AICPA Sues IRS over Voluntary Program for Tax Preparers The American Institute of CPAs has filed a federal lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service challenging the legality of the IRSs plans for voluntary continuing education and testing of tax preparers. The AICPA insists the new program is unlawful, even though it is voluntary. “The AICPA has been a steadfast supporter of the IRS’s overall goals of enhancing compliance by tax return preparers and elevating ethical conduct,” said AICPA president and CEO Barry Melancon in a statement. “However, the IRS’s new rule regulating tax return preparers is an unlawful exercise of government power. The new rule will do nothing to address the problem of unethical or fraudulent tax return preparers—which should be a top priority. As a result, the AICPA has filed suit in federal court to prevent the IRS from moving ahead with this unjustified and unlawful program. The IRS insisted that it did have the legal authority. “The IRS has the authority to implement a voluntary continuing education program for uncredentialed tax return preparers, and this does not conflict with any administrative or legal requirements,” said a statement from the IRS. The Annual Filing Season Program would allow unenrolled return preparers to obtain a record of completion when they voluntarily complete a required amount of continuing education, including a course in basic tax filing issues and updates, ethics, and other federal tax law courses. Tax return preparers who elect to participate in the program and receive a record of completion from the IRS will be included in a database on IRS.gov that will be available by January 2015 to help taxpayers determine return preparer qualifications. The database will also contain information about practitioners with recognized credentials and higher levels of qualification and practice rights. These include attorneys, CPAs, enrolled agents, enrolled retirement plan agents and enrolled actuaries who are registered with the IRS.
Posted on: Wed, 16 Jul 2014 20:04:44 +0000
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