2012 Fall Tax Conference, Nov 15-16
MISSOURI ASSOCIATION OF TAX PRACTITIONERS
59th ANNUAL FALL TAX CONFERENCE
Courtyard Marriott - Columbia, MO
November 15-16, 2012
CONFERENCE FEES
Two Days $ 350.00
One Day $ 200.00
MATP Members: 2 MATP Bucks can be used if registering for one or both days. Fee includes conference participation, notebook of outlines, Thursday and Friday luncheons, continental breakfasts, and beverages at breaks. Lunch for non-registrants will be available upon request for an additional fee.
HOTEL INFORMATION
Courtyard Marriott - Columbia, 3301 LeMone Industrial Blvd, Columbia, MO 65201
If you haven’t already made room reservations with the hotel, you need to call Susan Cunningham direct at 573-443-8114 and tell her you are with MATP.
REGISTRATION
Please call 913-660-0006 or email matp.info@gmail.com by Monday, November 12, 2012 to say you are attending, or fax the registration form below to 913-220-2923, so we can have an accurate count for seating, seminar materials and food. Complete the form below and bring it and your check to the conference. No shows will be billed a fee of $50.00.
IRS Issues Guidance to Further Implement Return Preparer Oversight
IR-2011-96, Sept. 21, 2011
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today provided additional clarification for tax return preparers about when to renew their preparer tax identification numbers (PTINs), how suitability testing will be conducted, and
when the continuing education requirement will begin.
The IRS today released Notice 2011-80, which provides that PTINs must now be renewed on a calendar year basis. All PTIN holders must renew their numbers using the online PTIN application or paper Form W-12 and pay the required fee ($64.25 for 2012) after Oct. 15 and before Jan. 1 annually.
The return preparer initiative requires anyone who is paid to prepare all or substantially all of any federal tax return or claim for refund to register with the IRS and obtain a PTIN. Certain preparers also must pass a competency examination, undergo a suitability check and complete continuing education courses annually. The IRS will designate individuals who meet these requirements as a Registered Tax Return Preparer.
Individuals designated as a Registered Tax Return Preparer will be authorized to prepare federal tax returns and claims for refunds and to represent their clients during an IRS examination of a tax return or claim for refund that the individual signed as the paid tax return preparer.
The notice also clarifies a number of other issues.
The IRS has been issuing provisional PTINs to individuals who are not attorneys, certified public accountants, or enrolled agents to enable them to prepare tax returns prior to meeting competency testing and suitability requirements because the programs have not begun. The IRS will continue issuing provisional PTINs at least through April 18, 2012. Once the IRS stops issuing provisional PTINs, tax return preparers who are required to complete the competency test or suitability requirements must complete these requirements successfully prior to obtaining a PTIN.
The notice also provides that the 15-hour continuing education requirement for certain tax return preparers will take effect starting in 2012. Registered Tax Return Preparers and individuals required to pass the Registered Tax Return Preparer competency examination before Dec. 31, 2013, must complete the 15-hour requirement prior to renewing their PTINs for 2013 and subsequent years.
The notice also explains that certain tax return preparers who must pass a suitability check will have to provide their fingerprints so that a Federal Bureau of Investigation database search can be conducted. Generally, the fingerprint requirement will affect those preparers who currently have provisional PTINs.
Under the current proposed regulations any participant in the PTIN, acceptance agent, or authorized e-file provider programs who resides and is employed outside of the United States will not have to be fingerprinted to participate in these programs. Such persons, however, must comply with all other elements of the suitability check. In addition, the Treasury Department and the IRS continue to study what additional requirements should apply to such persons. Any additional requirements would be set forth in future guidance.
Attorneys, certified public accountants, enrolled agents, enrolled retirement plan agent and enrolled actuaries also are expected to be exempt from the fingerprinting requirement at this time. However, these individuals also must answer all the suitability questions asked on the PTIN application, such as whether they have been convicted of a felony in the previous 10 years.
Individuals participating in the PTIN, acceptance agent, or authorized e-file provider programs also are required to meet any other requirements of the programs in which they are participating. The IRS is working with third-party vendors who will collect and process the fingerprints.
Proposed Regulations Related to User Fees
The IRS also published proposed regulations today (REG-116284-11) that would establish user fees for fingerprinting and taking the competency examination. As proposed, the IRS portion of the fingerprinting fee would be $33, and the IRS portion of the testing fee would be $27. These user fees are in addition to any fees charged by the third-party vendors administering the programs. The fees to be charged by third-party vendors are not being announced at this time, but the total fees, including the IRS user fees, are expected to be between $60 and $90 for fingerprinting and $100 and $125 for testing.
For more information, visit www.IRS.gov/ptin.
IRS PTIN Support Line
IRS has setup a toll-free telephone number which tax professionals can call for technical support related to the new online registration system: 1-877-613-PTIN(7846).
New PTIN system now online
http://www.irs.gov/taxpros/index.html
IR-2010-99, Sept. 28, 2010
WASHINGTON — As part of an initiative to ensure that tax return preparers are competent and qualified, the Internal Revenue Service today issued final regulations requiring paid tax return preparers to register with the IRS to obtain a Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN). A new online application system to obtain a PTIN is now available.
All paid tax return preparers who prepare all or substantially all of a tax return are required to use the new registration system to obtain a PTIN.
Access to the online application system will be through the Tax Professionals page of IRS.gov. Individuals who currently possess a PTIN will need to reapply under the new system but generally will be reassigned the same number.
