RICHARDSON, Texas (April 23, 2004) – Tax related topics — ranging from new post-September 11 rules that re-define money laundering to the latest Internal Revenue Service (IRS) initiatives to stop tax refund fraud — will be the focus of a two-and-a-half day Tax Alliance Conference May 10-12, being held for the first time in affiliation with The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) School of Management.

The decision to hold the 11 th annual conference at the School of Management building on UTD’s campus in Richardson is the result of a new alliance between the conference’s sponsors and the school. Sponsoring organizations are the Texas Association of Financial and Tax Specialists, the Texas Society of Enrolled Agents and H&R Block Enterprises, Inc. Endorsed by the IRS, the conference is open to all tax practitioners, certified public accountants, enrolled agents and attorneys. Continuing education credit is available for certified public accountants and enrolled agents.

Pat Sykes, conference chairperson, explained that the purpose of the event is to facilitate the exchange of timely tax information from various taxing authorities and professional tax practitioners in North Texas.

“We see our affiliation with the UTD School of Management as a real asset in that it sets the right tone for this conference, which is educational in nature and designed especially for a large segment of the professionals involved in finance and tax preparation in this area,” she said.

John Fowler, director of new initiatives in the school’s professional development programs, stressed that the conference also is open to interested accounting and finance students at UTD.

“Many of these students are the tax practitioners of tomorrow. In addition, they offer a valuable resource of trained support for the current tax practitioner community in North Texas. This conference represents a great opportunity for these students to tie into their future professional community,” Fowler said.

In addition to the eight different sessions that will be offered each day, May 11 and 12, representatives from the Taxpayer Advocate Service will be present for appointments during the conference to discuss specific tax account problems that have not been resolved through normal IRS channels. They also will be available to look at specific cases where IRS policies have created significant hardships.

Participants who attend the optional sessions on Monday night, May 10, will earn four additional certified professional education credits. The registration fee to attend the May 11 and 12 events are $190, and the fee for the May 10 session is an additional $75.

For more information, please contact Fowler at 972-883-4697 or jfowler@utdallas.edu or visit http://som.utdallas.edu/taxalliance.

About The UTD School of Management

The University of Texas at Dallas School of Management ranked sixth worldwide in research productivity in operations management and management information systems between 1996 and 2002 in a study published by ORMS Today, a publication of the Institute for Operations Research and Management Sciences (INFORMS). The School of Management is the largest of UTD’s seven schools, with an enrollment that has increased 92 per cent over the last seven years to more than 4,300 students. The school’s new, 204,000-square-foot building features classrooms with state-of-the-art audio and visual equipment, wireless connectivity, video-conferencing facilities, a computer lab, faculty offices, meeting rooms and an executive education center.

The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor, enrolls more than 13,700 students. The school’s freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT scores. The university offers a broad assortment of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs. For additional information about UTD, please visit the university’s web site at www.utdallas.edu.