Push to Regulate Tax Preparers Struggles Despite Growing Fraud

Calls are growing louder to regulate paid tax return preparers, but lingering concerns over giving authority to the IRS to do so and whether it could stifle the industry remain a roadblock.

Conservatives have long been skeptical of the IRS, and the agency’s renewed push to enforce tax laws with its billions in recent funding has exacerbated their ire. At the same time, industry pros, tax officials, and software companies have called on Congress to give IRS the regulatory power to set minimum standards for those paid to prepare taxes, and rising fraud among a pandemic-era credit, among others, is ...