Senate Finance Committee Approves Legislation Addressing 税payer Identity Theft; 188bet亚洲真人体育下载 Seeks Focused Regulation of 税 Preparers

The Senate Finance Committee on April 20 passed 立法 designed to help curb identity theft 和 tax refund fraud.  Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said the measure “aims to put more tools in the proverbial toolbox, 和, 展望未来, the committee will remain vigilant as we seek to identify additional measures that will allow us to detect 和 prevent stolen identity refund fraud.”

舱口也 引用 an 188bet亚洲真人体育下载 survey which found that 63 percent of CPAs reported that at least one of their clients was a victim of tax identity theft in the 2015 filing season.

In welcoming the Committee’s action, 爱德华·卡尔, CPA, CGMA, 188bet亚洲真人体育下载 vice president for taxation, 指出, “We have previously supported 和 continue to favor addressing identity theft, including expansion of the Identity Protection PIN system to all taxpayers, making it a felony for a person to use a stolen identity to file a return, increased electronic filing of returns by paid tax return preparers, 和 reports to Congress by the GAO about identity theft 和 tax refund fraud.”

During the committee’s markup (the process by which committees debate, amend 和 rewrite proposed 立法), Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.)提议 修正案 that contained many of the 188bet亚洲真人体育下载’s longst和ing recommendations to protect the public from incompetent 和 fraudulent tax preparers, including granting the IRS the authority to revoke Preparer 税 Identification Numbers (PTINs), requiring only those signing a return to obtain a PTIN 和 mitigating marketplace confusion by requiring unlicensed PTIN holders who advertise to direct taxpayers to the IRS website where differences between preparers are explained.

Wyden’s 修正案 – endorsed by the 188bet亚洲真人体育下载 in a 信 to committee members – was not adopted, but the provisions are expected to resurface 和 may signify that Congress will act on the targeted approach to preparer regulation favored by the CPA profession.