November 18, 2022 (Houston, TX) alliantgroup held its two-day Think Tank summit which is hosted by the company and its strategic advisory board of former congressional members, state officials, and U.S. business and industry association leaders. The event also included alliantgroup CPA partners, C-level executives, business advisors and clients. This Think Tank focused on deciphering if our nation is in a recession – or will be – and the impact that would have on the economy, talent shortages and legislative policy in the short term and long term.
The summit opened with a conversation on the midterm elections and how the outcomes will affect the President’s agenda and tax policy for the coming year. Additional panels covered Capital Markets and Investments; Technology Trends for 2023 and Beyond; as well as an IRS and Legislative Update. The event also featured and economic update from Victor Calanog, Ph.D. who is the Head of Commercial Real Estate Economics at Moody’s Analytics. The event also included discussions on philanthropic engagement and talent solutions.
The thought leadership event included alliantgroup clients, CPA partners and other key panelists. Notable speakers include former U.S. congressional members Heidi Heitkamp, Rick Lazio, Erik Paulsen and Rick White; former Senior Counsel to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee Dean Zerbe; former counsel to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee Dawn Levy O’Donnell; former IRS Commissioners Mark W. Everson, Steven Miller and Eric Hylton; former IRS Division Commissioner for Small Business/Self-Employed Kathy Petronchak; former COO of Grant Thornton, Jim Brady; and former CEO and Executive of Deloitte & Deloitte Italy, Frank Tirelli; former Alabama Governor Bob Riley; and industry leaders Dr. Robert Ambrose, Chuck Wilson, Neeraj Mital and Victor Calanog Ph.D.
When deciphering if we are in a recession or not, Calanog expressed optimism for the U.S. on a global scale. “The U.S. has generally been more successful because the government leans on private sector to innovate and tries to stay out of their way unlike other countries.”
And when discussions turned to the $80B infusion to the IRS, Heitkamp stated, “Anyone who thinks that starving the IRS is good for our economy is wrong. We need those resources to help with customer service — and yes, audits for those who feel they’ve been above the law—because the IRS has been lacking resources to do their job.” But, the panelists warned that ramping up with this cash infusion will take time.
“We are fortunate to have these expert resources for our clients and CPA partners to help navigate the ever-changing legislative and economic landscape. We at alliantgroup strongly believe that the U.S. is the best country in the world to innovate and create new businesses. Everyday for nearly twenty years we strive to educate small and medium-sized businesses on the issues they should be aware of, advocate for their needs on Capitol Hill and use our long-standing, trusted expertise to help them navigate tax incentives and policy changes,” stated Dhaval Jadav, alliantgroup CEO.
