The AICPA recently outlined its concerns to Congress about provisions in the tax bill that could hurt the accounting profession, including a section that allows long-debated contingent fees that it described as “an open invitation to unscrupulous tax preparers.”
In a letter to congressional committee leaders, the AICPA said Congress should strike the provision barring Treasury from regulating contingent fees charged for tax returns, refunds or documentation with tax returns for refunds be struck from the bill.
“The preparation of an original return on a contingent fee basis could be an incentive to prepare questionable returns, which would result in an open invitation to unscrupulous tax preparers to engage in fraudulent preparation activities that takes advantage of both the U.S. tax system and taxpayers,” the AICPA wrote.
“Unknowing taxpayers would ultimately bear cost of these fee arrangements, since they will have remitted the fee to the preparer long before an assessment is made upon the examination of the return.” Download the letter.