After three decades as a part-time tax preparer, 80-year-old Elmer Kilian of Eagle, Wis., is concerned that new IRS regulations may prevent him from hanging out his shingle.
Kilian is one of three plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit by a libertarian legal center this week that challenges new licensure requirements for hundreds of thousands of tax preparers across the nation.
The IRS says the new regulations, more than two years in the making, are needed to ensure that taxpayers who hire tax preparers get high-quality service. The regulations require most paid tax preparers to pass a federal competency exam and take ongoing continuing education courses to keep up with changes in tax laws.
But the Arlington, Va.-based Institute for Justice, which expects to file the lawsuit Tuesday in Washington on behalf of Kilian and two others, say the IRS lacks the statutory authority to require these kinds of licenses without congressional authorization. The new rules are bad policy, the institute contends, that put mom-and-pop tax preparers out of business and give unfair advantages to lawyers and certified public accountants, who are exempt from many of the licensing requirements.
"The likely result of these regulations is less options for consumers and higher prices," said Bob Ewing, a spokesman for the institute. The nonprofit law firm has filed numerous legal challenges against government regulations, including local licensing requirements for professions from hair braiders to yoga teachers and federal rules against paying bone-marrow donors. |
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