The IRS announced this morning that it will soon require registration and exams for most tax preparers who are not regulated. The report in the Wall Street Journal notes that the changes “will take several years to implement and will not be in effect for the 2010 filing season.” Attorneys, CPAs, and Enrolled Agents will not be impacted by this new requirement (they will remain subject to their current licensing procedures).
I’ll link to the IRS press release when it becomes available.
Tags: PreparerRegistration
A recent IRS email said:
Dear Partners,
Today the IRS announced the findings of the Return Preparer Review launched in the summer. The findings include proposed recommendations for increasing oversight of return preparers. These findings and recommendations are the result of an open and transparent discussion of the issues with the tax return preparer community, the associated industry, consumer advocacy groups, and the American public.
The recommendations are addressed in detail in the final report.
Please note that none of the changes are effective for the immediate filing season beginning January 2010.
The IRS will publish extensive guidance on the new requirements in the months ahead. The IRS is committed to helping the taxpayer community understand the new requirements and assisting return preparers comply with these new requirements. Please respond to this email address to let us know if you have an upcoming event involving an audience that could benefit from a presentation on these changes.
Additional information and guidance about the proposed regulations will be centralized on the IRS.gov Tax Professionals page throughout this effort.
The IRS thanks the hundreds of individuals and organizations who took part in this review and looks forward to a continuing productive relationship to implement the proposed recommendations.
–NPL Communications
The link to the report itself didn’t get into the original comment –
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/54419l09.pdf