and Circular 230 Standards
CD of Teleconference with Q&A
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and Sales & Use Tax Monitor
The government's new regimen of tax return preparer penalties—spelled out in temp regs issued by the IRS in January—is a tough one. Accountants have long faced possible penalties if they sign income tax returns with too-aggressive positions, but now they also face new conduct standards.
And, starting with returns due in January 2008, return preparer penalties also applied to federal estate and gift, employment and excise tax returns. Those penalties jumped as much as five-fold. Meanwhile, new Circular 230 regs now set a "more likely than not" standard for tax return positions.
New penalties address filing erroneous refund claims. Return preparers—who can include not just the signers of returns but accounting firm and client employees who work on them—must navigate significantly more treacherous waters with the IRS.
Listen as our panel of veteran accounting and tax professionals bottom-lines the new tax return preparer environment and what it means for accountant–client relationships.
The panel included:
Walter Goldberg, Executive Director, Tax Practice, Grant Thornton, Washington, D.C. He has more than 20 years of federal tax controversy experience and also advises clients on ADR, penalty and disclosure issues. Previously, he was a Big Four firm tax partner and an IRS staff attorney.
Fred Murray, Director of Tax Practice Policy and Quality Group, Grant Thornton, Washington, D.C. Previously, he was assigned to tax positions at the Justice Department, IRS, National Foreign Trade Council and Tax Executives Institute. He also chaired the ABA's Tax Policy Formation Committee.
Mark Lange, Tax Partner, Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker, Atlanta. He focuses on transactional tax issues involving M&A, joint ventures, partnerships and other business combinations. He represents multi-national companies in the telecom, high-tech and other industries.
Cristiane Daly, Attorney, Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker, Atlanta. She is attached to the firm's Tax Practice.
The panel explains and prepares you to react to these and other key issues:
- Who qualifies as a "return preparer" under the new rules, and what kinds of returns are covered?
- What are the best practices for dealing with the new conduct standards for preparing returns with understated tax liabilities?
- What should accountants consider in responding to problematic returns with clients?
- When is resigning as preparer preferred over persuading clients to either report or stop claiming an aggressive position?
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