He stated that "We are also still refining our rules for people who work in a professional firm, like an accounting firm, who prepare all, or substantially all of a return under the supervision of an accountant, enrolled agent or lawyer. While this is a tricky area, and I can't give you definitive guidance until we publish our final guidance later this year, I will tell you that I am sympathetic to the argument that the rules should be flexible for people who have met a higher professional standard. Therefore, it is highly likely that as we implement the new rules and procedures there will be some relief for testing and continuing education requirements for people who do not sign a return and work in a professional firm under the supervision of an accountant, enrolled agent or lawyer."
He also said IRS is still working on a start date for testing, and an effective date for the 15 hours of continuing education. DURING THE FIRST YEAR OF IMPLEMENTATION, IRS INTEDS TO WAIVE THE REQUIREMENT FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION.
IRS is also creating a Return Preparer Office (separate from OPR) inside of the IRS that will be led by David R. Williams, who is spearheading the return preparer initiative. He will report directly to Steve Miller, Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement.
According to Commissioner Shulman, the new office will have broad responsibility for the return preparer initiative. It will manage all activities related to continuing education and testing of all professionals under IRS jurisdiction. t will also manage the registration system and process, as well as coordinate resource planning for IRS efforts across the organization related to return preparers.
It is the Commissioner's intention to provide Karen Hawkins and her OPR team increased resources to investigate additional cases of improper conduct, ethical violations and other disciplinary issues involving tax professionals falling under Treasury Circular 230. "I think it's fair to say that we could see an appreciable jump in the OPR case load in the foreseeable future as we work to ensure that all return preparers are serving the American people well."
Consider yourself warned.
The full text of the speech is IR 2010-107 available at the link below.
Mary Lew Kehm, CPA
http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=229675,00.html
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