taxes
The issue of unqualified tax preparers is gaining serious momentum in Washington, and credentialed professionals should be paying attention.
A new Government Accountability Office report confirmed what many of us already know from experience: paid preparers vary widely in skill, education, and expertise. The profession spans enrolled agents, CPAs, attorneys, and a broad category of unenrolled preparers who face virtually no federal testing or continuing education requirements. While all paid preparers must obtain a PTIN, only credentialed practitioners are subject to meaningful IRS oversight.
That gap has consequences. The GAO found that unqualified preparers make serious errors at a higher rate than both self-preparers and credentialed professionals. Those errors cut both ways; clients either overpay and forfeit benefits they're entitled to, or they underreport liabilities and face audits and penalties down the road. Either way, the taxpayer loses.
Now, Congress may actually be ready to act. The Senate Finance Committee has introduced the bipartisan Taxpayer Assistance and Service Act, a sweeping reform package that directly addresses many of these concerns. The committee stated that millions of Americans are forced to use paid preparers every year, yet there are zero minimum standards ensuring those preparers know what they're doing.
On the preparer oversight front, the bill would impose penalties for improperly altered returns, failure to provide valid PTINs, misappropriation of refunds, and improper preparation practices. Critically, it would give the IRS authority to deny, revoke, or suspend PTINs for violations, a meaningful enforcement tool that doesn't currently exist in a robust form.
But the bill goes well beyond preparer standards. It would also digitize more paper-filed returns to speed refunds, upgrade the "Where's My Refund" tool, expand IRS callback options, improve online account functionality for both taxpayers and their representatives, and strengthen the independence of the National Taxpayer Advocate. For practitioners who spend significant time navigating IRS communication failures, these are not small improvements.
The National Association of Tax Professionals voiced strong support, with one key condition: any PTIN oversight framework must include a continuing education requirement. Given how frequently tax law changes, that's a reasonable baseline. The NATP also emphasized the need for coordination with Circular 230, state licensing requirements, and the Annual Filing Season Program to avoid creating conflicting or duplicative obligations, a practical concern for any practitioner operating across multiple compliance frameworks.
For those of us who have invested in our credentials and stay current year after year, this legislation is both long overdue and encouraging. The IRS attempted to address preparer standards once before, only to be blocked by the courts in 2013. This time, the path runs through Congress, where it needs to go. Whether it crosses the finish line remains to be seen, but bipartisan support from the Senate Finance Committee is about as good a starting point as this issue has ever had.
Christine Gervais is a licensed CPA, using her skills to help businesses grow and achieve their fullest potential. Christine has a Master’s degree in accounting from Southern New Hampshire University in addition to holding her CPA license for over a decade. Notably, Christine is a nationally recognized speaker providing education to other CPAs on how to best serve clients as well as instruction on a wide variety of topics for business owners on how to maximize success. Christine prides herself on the value she can bring to clients with her extensive tax knowledge and provides strategic, forward-thinking financial strategies to help clients grow. When not behind her desk, you can find Christine spending quality time with her daughter and stepson or tending to the family’s excessively loved farm animals.
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