Understanding IRC section 199 & IRS Audits

Sandy Frost is the Large and Mid Sized Business technical advisor for Section 199, Domestic Production Deduction at the Internal Revenue Service. She has been working as the technical advisor since its enactment in October of 2004. This involvement has included working on guidance with the service’s National Office, external stakeholders and internal agents. She provides training and case assistance for agents working Section 199 issues. 

Sandy is a Certified Public Accountant. She holds a Masters of Science degree in Accounting and a Masters or Arts degree in International Business.

Scott Vance is a Principal in the Income Tax and Accounting Group of KPMG LLP's Washington National Tax Practice in Washington, D.C. He has 15 years experience dealing with a variety of federal tax issues, including section 199, income and expense recognition, inventory valuation, and capitalization and cost recovery.

James L. Atkinson practices in the area of federal income taxation, with a focus on tax accounting issues. Mr. Atkinson has significant policy-level experience with federal tax administration. Prior to joining Miller & Chevalier in 2003, Mr. Atkinson held a number of senior leadership positions with the Internal Revenue Service’s National Office, including Assistant to the Commissioner and, most recently, Associate Chief Counsel (Income Tax & Accounting). As Associate Chief Counsel, Mr. Atkinson was the senior executive in charge of a division of over one hundred attorneys, having responsibility for nearly all aspects of the IRS’s development and administration of a wide range of tax accounting issues, including accounting methods and periods; the determination, characterization, and timing of income and deductions; capitalization; inventory accounting; like-kind exchange transactions; and many other areas. He also has taught Federal Tax Accounting as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center. 

Mr. Atkinson’s recent publications include “Domestic Production Deduction Audits: Getting Started,” 116 Tax Notes 1037, (December 10, 2007); “The IRS Takes Aim at Gift Card Sales,” 116 Tax Notes 949, (September 10, 2007) (with Dwight Mersereau); “The Production Deduction Final Regulations: A Step Forward,” BNA Daily Tax Report No. 122, J-1 (June 26, 2006); “IRS Further Expands Capitalization Requirement for Environmental Cleanup Costs, “ BNA Daily Report for Executives, Vol. 05, No. 220, November 16, 2005 (with Dwight M. Mersereau); "Some Assembly Required: Treasury Provides First Round of Guidance on the Domestic Manufacturers’ Deduction," 57 Tax Executive 138 (March/April 2005); "The Final INDOPCO Regulations: A Primer," 56 Tax Executive 222 (May/June 2004). 

He is a frequent speaker to such groups as the Tax Executives Institute, the Southern Federal Tax Institute, the American Petroleum Institute, the American Bar Association, and others. 

Mr. Atkinson received his J.D., summa cum laude, from the University of Illinois College of Law, where he was a member of the University of Illinois Law Review and the Order of the Coif. He received his B.A., summa cum laude, from the Honors College of the University of South Carolina, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. 

Areas of Concentration
- Tax
- Tax Audits and Administrative
- Appeals
- Tax Accounting
- Tax Regulation

Education
- University of South Carolina, 1987 B.A.
- University of Illinois College of Law, 1990 J.D.

Beth M. Benko is a member of the Accounting Methods and Inventory group of Ernst & Young LLP's National Tax Department. She focuses on representing taxpayers in controversies pending before the Internal Revenue Service and assisting them with federal tax planning, including changes to their methods of accounting. 

Beth has over a decade of tax experience with an emphasis on tax accounting issues, including the accrual of income and deductions, capitalization, inventory accounting, and Section 199. Beth is a frequent speaker on tax accounting topics, including Section 199, and is a co-author of the BNA Tax Management Portfolio titled Section 199: Deduction Relating to Income Attributable to Domestic Production Activities. 

Beth has a B.S. in Business Administration from Bowling Green State University and a J.D. from the College of William and Mary. She is a Certified Public Accountant in Ohio and the District of Columbia. Beth is currently a member of the American Bar Association Tax Section's Tax Accounting Committee. She is also an adjunct professor in the LL.M. program at Georgetown University.