The IRS will be holding a series of public discussions for input on establishing standards for tax preparers. It’s about time, I say.
July 14, 2009: The Internal Revenue Service today announced a series of public forums at which individuals and representatives of diverse constituent groups will be able to provide input on the development of tax preparer performance standards. The public forums, a crucial part of an effort launched in June by IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman to help ensure tax preparers are qualified, ethical and provide a high level of service, will kick off on July 30 in Washington, D.C.
“These public meetings will be an important part of the dialogue as we move toward a set of comprehensive recommendations by the end of this year,” Shulman said. “We want an open discussion on how to strengthen the overall integrity of our tax system.”
Knock wood. Tax preparation isn’t an occupation known for deceptive practices. Sure there are problems but nothing as scandalous as “investment advisors” like Madoff, Harkless, or Stanford. Nevertheless, tax preparers have your social security number and all of your investment account information. Someone with bad intentions could do a lot of damage quickly.
Presently only three states require licenses for tax preparation: California, Oregon, and Maryland.
I think a little accountability (no pun intended) would go a long way to increase consumer confidence. Having a national standard would improve the overall quality of services delivered, even if the federal government leaves the responsibility of oversight to the individual states.
What do you think? What qualifications do you look for in a tax preparer?
Tip ‘o the green shade to Kay Bell at Don’t Mess with Taxes for pointing out the IRS initiative.
Image credit: BeckyKP at Flickr.
Science and Money Feed
Debra
on Jul 17th, 2009
@ 8:36 am:
I prepare taxes for low-income people at a non-profit during tax season (4 years now). The stories I hear from them about their getting their taxes done at for-profit large tax return chains are just horrific. It sounds like the people preparing taxes there have no idea what they’re doing and they totally gouge the client on fees for every form and adding forms that aren’t necessary and then a high-interest loan for an early payment. So if the person is due to get $1000 and it would have been direct deposited in 20 days, the tax shop will give them $850 or $820 today and the person takes it and the tax shop gets $150 for the 20 day loan. Now that’s a nice return on investment!
helen_maynard
on Jul 17th, 2009
@ 7:45 pm:
Debra: Kudos to you for helping others prepare tax forms! I don’t know which program you volunteer with, but VITA is a national program to help low-income folks with their taxes. They require prospective preparers to attend several sessions of tax-preparation classes and to pass a test before they’ll let you work on others’ tax forms. Forty-seven states require no preparation or certification whatsoever for doing taxes and collecting a fee (sometime an egregious one, as you point out), yet to volunteer to help others requires proof of competency. Ah, America!