AICPA Recommends Changes to Senate Finance Committee Proposal

Expresses Support for Provisions to Prevent Taxpayer Identity Theft and Tax Refund Fraud

Washington, D.C. (Sept. 15, 2015) – In a letter to the Senate Finance Committee today, the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) commended the committee for its efforts to combat identity theft and tax fraud in the Chairman’s Mark of a Bill to Prevent Identity Theft and Tax Refund Fraud, but spelled out concerns regarding the bill’s provision granting broad authority to the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to regulate paid tax return preparers.
 
AICPA Tax Executive Committee Chair Troy K. Lewis noted that in order to prevent potential overregulation, unnecessary administrative costs, marketplace confusion or other unintended consequences, the AICPA recommends that Congress prescript language that grants the IRS the specific authority necessary to address the concerns of incompetent and fraudulent, currently-unenrolled tax return preparers.  At a minimum, he said the AICPA encourages Congress to limit the IRS’s authority to require a PTIN and require the IRS to take steps to mitigate marketplace confusion.
 
The Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to mark up the bill on Sept. 16 at 10:00 am Eastern Time.
 
About the AICPA
The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) is the world’s largest member association representing the accounting profession, with more than 412,000 members in 144 countries, and a history of serving the public interest since 1887. AICPA members represent many areas of practice, including business and industry, public practice, government, education and consulting.
 
The AICPA sets ethical standards for the profession and U.S. auditing standards for private companies, nonprofit organizations, federal, state and local governments. It develops and grades the Uniform CPA Examination, and offers specialty credentials for CPAs who concentrate on personal financial planning; forensic accounting; business valuation; and information management and technology assurance. Through a joint venture with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), it has established the Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) designation which sets a new standard for global recognition of management accounting.
 
The AICPA maintains offices in New York, Washington, DC, Durham, NC, and Ewing, NJ.