Kevin Brown, Commissioner of the Small Business/Self Employed Operating Division of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) presented a citation for excellence to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) at the annual National CPA/IRS Tax Issues Meeting in Washington, D.C. earlier this month.

The citation was presented for “outstanding team effort in delivering products, services and education to the Small Business/Self Employed Operating customer,” for the AICPA’s work assisting small business taxpayers in conjunction with the IRS. The IRS noted that the AICPA “has been instrumental in facilitating communication both national and locally between their members and the Small Business/Self Employed Division.”

The partnership between the two organizations allows the IRS to provide “information of vital importance to the small business community” to the AICPA membership. The AICPA is an active participant in several IRS programs including Tax Talk Today, the Small Business Payroll and Practitioner Forums and the Nationwide Tax Forums. The AICPA’s “significant” contribution to the launch of the IRS disaster relief pilot was singled out for praise with the IRS noting that the AICPA was the first national practitioner organization entering into a Memorandum of Understanding with the IRS to provide assistance to taxpayers at local disaster recovery centers.

“This is a great tribute to our volunteer members who have dedicated many hours of their time to participating in these programs and working with the small business community, as well as to the hard work of committed AICPA staff,” AICPA President and CEO Barry Melancon said in a prepared statement.