As you know the IRS wants to require a license, issued by the IRS, in order to charge money to prepare tax returns. For the moment this requirement has been struck down by the courts.
Court Says IRS Lacks Authority to Regulate Tax Preparers bit.ly/13RV3v3 Love it! It is about time these guys over reach is reigned in!
— Marvin Van Horn (@FATCA_Fallout) January 20, 2013
I believe that the discussion on this is missing the most important point which is captured in this exchange:
My comment on “IRS Stopped ‘Dead In Its Tracks’ In Efforts To Regulate Tax Preparers” @forbes: onforb.es/Uc9xlA
— Alvin S. Brown, Esq. (@USTaxAttorney) January 20, 2013
@ustaxattorney @forbes Big difference between the regulation of preparers and preparers being regulated by the IRS. Latter is the problem!
— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) January 20, 2013
The problem is that that if it is the IRS that is issuing the license, then tax preparers will think that they must please the IRS instead of being fair to the client. It is like the problem of the lawyer who wants to put everybody into OVDP and the lawyer who considers a number of compliance options.
This case is likely to go to the Supreme Court. I suspect that the decision that the IRS can’t regulate will stand.
