Faculty Publications

This article examines a recent legislation discussion draft that would increase penalties on return preparers who omit their identification numbers from tax returns or refund claims, and they reach different conclusions on whether Congress should criminalize those failures.

Tax return preparers play a pivotal role for millions of taxpayers, and their number ranges in the hundreds of thousands. Despite preparers' importance in the tax return submission process and their numerical size, they are largely unregulated. Because of this lack of oversight, a significant number of tax return preparers put their own financial interests and those of their clients ahead of the government's financial interests.

Published by the ABA Tax Section and now in its 8th Edition, Effectively Representing Your Client Before the IRS is a comprehensive collection of everything a tax professional should know when dealing with the IRS. Written by some of the most experienced tax controversy lawyers in the United States, this two-volume reference provides an in-depth discussion of the law and is replete with realistic examples and hundreds of practice tips to aid tax practitioners during all stages of representation before the IRS in controversy matters, including exam, appeals, Tax Court, refund actions, and collection matters. The companion website contains select audio and video recordings, gleaned from past ABA Tax Section meetings and webinars, and is supplemented with meeting materials relevant to your practice. No tax professional should be without Effectively Representing Your Client Before the IRS. It's your go-to manual to successfully navigate the challenging maze of rules governing tax controversies. New Chapters in the 8th Edition: Obtaining Authority to Represent Taxpayers or Receive Taxpayer Information Understanding Taxpayer Identification Numbers and Their Impact on IRS Return Processing Applying Administrative Law in Tax Cases New Chapters Expanding on the Collections Chapter: Offers in Compromise Collection Due Process and Equivalent Hearings Bonus Web Content: Select Audio, Video, and Meeting Materials Full Book PDF Nonprofit / Academic / Government individuals or institutions are eligible to a 50% discount off the non-member price by calling the ABA's Service Center at (800) 285-2221 to place an order.

This Article summarizes and comments on a 2021 survey by the American College of Tax Counsel (ACTC) on the policies and procedures followed by law and accounting firms in drafting tax opinions. The Article provides background on the contexts in which tax opinions are issued and considerations that are relevant to the composition of such opinions; defines and distinguishes among the levels of assurance at which tax opinions are typically provided; and presents an overview of ethical rules and related considerations, including Circular 230 and the Code's preparer penalty provisions, implicated in the process of drafting and issuing tax opinions. The Article concludes by making several suggestions to professional firms that are engaged in establishing or reviewing their own opinion processes and to ACTC on how to move forward with its effort to provide useful information and materials to tax professionals.

This volume considers the wide array of sources that govern tax practice by lawyers and accountants, including IRS Circular 230, ethical principles and practice rules specific to each profession and a panoply of practice-related provisions in the Internal Revenue Code. There have been a number of important cases since the first edition was published, ranging from limitations on the IRS's authority to regulate tax practice to the applicability of privilege principles in the context tax work product. The second edition is fully updated to reflect recent developments, and includes many new problems.