AICPA Testifies About Tax Return Preparer ID Plan

Patricia Thompson, CPA/PFS, vice chair of the AICPA’s Tax Executive Committee, spoke Thursday at an IRS hearing on the IRS’ plan to require all paid tax return preparers to obtain and use a preparer tax identification number (PTIN). She said the IRS’ PTIN proposal, along with its proposal to make all preparers subject to Circular 230’s ethics standards, “should be sufficient to address problems with unethical and incompetent tax return preparers.”

However, she also voiced several AICPA concerns with the proposals—concerns that the AICPA raised in a letter to the IRS last week, commenting on proposed regulations that would implement the PTIN requirement. (For JofA coverage, see “AICPA Submits Comment Letter on IRS PTIN Proposal.”)

Thompson also addressed the education and testing requirements that the IRS has proposed to impose on return preparers. She asked that any new IRS examination process be delayed.