Last year, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner John Koskinen announced the Annual Filing Season Program, a voluntary and temporary program intended to fill the holes left after the IRS lost the right to regulate tax preparers following Loving v. Commissioner. At the time, Commissioner Koskinen called the program “not the ideal solution” and was hopeful that Congress would enact a proposal that would give the IRS the authority for mandatory oversight of return preparers.
He wasn’t alone. Nina E. Olson, the National Taxpayer Advocate, has long been a proponent of tax preparer regulation: she has been urging Congress to move forward on such a program since 2002. Post-Loving, Olson has pushed Congress to pass legislation to authorize the IRS to reinstate the RTRP program.
Now, more than a year – and a few more lawsuits – after Loving, it appears that both Commissioner Koskinen and Taxpayer Advocate Olson may get their wishes.
Dispatches From The Front 