AICPA Sues Over IRS Preparer Program

[Elrod]

The American Institute of CPAs has filed suit to block a new voluntary tax preparer program being rolled out by the Internal Revenue Service. The AICPA called the new program "an end-run" around a court ruling that struck down the IRS' attempt to regulate preparers last year.

SEE:...http://www.theprogressiveaccountant.com/Tax/aicpa-sues-over-irs-preparer-program

[SaraEA]

This is old news.  Note the sentence, " Those that complete courses would be included in a database that will be available to taxpayers for the 2015 tax season,"  and the cite to June (2015), The issue in the Loving case was that the IRS overstepped its bounds and did not have legal authority to impose regulation.  The agency had the program up and running--exams created, CPE providers accredited, registration and payment system in place. After the court said they were not authorized to do so, all that set-up time and money went down the drain.

The Taxpayer Advocate and others have since urged Congress to pass a law authorizing the IRS to regulate paid tax preparers.  Only a law will give them the authority they need.  I've been following the issue of regulation for a couple of decades.  Bills have been passed in one house of Congress or another but the legislative sessions ended and the bills went no where; I believe one was actually passed by both houses but the then-president vetoed it. (The late 1990s?)

The irony in this history is that both parties agree that regulation is needed.  (If you are a regular reader of the weekly news feeds that list the actions IRS takes against unscrupulous preparers, you know the scope of the problem.) In today's extremely partisan world, where tea party members are doing whatever they can to get back at the IRS for targeting conservative nonprofit groups, no one is willing to give the IRS the money to do its mandated job moreless any more authority to do anything--even something as popular as regulating paid tax prep.  I'm not denying that there wasn't a lapse in leadership (Lois Lerner), coupled with reports of frivolous spending that broke about the same time. The repeated IRS budget cuts are direct punishment for these sins. If Congress does grant IRS regulation authority they likely won't give them any money to do it so it will be moot.  We'll just continue to endure 2-hour wait times on the phone and spend time cleaning up the messes created by fraudulent or stupid preparers.