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There will be a tax preparer certification program after all. That was the word from Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen. If you’re scratching your head after Loving v. Commissioner and wondering how that’s possible, here’s your answer: the program will be voluntary. Following losses at the lower court and the appellate court which held that IRS did not have the authority to regulate preparers, the IRS dropped the matter. For the 2014 tax season, tax preparers were required to have a preparer tax identification number (PTIN) but were not required to engage in testing or continuing education requirements; similarly,...

Testimony of Beth McConnell Director, Pennsylvania Public Interest Group Education Fund On behalf of United States Public Interest Research Group, Consumer Federation of America, National Consumer Law Center Before the Internal Revenue Service Public Hearing, April 4th, 2006 Regarding Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Amendments to Section 7216 Regulations and Revenue Guidance 26 CFR Part 301 [REG-137243-02] RIN-1545-BA96 and Revenue Procedure 2005-93 [Notice 2005-93] Good morning. My name is Beth McConnell, and I’m the director of the Pennsylvania Public Interest Research Group Education Fund (PennPIRG Education Fund). I am also offering comments today on behalf of U.S.PIRG, the National Consumer Law...

Jury finds Castro guilty of fraud BY ADRIANA ARCE Times staff writer A federal jury found a Laredo tax preparer guilty Friday of 15 counts of fraudulently reporting information to the Internal Revenue Service on behalf of clients that included teachers, a vice principal and a bank employee. After reviewing a week's worth of evidence involving several years of itemized deductions, expenses and fraudulent claims, the jury deliberated for two and one-half hours before returning the guilty verdict against Sandra Luz Castro. Following a 1999 IRS investigation, the government charged Castro with multiple counts of aiding clients in reporting a...

Tax preparer tells jury she made 'mistakes' BY ERINN TAYLOR Times staff writer A Laredo tax preparer accused of assisting in the preparation of fraudulent tax returns continued her second day of testimony Thursday, telling the jury she made "mistakes" while preparing tax returns but "they were not intentional." U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison reminded Sandra Luz Castro she was still under oath as she took the witness stand. Castro is accused of falsifying tax return information for a total of more than $1.1 million in fictitious claims. Jurors listened as Assistant U.S. Attorney Arthur Jones questioned Castro about...

Dear Fellow Freepers, It seems as though H&R Block has capitulated to the high-pressure scare tactics of HCI in the form of the "Alliance for Justice" making the statement that they will make sure that they will tell anyone and everyone about who is aligned with the NRA, the "out-of-touch" and unreasonable organization. H&R Block removed their advertising connection to the NRA due to this pressure. I wrote them a little note. It goes like this: Well Sir, you've really screwed the pooch this time. I don't suppose it occurred to you while you were making up your politically correct...