Thursday, January 07, 2010

Why various bureaucrats need to be added to the

"How many lampposts in DC?" list:
The nation's green eyeshades are now destined to come under the regulatory rule of the Internal Revenue Service as part of the Obama Administration's latest revenue grab.

Under the plan, which would begin with the 2011 tax season, anyone who takes money to help people with their taxes will have to register with the IRS, and eventually pass competency tests and sign up for continuing education. So having made tax filing so complicated that most Americans need help with their forms, Washington now wants to raise the price of such counsel by regulating advisers in a way that may reduce their supply.

Defending the decision, IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman declared that regulating tax preparers was reasonable because "In most states you need a license to cut someone's hair." Yes, the cosmetology guild does like to raise the barriers to entry for competitors
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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

And how will this affect tax preparation software? Will the companies that provide it be required to get their offerings certified?

Will the software be outlawed altogether?

Virtually every time regulations like these come up, it turns out that they were proposed and supported by those that would be regulated by them.

I have no doubt that the big dogs like H&R Block are lobbying for this in order to reduce competition.

Windy Wilson said...

Mr. Shulman, bad ideas are NOT to be emulated.

Anonymous said...

Ummm, Mr. Shulman - we already have professionals that "Pass competency tests and sign up for continuing education..."

They're called Certified Public Accountants (CPAs).

And yes they are regulated and do need licenses - STATE licenses - not federal licenses.

STG, the feds would regulate breqthing if they could find a way to do it...