Posted on 01/01/2016 10:53:02 AM PST by Twotone
A bill introduced by two House Republicans earlier this month would force tax preparers to undergo continuous training and pass costly, restrictive licensing exams. According to a report from The Daily Signal, Reps. Diane Black and Pat Meehan presented the bill as a way to fight tax fraud and other criminal activity.
(Excerpt) Read more at ij.org ...
Why would they do this?
Beats the hell out of me. Why not simplify the tax code so no one needs a tax preparer?
The only surprise is that this has not happened sooner.
Probably paid of by corporate tax preparers. That’s the usual beneficiary of regulation or licensure, large companies. It creates a barrier to entry that’s easier for larger companies to navigate than smaller competitors, and easier for those already in the business than new entrants. Most professional licensing schemes (laws) are just to protect the guys already in the club from competition.
Because Jackson-Hewitt and H&R Block asked them.
This eradicates the competition.
The two reps are traitors.
Good thing it’s Republicans sponsoring this! Imagine if Dems did it. They’d make everyone undergo tax training!
Yet another reason to repeal the 16th Amendment and close the IRS.
Bingo.
Two Republicans who need to be primaried!
Then add: states collect licensing fees.
Add: schools collect revenue with Continuing Ed classes.
Add: Attorneys waiting on the first Preparers to make a Mistake.
It might have something to do with creating chaos and confusion. (In addition to reasons mentioned in post 6 and 7).
Will Scammers Hide Behind New Law for Private Tax Collectors
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/federal-eye/wp/2015/12/20/will-scammers-hide-behind-new-law-for-private-tax-collectors/
Congress, in a law that took effect this month, instructed the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), against its objections, to use private collection agencies for “outstanding inactive tax receivables.”
snip
Generally, the IRS does not contact taxpayers by phone. But legitimate bill collectors and tax scammers do. Once the private collection program begins, which Congress says should be early next year, it will be even more difficult to distinguish between the real and fake bill collectors.
In the era of Trump I have learned that whenever establishment Republicans push legislation, look at who their donors are. People elect Congressmen and Senators, but Congressmen and Senators work for their donors, not those who elect them.
Big companies lobby for regs that are high negatives to small companies.
Also, tax preparers need to know that they have the constitutional authority to stop the IRS by referencing the following. The Founding States had made the first numbered clauses in the Constitution, Sections 1-3 of Article I, evidently a good place to hide them from Congress, to clarify that all federal legislative powers are vested in the elected members of Congress, not in the executive or judicial branches, or in non-elected federal bureaucrats like those running the IRS. So Congress has a constitutional ”monopoly” on federal legislative powers whether it wants it or not imo.
But by delegating federal legislative / regulatory powers to IRS bureaucrats for example, Congress is wrongly protecting such powers from the wrath of the voters in blatant defiance of Sections 1-3 referenced above.
Also, to actually simplify their work, tax preparers also need to start pointing out the following. A previous generation of state sovereignty-respecting ustices had clarified that Congress is prohibited from appropriatiing taxes in the name of state power issues, essentially any issue that Congress cannot justify under its Section 8-limited powers.
”Congress is not empowered to tax for those purposes which are within the exclusive province of the States.” - Justice John Marshall, Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824.
And speaking of corrupt Congress, when patriots elect Trump, or whatever conservative they elect as president, they also need to do this. They need to elect a new, state sovereignty-respecting Congress that will work within its constitutional Article I, Section 8-limited powers to support the new president, while prohibiting the executive and judicial branches, along with federal bureaucrats, from stealing legislative branch powers.
Also consider that such a Congress would probably be willing to fire state sovereignty-ignoring activist justices.
“...undergo continuous training and pass costly, restrictive licensing exams.”
Who will do the training? The IRS hasn’t a clue of what all is in the tax code. Need proof? Call the IRS help line several times, asking the same question, and see how many different answers you get.
Most of the Jackson-Hewitt and H&R Block tax preparers are independents, hired for the duration of the tax season. Folks can get online training pretty cheap between seasons, and tax law is so complex that it is not unreasonable to require some effort to stay abreast. An error on your tax return can costs you hundreds or thousands due to a deduction you failed to take, a credit you are allowed but unaware of, etc. And since most returns are not audited, you won’t find out about the error.
Same with computer tax programs. They work OK, but the software I used last year prepared my state tax return incorrectly. That wasn’t entirely its fault, the tax exemption WAS programmed in to it, but it wasn’t in an obvious place. If I hadn’t caught it on my own final review, I’d have paid too much for my state taxes.
It’s only a matter of time before they will make it illegal for individuals to do their own taxes.
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