Still more evidence that unenrolled preparers aren’t up to snuff.
In my opinion National Taxpayer Advocate, Nina Olson, does a terrific job of protecting U.S. taxpayers and their rights.
When she speaks, I listen.
Dan Meyer of Tick Marks blog reports on Ms. Olson’s annual report to Congress:
Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson said that she would work with the Inspector General for Tax Administration to develop regulations for presently unregulated (commercial preparers who are not attorneys, CPAs or enrolled agents) tax preparers.
Olson scolded these preparers for inaccuracy, lack of sufficient diligence and even taking unreasonable positions. (Emphasis Added)
Does anyone still think the IRS doesn’t more closely scrutinize returns that are prepared by unenrolled preparers?
Ms. Olson made the following recommendations for a regulatory regime:
[U]nregulated preparers should be tested and required to take continuing education (in effect, requiring something comparable to enrolled agent status before being permitted to prepare tax returns commercially) and unregulated preparers who are regularly sloppy or overly aggressive should be pursued by IRS enforcement officials.
She also advocated a specific identification number, similar to an employer number, for commercial tax preparers. Additional priorities include additional study (and potentially increased access to) the offer-in-compromise program, better administration of refundable credits and better telephone service to taxpayers.
Observation: Joe Kristan might be right about one thing. The regulatory scheme isn’t even in place yet and it’s already growing.
Here’s what Joe wrote on his blog a few days ago:
When has any regulatory regime not expanded? The next time a tax scam involves a lawyer or accountant — and it will happen — the IRS or some congresscritter will say the licensing regime should “at least apply the the minimum standards that apply to H&R Block” to lawyers and CPAs. Any new regulation scheme will eventually cover everyone.
Related Posts:
IRS to License and Regulate Tax Preparers
Tax Preparer Regulation: A Response to Joe Kristan
Tax Preparer Regulation: My Response to Joe Kristan’s Response to My Response of His Response
Other Links:
Tax Preparer Regulation - Bruce, The Tax Guy
7 responses so far ↓
1 The Tax Guy Agrees with Robert Flach: The Pompous Ass (that’s me, folks) Responds // Jul 6, 2009 at 12:39 pm
[...] It
2 The Poli-tax of Personal Destruction? // Jul 12, 2009 at 12:06 pm
[...] [...]
3 Snow Cone Operator Turned Unenrolled Tax Preparer Gets Iced // Jul 14, 2009 at 5:23 pm
[...] the recent continuing discussion about the regulation of unenrolled tax return preparers and the relative qualifications of unrolled preparers, I thought I would revisit the case of [...]
4 CPA, JD or _ _ _? Which is Better? // Aug 1, 2009 at 5:37 am
[...] Tax Advocate Scolds Unenrolled Preparers, Favors Regulation [...]
5 Unenrolled Tax Preparers and the Practice of Law // Nov 23, 2009 at 12:16 am
[...] [...]
6 I Heart Nina Olson // Jan 6, 2010 at 5:56 pm
[...] Taxpayer Advocate Scolds Unenrolled Preparers, Favors Regulation [...]
7 IRS Should Process Income Tax Returns AFTER it Processes Information Returns // Jan 11, 2010 at 5:14 pm
[...] Taxpayer Advocate Scolds Unenrolled Preparers, Favors Regulation [...]
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