Workshop Canadian Tax Workshop for U.S. Companies Approximately 30 Regional Meetings held in cities throughout the U.S. Voice of Business on State Tax Issues – COST is the premier voice of business taxpayers on multistate tax issues, teaming with state chambers of commerce and taxpayer associations to drive reform and combat bad tax policy. COST develops relationships with state tax administrators through participation in a broad range of administrator meetings and associations. We regularly comment to the press – in particular the tax press, which is avidly read by key policymakers. And of course, we are the voice of our members by regularly filing briefs in significant state tax appeals and testifying regularly before state legislatures and in regulatory proceedings. Social Network – COST’s social network is more than about Twitter – although we’re there too. Our premier social networking takes place at our renowned conferences, where peers from across the country and across industries gather for in-depth technical sessions, audit sessions, and numerous social activities. If you can’t make a national meeting, consider coming to one of our regional meetings, where senior and junior staff can mingle and form bonds with peers from other regional businesses. Outside the meetings, our members connect through a variety of platforms – including a proprietary membership directory and online, password-protected forums. Audit Sessions – Getting Tips and Sharing Audit Experiences with Other Companies – COST’s audit sessions go back to the founding of the organization, providing a unique ability for industry tax professionals to gather in a safe space to share real-life audit and technical issues with peers from around the country. Each session is moderated by COST staff and experienced industry members, with other members facilitating the discussion and sharing their own experiences. The information and ideas shared at these sessions are an exclusive benefit to COST industry members. WWW.COST.ORG – The Council On State Taxation’s website (www.cost.org) is a free, members-only online information network tailored to meet the information and communication needs of corporate state tax professionals in an easy, efficient, and economic manner. Through cost.org, COST members have fingertip access to Members-Only Discussion Forums, Publication Archives, Calendar of State Tax Events, Practitioner Articles, Job Bank and more. Legislative Tracking and Analysis of Significant State Tax Legislation – COST members, in addition to enjoying the benefits of expansive legislative advocacy efforts, have access to our legislative tracking resources and updates, including online access to a database of pending legislation relevant to multistate business taxpayers, quarterly roundups of enacted state tax legislation, and weekly legislative development newsletters and conference calls. Member-Developed Policy Positions on all Major Tax Issues – When advocating on any issue, COST first looks to its official policy statements. These statements are developed by COST’s policy committee and approved by the COST Board of Directors after applying guidelines to ensure the policy advances COST’s mission: “to preserve and promote equitable and nondiscriminatory taxation of multijurisdictional business entities.” The robust set of 24 policy statements (and growing!) addresses a broad array of issues of concern to multistate business taxpayers. Amicus Briefs – COST has a long-standing program of supporting our members in important state and local tax litigation by filing amicus briefs asserting multijurisdictional businesses’ right to fair and equitable taxation. COST files approximately 15 amicus briefs each year, addressing significant state and local tax cases pending before the states’ appellate courts and the U.S. Supreme Court. In fact, COST is one of the most active filers in state and local tax cases pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. When it comes to major legal issues of broad concern to business taxpayers, COST has your back. COST Economic Studies and Scorecards are Changing the Policy Debate – COST's public policy studies and special reports on issues of significant importance to our membership are a crucial part of COST's effort to educate policymakers, business advocates and the public at large. COST was the first to issue a “business tax burden” report, an annual study that reflects the substantial contribution of businesses to state and local tax revenues. Our “scorecards” on fair state tax administration have prompted numerous reforms, including enormous strides in providing independent tax appeal options. COST’s studies change the debate from superficial statements on the corporate “fair share” of taxes to how business taxes are actually levied and administered and whether this reflects good tax policy.