“Getting a new, industry-wide registration system in place is essential to our efforts to improve the standards and oversight of tax return preparation,” said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman. “These efforts are essential to the future of the nation’s tax system. This will create higher standards for the tax preparation community and ensure quality service for taxpayers.”
The IRS set up a special toll-free telephone number, 1-877-613-PTIN (7846), that tax professionals can call for technical support related to the new online registration system.
Applicants will pay a $64.25 fee to obtain a PTIN, which will be valid for one year. As part of that fee the IRS will receive $50 per user, as authorized by final user fee regulations issued by the IRS today, to pay for technology, compliance and outreach efforts associated with the new program. And a third-party vendor will receive $14.25 per user to operate the online system and provide customer support.
Receipt of a PTIN will be immediate after successful online registration. Or a paper application may be submitted on Form W-12, IRS Paid Preparer Tax Identification Number Application, with a response time of four to six weeks. Before registration, applicants should consider that the date the PTIN is assigned is established as the annual renewal date.
Individuals without a Social Security number will also need to provide one of the following: Form 8945, PTIN Supplemental Application for U.S. Citizens Without a Social Security Number Due to Conscientious Religious Objection, or Form 8946, PTIN Supplemental Application for Foreign Persons Without a Social Security Number.
The new online registration system and final regulations are part of a series of steps underway to increase oversight of federal tax return preparation.
In January, Shulman announced the results of a comprehensive six-month review of the tax return preparer industry, which proposed new registration, testing and continuing education of federal tax return preparers. With 60 percent of American households using a tax preparer to help them prepare and file their taxes, higher standards for the tax return preparer community will significantly enhance protections and service for taxpayers, increase confidence in the tax system and result in greater compliance with tax laws over the long term. Currently, many return preparers do not have to meet any government or professionally mandated competency requirements before preparing a federal tax return for a fee.
Work on Testing, Continuing Education Components Continue
The start of the PTIN registration process begins as the IRS continues to review the testing and education components of the return preparer initiative as recently announced in proposed regulations that would amend Treasury Circular 230.
The proposed Circular 230 regulations announced that attorneys, certified public accountants and enrolled agents would not be subject to additional testing or continuing education requirements in order to obtain a PTIN. These professionals are currently subject to strict professional standards of conduct and ethics.
Pending finalization of guidance, the IRS has under serious consideration extending similar treatment to a discrete category of people who engage in return preparation under the supervision of someone else -- for example, some employees who prepare all or substantially all of the return and work in certain professional firms under the supervision of one of the above individuals who signs the return.
The IRS will provide guidance defining this area in the coming months, and will continue to seek feedback during this process to help ensure the creation of a fair, equitable oversight system that minimizes burden.
On the continuing education requirements, the IRS recognizes the need to have transition rules in place and plans to issue additional guidelines by the end of the year.
Return Preparer Regulations – Getting Started
BACKGROUND
After an extensive review that included significant public input, the Internal Revenue Service announced in January 2010 a fundamental change in how the agency will regulate the tax return preparation industry. Under this change, the IRS will implement new regulations and procedures that will better serve taxpayers, tax administration and the tax professional industry.
The new requirements take effect on January 1, 2011, and include: mandatory preparer tax identification numbers (PTINs), continuing education, competency testing, ethical standards and electronic filing.
For purposes of PTIN registration, a tax return preparer is an individual who, for compensation, prepares all or substantially all of a federal tax return or claim for refund.
STEPS TO BECOMING A REGISTERED TAX RETURN PREPARER
Step One: Sign Up Electronically
Beginning in mid-September 2010, federal tax return preparers may begin signing up for a PTIN. All tax return preparers, including those tax return preparers who are attorneys, certified public accountants, and enrolled agents, must have PTINs if they prepare tax returns after December 31, 2010.
Access to an online sign-up system will be available through www.IRS.gov/taxpros. An annual fee of $64.25 will be required.
Everyone must pay the fee and sign up for a PTIN using the new process, including those preparers who already have PTINs. Tax return preparers who already have PTINs will be assigned the same PTIN under the new system
Step Two: Competency Exam
Beginning in mid-2011, tax return preparers must pass a competency test to officially become a registered tax return preparer.
Tax return preparers who have PTINs before testing becomes available will have until Dec. 31, 2013, to pass the competency test. After testing becomes available, new tax return preparers will be required to pass the competency test before they can obtain a PTIN.
Attorneys, certified public accountants, and enrolled agents will be exempt from the competency test requirement. Enrolled actuaries and enrolled retirement plan agents will be exempt from the competency test requirement if they only prepare returns within the limited practice areas of these groups. More guidance on testing will be available in spring 2011, including the amount of the testing fee.
Step Three: Continuing Education
A new continuing education requirement of 15 hours per year will also be implemented in the future. The beginning date has not been determined.
Courses will need to include 3 hours of federal tax law updates, 2 hours of ethics, and 10 hours of other federal tax law.
This will not apply to attorneys, certified public accountants, enrolled agents, enrolled actuaries, or enrolled retirement plan agents due to their existing education requirements.
Continuing education credit opportunities will be available from a variety of approved sources. More guidance will be available through www.IRS.gov/taxpros.
MATP Recent Posts
- 2012 Fall Tax Conference, Nov 15-16
- 2012 Spring Tax Seminar: May 17-18
- IRS Issues Guidance to Further Implement Return Preparer Oversight
- 2011 Fall Tax Conference
- 2010 Fall Tax Conference Day #1
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