Statement from AICPA President and CEO Barry Melancon Praising Final Congressional Action on Bill to Stop Tax Strategy Patents

NEW YORK, Sept. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a statement by AICPA President and CEO Barry Melancon praising Congress for its final passage of the America Invents Act, a comprehensive patent reform bill that includes language to stop the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office from issuing patents for tax strategy methods.

"The Senate's overwhelming passage today of H.R. 1249, the America Invents Act, will stop the issuance of tax strategy patents and help protect taxpayers from lawsuits, royalties, and increasingly complicated tax compliance requirements.  The bill will also help to ensure that our tax code is fair and accessible to all.  No one should have a monopoly on a particular form of tax compliance.

"The AICPA has advocated for legislation to solve the tax strategy patent problem for more than five years, along with state CPA societies, and a national coalition of taxpayer rights groups, consumer and public interest groups, financial planners and other tax preparer groups.

"We especially appreciate the leadership of Congressmen Bob Goodlatte and Lamar Smith and Senators Patrick Leahy, Charles Grassley, and Max Baucus - who were all steadfast champions of this important pro-taxpayer provision.

"We urge President Obama to quickly sign the America Invents Act into law."

SOURCE American Institute of Certified Public Accountants