The IRS does not have the authority to regulate the tax preparation profession and license hundreds of thousands of tax preparers, a federal judge ruled late January 18, 2013. The IRS rules requiring all paid tax return preparers to pass a competency test and meet continuing education requirements are all part of the regulatory structure the court found invalid. All three prongs of the IRS tax preparer regulation regime were affected by the ruling, including the testing, continuing education and RTRP registration requirements. However, the Preparer Tax Identification Number, or PTIN, which is part of the registration requirements, is not affected by the lawsuit.
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The IRS issued a consumer alert on November 9, 2012 about possible scams taking place in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Such fraudulent schemes may involve contact by telephone, social media, email or in-person solicitations. Following major disasters, it is common for scam artists to impersonate charities to get money or private information from well-intentioned taxpayers. Scam artists can use a variety of tactics. Some scammers operating bogus charities may contact people by telephone to solicit money or financial information. They may even directly contact disaster victims and claim to be working for or on behalf of the IRS to help the victims file casualty loss claims and get tax refunds. They may attempt to get personal financial information or Social Security numbers that can be used to steal the victims’ identities or financial resources.
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Modernized e-File (MeF) is the new e-File processing system released by the IRS to replace their much older Legacy processing system. The biggest benefit for you, the tax preparer, is the real time processing of transmissions and acknowledgements. The IRS’s response time decreased from a 4-6 hour timeframe as in previous years to as little as every 30 minutes during the 2012 filing year.
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When Hurricane Sandy hit in late October, over 60 million Americans were affected. If you are one of these many Americans that are facing material loss or damage, or were affected by this super-storm, you could be eligible for some tax relief. Following recent disaster declarations for individual assistance issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the IRS announced November 2, 2012 that affected taxpayers in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York will receive tax relief.
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