WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced new requirements this week to improve protections and service for taxpayers and increase confidence in the system.
According to the IRS more than 80 percent of Americans have someone else or some tax software prepare their returns. The high number of people who look for outside help requires higher standards.
The new requirements are based off of a recently released six-month study. Any tax preparer who signs a federal return must register with the IRS and receive a pin.
Paid tax preparers will be required to take competency tests and continuing education, except for attorneys, CPAs, or enrolled agents. That group of professionals is already required to do both.
Those three professions also have ethical rules set by the U.S. Treasury Department that they must follow, these new guidelines would extend those expectations to all paid tax preparers.
The IRS says it will need several years, however, to get all of these new requirements in place and they will not begin in time for the 2010 tax season.
