Life is about to change for tax preparers.

[moneysense]

It is estimated that 80% of our population has their tax returns prepared by tax preparers and that there are approximately 900,000 to 1.2 million people prepare tax returns for a fee.

There are no requirements for certification as a tax preparer, and most of the preparers have never been tested, but thats all about to change this year.

Starting in 2010, all tax preparers will be required to register with the IRS. The exceptions will be CPAs and attorneys. Also excused will be enrolled agents that are in good standing with their licensing agencies.

To kick off the new tax preparer program, in 2010 the IRS will send 10,000 notices to paid tax return preparers nationwide. The IRS is focusing on preparers who submit large volumes of tax forms in which the IRS has seen frequent errors. The problem areas the agency will be focusing on include: Schedule C income and expenses (small businesses), Schedule A itemized deductions, the Earned Income Tax Credit and the First-Time Homebuyer Credit.

The IRS will be going so far as to send in undercover people to pose as customers, and agents of the IRS will visit preparers to discuss obligations and responsibilities.

This, in my opinion, is an excellent idea. There are too many preparers out there that dont even know the proper way to do the Schedule Cs and other Schedules that are needed for a lot of peoples taxes.

Plus, perhaps the IRS can put a stop to the exorbitant prices a lot of these agencies and people charge to do taxes for us.

[ClassyLady]

It is about time they did something bout this!!

This is the reason I use Turbo Tax and do it myself online. They have all the questions and they do all the work once you answer all the questions.

[Rae74]

I agree,it is about time that our government put thier hand in this matter,too many people rely entirely too much on thier tax prepares,for them not to have any certification requirements or liability insurance.

Any other bussiness that you get into almost,you have to have some kind of training,qualification or,liscense.The reason is not to be mean,just protective.Everyone should have some kind of protective insurance for themselves if they are doing a task for someone else involving money,Too many things can go wrong,especially when dealing with the tax subject.

I have had a tx preparer mess up my taxes before and we had to pay back over $2000 dollars to the irs because of it.I think that the tax preparer should be held responsible.After all I didn't know,they were getting paid by me to know themselves.If it isn't correct and you didn't prepare it,why should you pay for it?