OUTLOOK & ANALYSIS

IRS ‘10,000 Letters’ Program Angers CPAs

Intrusive and intimidating IRS initiative.

by William Stromsem, CPA, JD

Stromsen
Stromsen

CPAs are complaining about an intrusive and intimidating Internal Revenue Service (IRS) initiative that began in early January when the IRS started sending “over 10,000” letters to tax return preparers (commercial and professional), with follow-up visits to “thousands” of letter recipients. This is part of an IRS program to be sure that preparers are “assisting clients appropriately” and part of Commissioner Shulman’s overall effort to increase oversight of return preparers. The IRS may intend this as an encouragement to do a better job, but CPA practitioners see this as poorly timed and intimidating during the busy tax season as they seek to apply the tax law correctly to client situations.

…continued at the AICPA Corporate Taxation Insider:  IRS ‘10,000 Letters’ Program Angers CPAs.

One Response to “IRS ‘10,000 Letters’ Program Angers CPAs”

  1. Chad Bordeaux

    We didn’t get a letter, but I know several CPA’s that did. Could they have done this at a worse time? Why couldn’t they send these letters and arrange these meetings in late-October or early-November? Why do it when every minute of the CPA’s time is so valuable. Makes no sense.