A Preparer Penalty Can Ruin Your Day
This issue of the EA Journal is all about ethics. Preparer penalties are often about a lack of ethics or a lack of due diligence. Here is one of the most comprehensive definitions of due diligence I have ever heard, given by my friend, fellow NAEA member, and NTPI Fellow, Conrad Mangapit, EA: Definition of Due Diligence – Part I A duty that paid tax professionals must perform to the best of their abilities in order... Kathy Morgan, EA
My EA Journey
I think I truly fell in love with taxation my sophomore year of college. At this point, I had already declared accounting as my major at Montclair State University. After years of working with my mom during tax season and after my first “Taxation of Individuals” class with a near perfect GPA, I was convinced that I would follow in my mom’s footsteps. Taxation was the career path I would choose. I decided after my four years at Mon... Brianna Antonelli, EA
Outer Limits of Tax Preparation Practice
One of the primary reasons people become enrolled agents is to be able to help their clients with tax problems. EAs (as well as attorneys and CPAs) can represent taxpayers before all administrative levels of the IRS. In order to effectively represent taxpayers, however, EAs need to be aware of just how far a practitioner can go, both ethically and professionally, without exceeding the limits of authority granted by the EA designation. In the ... Thomas A. Gorczynski, EA, USTCP, Kevin C. Huston, EA, USTCP
The Conditions are Always Impossible
The trouble with filing season is that it becomes difficult to communicate with our members, many of whom are busier than a one-armed paper hanger. That said— and I get it, of course—lots of tax policy and tax administration news comes to the fore during the eleven or so weeks enrolled agents are preparing their clients’ returns. We’ll touch on just a few items you may have missed… Let’s lead with good news. Because of the... Robert Kerr
What Constitutes a Valid Notice of Determination for Purposes of Starting the Thirty-day Period for Filing a Timely Tax Court Petition
Isaiah Bongam, Petitioner v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, Respondent Petitioner 146 T.C. No. 4 Filed February 11, 2016 After a taxpayer has filed a Request for a Collection Due Process Hearing, the IRS will send the taxpayer a Notice of Determination detailing the outcom... Steven R. Daimond
Walking the Tight Rope
NINE STEPS TO MAKE YOUR MARKETING EFFORTS FROM RUNNING AFOUL OF CIRCULAR 230 Marketing your business is a critical skill to develop for bringing in customers and preventing violations of the tricky regulations surrounding how we represent ourselves before the public. Frequently, there are posts on social media groups about how best to market our businesses, yet few responses ever mention the legalities. Most areas of Circular 230 ha... Crystal Stranger, EA