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State Board Report

June 2017

Although the US District Court for the District of Columbia on June 1 determined the Internal Revenue Service has the authority to require the use of a Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN), it enjoined the IRS from charging a user fee for issuing or renewing PTINs. Consequently, the IRS has suspended PTIN registration and renewal. The IRS is now working with the Department of Justice to consider how to proceed and is advising those who prepare taxes to see the Tax Pros page on www.irs.gov.

Does this mean that no regulation of non-licensed preparers can be anticipated in the near future? President Donald J. Trump’s budget for fiscal year 2018, released on May 23, includes a line for “increase oversight of paid tax return preparers.” For 2017 nothing is budgeted, but starting in 2018 it goes up to $12,000,000 and in 2019 to $18,000,000, with continuing increases each year through 2027. However, the same budget includes in its overview the President’s aim to lay “a new foundation of restraint that limits Government regulation and intrusion.”

NASBA has participated in this issue by filing an amicus brief in the AICPA v. IRS suit in February. The amicus’s concern was “about a new official credential being potentially equated in consumers’ minds with state-licensed professionals.”