Press Releases

WASHINGTON— Congressman Ron Estes (R-Kansas) has introduced bipartisan legislation with Congresswoman Terri Sewell (D-Alabama) to protect taxpayers by allowing the IRS to remove bad actors from preparing taxes. Currently, tax preparers must have a valid Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN). Their legislation, H.R. 3466, creates a process to allow the IRS to revoke a tax preparer's PTIN based on negligence, fraud or abuse of the tax system. Read an op-ed about why this legislation is important below.

Congress Must Enact Greater Taxpayer Protections
The Hill
By Karen Orosco, Senior Vice President of U.S. Retail Sales and Service at H&R Block
9/17/19

Imagine you are among the 60 percent of Americans who pay someone to help you with your taxes each year. You make an appointment, gather your documents, take time out of your day to work with a preparer, and off your return goes. But then, a few months later, you receive a notice from the IRS that you owe thousands of dollars when you thought you were getting a refund. You attempt to call your tax preparer to get help, but the number is disconnected. You have one set of paperwork, but it turns out a different return was submitted on your behalf to the IRS.

Your preparer is gone, and you are stuck with the bill. What do you do?

...

This is a legitimate and consistent problem that Congress is now looking to address.

Reps. Ron Estes (R-Kan.) and Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) recently introduced legislation, H.R. 3466, which would clarify the IRS’s authority to revoke a bad tax preparer’s Personal Tax Identification Number (PTIN) and thus protect taxpayers from habitually bad actors. The bipartisan proposal would create a process to allow the IRS to revoke a tax preparer’s PTIN based on negligence, fraud or abuse of the tax system.

The timing couldn’t be more important.

...

Thirteen states -- Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia -- have enacted legislation that gives states the resources to identify and stop bad preparers of state returns. But state laws only go so far.

...

Now is the time to pass common-sense taxpayer service standards, like H.R. 3466 to ensure all American taxpayers are protected against identified bad actors who expose them to scams and abuse. Congress should join Estes and Sewell and quickly pass PTIN revocation legislation to prevent Americans from further taxpayer preparer fraud. Taxpayers’ financial well-being depends on it.

###

Read the entire op-ed here.

Ron Estes is a 5th generation Kansan and represents Kansas’ 4th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. He serves on the House Committee on Ways and Means.