IRS to regulate tax preparers

The Internal Revenue Service is going to regulate tax preparers. These are people who are not lawyers, enrolled agents, or certified public accounts. These are just people who will help you prepare your taxes, for a fee. There are about one million people who prepare taxes for a fee. Your cost to a tax preparer will go up because there will be fewer tax preparers. It's just like the regulation of other producers. The cost to conform with the regulations reduces the incentive to provide a service.

The IRS bureaucrats have made these new laws. They were not made by the legislatures.

The lawyers, enrolled agents, and CPAs probably lobbied the IRS to create these regulations in order to reduce the competition. They approve of being regulated. (To keep out competition) Imagine that. This is from the news story. (Many professional organizations and tax preparation companies have said they would support increased oversight. "I believe it will improve services to the general public," said Cindy Hockenberry, research coordinator for the National Association of Tax Professionals. "The comfort level will go up a little bit because the taxpayer will know that somebody is looking over this industry." )

Will the IRS now require those who do their own taxes to show they are competent to do their own taxes?

The problem is the complex tax system that creates unnecessary work for the individuals filing taxes. It also creates burecratic work for the 115,000 IRS government employees that live better than the people who pay taxes.

Charles Tolleson