IRS Lacks Authority to Regulate Tax Preparers, Court Says
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The U.S. Internal Revenue Service lacks authority to regulate paid tax preparers, a federal appeals panel said, upholding a lower-court ruling throwing out licensing rules for as many as 700,000 practitioners.
The IRS issued new rules in 2011 to address concerns about the performance of some preparers. The agency relied for authority on a 1884 law empowering it to “regulate the practice of representatives of persons before the Department of Treasury,” according to the ruling by a three-judge panel in Washington.