The National Association of Tax Professionals supports the concept of registering and/or licensing tax professionals as well as the ideas drafted in S.1219 supporting low-income taxpayer clinics and regulating Refund Anticipation Loan (RAL) facilitators.

While Sen. Bingaman (D-N.M.) has introduced excellent legislation within S.1219, our organization strongly suggests that legislators entertain the following considerations, among others, to elevate the fairness and efficiency of the proposal:

• Ensure an appropriate transition to this process so as not to harm the tax administration system and the current level of compliance;
• Follow the realities of the tax return preparation industry. Over 90% of all returns are for individuals only;
• Treat all preparers fairly in terms of conceptual regulation through testing, continued education and renewal.
• Don’t have two different standards;
• Find a better source for funding initiatives than proceeds from penalties; and
• Delay publicity concerning sanctions until due process is complete so as not to unnecessarily damage a preparer’s reputation

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 12th, 2007 at 12:17 pm and is filed under Politics .