Two ranking members of the Senate Finance Committee introduced a legislative package containing a set of changes to the Internal Revenue Service’s procedures and administration. It also sets standards and additional penalties for paid tax preparers who don’t perform their duties properly.
The bill, known as the Taxpayer Assistance and Service Act (TASA), was put forward by Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and ranking member Ron Wyden (D-Oregon). It
combines legislative proposals recommended by the National Taxpayer Advocate with other tax administration bills introduced by congressional members.
The bill includes, but is not limited to, the following:..
1 – Provisions imposing penalties for tax preparers who improperly alter returns
2 – Penalties for the failure to provide valid Preparer Tax Identification Numbers
3 – Additional penalties for improper tax preparation or misappropriation of refunds
4 – And it gives the IRS the authority to deny, revoke or suspend PTINs for violations.
Other provisions of the TASA include…
1 – Digitizing more tax returns to support faster refunds.
2 – Upgrading the “Where’s My Refund” tools so taxpayers know when to expect their refunds and what to do if refunds are delayed.
3 – Upgrading IRS online accounts so that taxpayers and their representatives can review their returns and respond to the IRS online.
4 – Expanding IRS call-back options so taxpayers can request a return call more often and from more IRS phone numbers.
5 – Allowing the Tax Court to hear cases related to refunds.
6 – And protecting victims of fraud from indefinite IRS scrutiny.
Let me leave you with this…
Some portions of TASA are logical while others simply aren’t.
The regulations governing tax preparers are excellent. Imposing more penalties and oversight on paid preparers should have been done decades ago.
If anything, I’d go much further, mandating that all paid preparers be tested for basic competencies and be licensed. Currently no licensing or basic competency requirements are necessary to prepare a U.S. Tax Return.
If imposed, when the IRS found a bad preparer, they’d be able to get rid of them by revoking the license.
But how can they overhaul the Service when there’s barely anyone working there in the first place?
This reminds me of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, which passed during the Clinton Administration. It was a federal law requiring the IRS to minimize the paperwork burden on the public by streamlining the size of a tax return.
Of course, in typical bureaucratic fashion, it did the exact opposite.
But the part about allowing the Tax Courts to hear cases related to refunds would be fantastic.
Please understand that the Tax Court System has limited time to hear cases. Anyone can file a petition on almost any matter to have it heard by the court.
The Court System deals with this obvious inefficiency by having the best IRS Agents working to dispose of as many cases as they can before being heard by the court. If we could petition the tax courts on refund related issues, we’d probably get reasonable responses and dispositions on these cases faster than we currently do in the Appeals Process.
We’ll see where this bill goes. I’ll keep you posted.
As always, if you’re having difficulties with your accounting and tax work, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
We’re all going to get through this. Let’s get through it together.
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Chris Amundson
President
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