Earlier this year, the IRS announced that it was proposing new registration, testing, and continuing education requirements for tax return preparers (IR-2010-1, 1/4/10). The IRS has now begun to implement these requirements. The IRS has also stepped up criminal investigations of tax return preparers believed to have assisted in the filing of fraudulent returns.

Registration

All tax return preparers who sign a federal tax return must register with the IRS and obtain a preparer tax identification number (PTIN), a nine-digit number assigned by the IRS. PTINs were created some years ago for preparers to use in place of their Social Security numbers (SSNs) for privacy concerns; SSNs are now no longer acceptable. The IRS has begun to notify about one million tax return preparers of the need to renew their Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN); the number is required on all federal returns prepared on or after Jan. 1, 2011 (IR-2010-106, 10/25/10). Those with PTINs must renew registration each year.