Tax preparer regulation comments.

• Author: Laffie, Lesli S.
• Position: AICPA Activities

The AICPA has written to Congress to support tax preparer regulation and raise some public policy and drafting concerns about the registration proposal in Section 141 of S 882, which passed the Senate in May 2004.

In its letter, the AICPA noted that the registration proposal is a partial response to (1) the high error rates on earned income tax credit (EITC) claims and (2) consumer protection concerns about refund anticipation loans. The letter stated, "[T]he AICPA believes that direct approaches will better resolve these enforcement and consumer protection issues and result in more tangible increases in compliance levels than a preparer registration process alone might yield. We recommend enacting legislation that...