President signs Taxpayer First Act, legislation that will modernize the IRS

The President has signed into law the Taxpayer First Act, legislation that we’ve supported since the beginning. Starting early last year, NATP worked with Members of Congress to include provisions in this bill that would improve the IRS and better enable NATP members to serve taxpayers.

This act is exciting for tax professionals, as it will:

• Establish an IRS Independent Office of Appeals
• Establish a private debt collection and special compliance personnel program
• Modernize the Internal Revenue Service’s organizational structure
• Expand access to IP PINs nationwide
• Establish a single point of contact for tax-related identity theft victims
• Impose an increased penalty for improper disclosure or use of information by preparers
• Develop an internet platform for Form 1099 filings

This important piece of legislation improves identity protections, requires a plan to modernize the IRS’s structure, enhances customer services, adds an online taxpayer portal and much more. We’ve detailed each section of the bill in our Taxpayer First Act summary (only available for download for NATP members).

NATP will continue to advocate for the need for due diligence consistency across all categories of tax preparation; among them would be paid preparers, tax software, artificial intelligence tools and VITA. It is the position of the association that the term “paid preparer” needs better definition and awareness since it extends beyond the traditional tax professional.