IRS Exam for Preparers

The Internal Revenue Service announced this week that more than 27,600 North Carolina tax preparers have now registered with the agency, as required by recent regulations, but more than 12,000 of them must take an IRS competency examination by Dec. 31, 2013, or they will not be able to prepare tax returns for compensation.  So far, 134 tax preparers in North Carolina have passed the competency exam and, as a result, have been given the new credential of Registered Tax Return Preparer (RTRP).  Enrolled Agents, CPAs and attorneys are not required to take the exam because they already have testing requirements. Nationwide, close to 87 million returns, about 60 percent of the total, were prepared by paid tax preparers last year.  Three years ago, the IRS began a program to register paid preparers and require certain ones to pass a competency test.  In addition, paid preparers are expected to take continuing education courses and meet ethics standards.  For returns prepared in 2012, paid tax preparers must, at least, hold a Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN), and that the PTIN must be shown on tax returns they prepare.  More information about the IRS return preparer program is available at www.IRS.gov/PTIN.