AICPA Tax Vice President to Testify at IRS Hearing on Proposed Tax Preparer Regulations

AICPA Asks Members to Tell IRS They Oppose Onerous Elements of Plan

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AICPA Vice President of Taxation Edward Karl to testify at Internal Revenue Service hearing, Aug. 24, 10 a.m. EDT on the IRS's plan to regulate an estimated 1.2 million paid U.S. tax preparers.

The AICPA has serious concerns that the proposed IRS regulations are an overreach and would place immense burdens on CPA firms, particularly small- and medium-size firms. Further, the AICPA questions whether the IRS has adequately examined the costs that would be imposed on tax preparers and American taxpayers.

The IRS has proposed four broad new requirements for paid tax return preparers including: mandatory registration, application of enforceable ethical standards, competency testing and continuing education requirements. At tomorrow's hearing, the IRS specifically requested comments about registration and the fees tax preparers will be charged for newly required personal taxpayer identification numbers, or PTINs.

While the AICPA has consistently supported the IRS's efforts to increase tax compliance and elevate ethical conduct through the adoption of a registration process for paid tax return preparers, the AICPA does not believe other elements of the policy are fully justifiable or necessary, according to Karl.

The AICPA is urging all of its 360,000 members to contact the IRS about the proposed regulations to express opposition to elements of the plan.

The IRS hearing will be held at IRS headquarters at 1111 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.

The AICPA testimony will be available on August 24 from Shirley Twillman at [email protected].

About the AICPA

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (www.aicpa.org) is the national, professional association of CPAs, with approximately 360,000 CPA members in business and industry, public practice, government, education, student affiliates and international associates. It sets ethical standards for the profession and U.S. auditing standards for audits of private companies, nonprofit organizations, federal, state and local governments. It develops and grades the Uniform CPA Examination. The AICPA publishes the website www.IFRS.com to inform members and the public about international accounting standards.

The AICPA maintains offices in New York, Washington, D.C., Durham, N.C., Ewing, N.J. and Lewisville, Texas.

SOURCE American Institute of Certified Public Accountants