INCREASED RETURN PREPARER OVERSIGHT IS ON THE HORIZON

As evidenced by the IRS Strategic Plan for 2009-2013, the IRS has placed a spotlight on return preparers. Specifically, in an effort to bridge the estimated $345 billion annual tax gap from noncompliance, the Strategic Plan focused on return preparers in two of its objectives. First, it called for s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPractical Tax Strategies Vol. 84; no. 4; p. 240
Main Authors Cryan, T, Keenan, J, Petronchak, K, Lagun, J
Format Trade Publication Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Boston Thomson Reuters (Tax & Accounting) Inc 01.04.2010
Subjects
Attorneys
Background checks
Compliance
Continuing education
CPAs
Enforcement
Enrolled agents
Ethics
Professional education
Registration
Task forces
Tax legislation
Tax preparation
Tax returns
Tax services
United States > US
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Summary:As evidenced by the IRS Strategic Plan for 2009-2013, the IRS has placed a spotlight on return preparers. Specifically, in an effort to bridge the estimated $345 billion annual tax gap from noncompliance, the Strategic Plan focused on return preparers in two of its objectives. First, it called for strengthening partnerships with tax practitioners, tax preparers, and other third parties to ensure effective tax administration. Second, it highlighted the importance of ensuring that all tax practitioners, tax preparers, and other third parties in the tax system adhere to professional standards and follow the law. Since the announcement, the IRS has held a number of public forums at which representatives of various constituent groups provided input on the development of tax preparer performance standards. The IRS issued Notice 2009-60, 2009-32 IRB 181, requesting written comments from interested parties on standards for preparers and their role in increasing taxpayer compliance. While the current IRS proposals primarily focus on paid tax return preparers who are not currently subject to educational or other competency requirements, the IRS has left open the door for future regulation.
ISSN:1523-6250