Have Our Office Prepare Your Tax Returns, and Rest Easy
A federal court in Washington DC ruled the IRS does not have the authority to require irs tax preparers to obtain a license and maintain that license with continuing education courses. The IRS began regulating all IRS tax preparers who prepare and file tax returns for compensation. The IRS based their authority on an 1884 law – the Court disagreed.
Three independent IRS Tax Preparers brought the action – charging the IRS was enforcing IRS Tax Preparer requirements without congressional approval. The Court held “With an invalid regulatory regime on the IRS’s side of the scale and a threat to plaintiff’s livelihood on the other, the balance of hardships tips strongly in favor of plaintiffs.”
Judge James Boasberg applied the test from Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, 467 U.S. 837 (1984). The first step of the test requires the court to determine if Congress has spoken to the precise question at issue; if Congress’s intent is clear, that is the end of the inquiry. In this case, Judge Boasberg framed the question, is 31 U.S.C. Section 330 “ambiguous as to whether tax-return preparers are ‘representatives’ who ‘practice’ before the IRS?” (slip op. at 9).
Having answered the question in the negative, Judge Boasberg granted a declaratory judgment that the IRS “lacks statutory authority to promulgate or enforce the new regulatory scheme for ‘registered tax return preparers’ brought under Circular 230” (slip op. at 21).
The IRS may appeal the decision.
Having your tax prepared by a professional is even more important now that the Court decided against regulating the IRS tax preparers. Feel safe with your returns, hire The Law Office of Steven A. Leahy, PC to prepare your taxes, and rest easy. Call us at (312) 664-6649.