License to fill: new IRS rules.

• Author: Root, Damon
• Position: Citings - Internal Revenue Service - Brief article

PAYING TAXES every April is bad enough. The Internal Revenue Service is making it even worse with a new set of regulations that require tax preparers, who fill out returns for taxpayers at rates as low as $50 a pop, to obtain a costly government license. Although tax preparers are already regulated by Congress, the IRS has never before required them to get government approval before setting up shop.

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Small businesses and start-up entrepreneurs stand to suffer the most. As The Wall Street Journal reported, "Cheering the new regulations are big tax preparers like H&R Block, who are only too happy to see the feds swoop in to put their morn-and-pop seasonal competitors out of business."

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