It is hugely ironic that the IRS now plans to require private, professional tax preparers to register with the government and to be tested by the IRS.
We certainly believe that paid tax preparers should be knowledgeable and competent to fill out tax forms on customers’ behalf. But is the IRS really capable of providing that oversight?
We can’t help but recall Money magazine’s study some years back of the accuracy of information provided to taxpayers when they called the IRS “help line” for advice on filling out their forms. The magazine also tested the agency’s efficiency.
Here were some findings:
* Almost a third of the time, no one capable of answering questions even picked up the phone. Callers often were put on hold for long periods of time.
* More than a fifth of the questions posed by those who did manage to get through were answered either incorrectly or not at all. (And Money made sure to ask common questions that ordinary taxpayers would be likely to have. So try to imagine the accuracy rate if you asked more difficult questions about obscure parts of the massive tax code.)
What’s really alarming is that things got even worse when IRS “helpers” were asked for tax preparation assistance face to face at IRS offices. They answered the questions incorrectly about 40 percent of the time in those situations.
Doesn’t it seem strange to you that the IRS now presumes to say which private tax preparers are competent and which ones are not?
What makes these new rules even worse is that the IRS plans to charge each tax preparer a $64 fee for a tax identification number that the preparers will include with the returns they complete. That extra government expense will no doubt be passed on to customers.
Our country should be moving toward simplifying our enormous tax code, not toward adding new bureaucracy and costs.