II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1209 

To regulate tax return preparers and refund anticipation payment 

arrangements. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 19, 2023 

Mr. BOOKER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To regulate tax return preparers and refund anticipation 

payment arrangements. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tax Refund Protection 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REGULATION OF TAX RETURN PREPARERS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 330 of title 31, United 

8 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘§ 330. Practice before the department and tax return 

2 preparers 

3 ‘‘(a) Subject to section 500 of title 5, the Secretary 

4 of the Treasury may— 

5 ‘‘(1) regulate the practice of representatives of 

6 persons before the Department of the Treasury 

7 through licensure; 

8 ‘‘(2) certify the practice of tax return pre9 parers; and 

10 ‘‘(3) before admitting a representative or a tax 

11 return preparer to practice, require that the rep12 resentative or tax return preparer demonstrate— 

13 ‘‘(A) good character; 

14 ‘‘(B) good reputation; 

15 ‘‘(C) necessary qualifications to enable the 

16 representative or tax return preparer to provide 

17 to persons valuable service; and 

18 ‘‘(D) competency to advise and assist per19 sons in presenting their cases or in preparing 

20 tax returns, claims for refund, or other submis21 sions related to the Internal Revenue Code of 

22 1986 or other laws or regulations administered 

23 by the Internal Revenue Service. 

24 ‘‘(b) Any enrolled agents properly licensed to practice 

25 as required under rules promulgated under subsection (a) 


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1 shall be allowed to use the credentials or designation of 

2 ‘enrolled agent’, ‘EA’, or ‘E.A.’. 

3 ‘‘(c)(1) After notice and opportunity for a proceeding, 

4 the Secretary may, with respect to a representative or tax 

5 return preparer who is described in paragraph (2)— 

6 ‘‘(A) suspend or disbar from practice before the 

7 Department a representative; 

8 ‘‘(B) decertify a tax return preparer; or 

9 ‘‘(C) censure a representative or tax return pre10 parer. 

11 ‘‘(2) A representative or tax return preparer is de12 scribed in this paragraph if the representative or tax re13 turn preparer— 

14 ‘‘(A) is incompetent; 

15 ‘‘(B) is disreputable; 

16 ‘‘(C) violates regulations prescribed under this 

17 section; or 

18 ‘‘(D) with intent to defraud, willfully and know19 ingly misleads or threatens the person being rep20 resented or a prospective person to be represented. 

21 ‘‘(3) The Secretary may impose a monetary penalty 

22 on any representative or tax return preparer described in 

23 paragraph (2). If the representative or tax return preparer 

24 was acting on behalf of an employer or any firm or other 

25 entity in connection with the conduct giving rise to such 


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1 penalty, the Secretary may impose a monetary penalty on 

2 such employer, firm, or entity if it knew, or reasonably 

3 should have known, of such conduct. Such penalty shall 

4 not exceed the gross income derived (or to be derived) 

5 from the conduct giving rise to the penalty and may be 

6 in addition to, or in lieu of, any suspension of the rep7 resentative, the decertification of the tax return preparer, 

8 or censure of the representative or the tax return preparer. 

9 ‘‘(d) After notice and opportunity for a hearing to 

10 any appraiser, the Secretary may— 

11 ‘‘(1) provide that appraisals by such appraiser 

12 shall not have any probative effect in any adminis13 trative proceeding before the Department of the 

14 Treasury or the Internal Revenue Service, and 

15 ‘‘(2) bar such appraiser from presenting evi16 dence or testimony in any such proceeding. 

17 ‘‘(e) Nothing in this section or in any other provision 

18 of law shall be construed to limit the authority of the Sec19 retary of the Treasury to impose standards applicable to 

20 the rendering of written advice with respect to any entity, 

21 transaction plan or arrangement, or other plan or arrange22 ment, which is of a type which the Secretary determines 

23 as having a potential for tax avoidance or evasion. 


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1 ‘‘(f)(1) The Secretary of the Treasury may impose 

2 fees on tax return preparers necessary to implement such 

3 programs as required by subsection (a). 

4 ‘‘(2) In addition to paragraph (1), the Commissioner 

5 of Internal Revenue may impose an annual fee necessary 

6 for any competency testing and training required for licen7 sure and certification under this section. 

8 ‘‘(3) Nothing in this section may be construed to limit 

9 the authority of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue to 

10 issue orders and establish fees related to the other pur11 poses, including the issuing of Preparer Tax Identification 

12 Numbers. 

13 ‘‘(g) For purposes of this section— 

14 ‘‘(1) the term ‘tax return preparer’ has the 

15 meaning given such term by section 7701(a)(36) of 

16 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; 

17 ‘‘(2) the term ‘tax return’ has the meaning 

18 given to the term ‘return’ under section 6696(e)(1) 

19 of such Code; and 

20 ‘‘(3) the term ‘claim for refund’ has the mean21 ing given such term under section 6696(e)(2) of 

22 such Code.’’. 

23 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The chapter analysis 

24 for chapter 3 of title 31, United States Code, is amended 


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1 by striking the item relating to section 330 and inserting 

2 the following: 

‘‘330. Practice before the department and tax return preparers.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. CLARIFYING AUTHORITY TO IMPOSE CIVIL PEN4 ALTIES FOR IMPROPER DISCLOSURES. 

5 Subsection (c) of section 6713 of the Internal Rev6 enue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(c) EXCEPTIONS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) EXCEPTIONS.—The rules of section 

9 7216(b) shall apply for purposes of this section. 

10 ‘‘(2) CROSS REFERENCE.—See section 7216 for 

11 criminal penalty for disclosure or use of information 

12 by preparers of returns.’’. 

13 SEC. 4. REGULATION OF REFUND ANTICIPATION PAYMENT 

14 INSTRUMENTS. 

15 (a) DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS FOR TAX RETURN

16 PREPARERS.—Subchapter A of chapter 80 of the Internal 

17 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end 

18 the following new section: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 7813. DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS FOR TAX RETURN 

20 PREPARERS. 

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may require tax 

22 return preparers to provide disclosures to a person receiv23 ing tax return preparation services or a prospective person 

24 to receive such services. Such disclosures shall— 


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1 ‘‘(1) identify the amount of fees the tax return 

2 preparer charges for preparing a tax return, filing a 

3 tax return, submitting a claim for refund, executing 

4 a refund anticipation payment arrangement, or sub5 mitting other submissions related to this title or 

6 other laws or regulations administered by the Inter7 nal Revenue Service, 

8 ‘‘(2) identify where on the website published by 

9 the Internal Revenue Service the average amount of 

10 time in which an individual who files a Federal in11 come tax return can expect to receive a refund, 

12 ‘‘(3) in the case of a refund anticipation pay13 ment arrangement involving a depository account 

14 not controlled by the person receiving tax return 

15 preparation services or a prospective person to re16 ceive such services, describe— 

17 ‘‘(A) the difference in days between the av18 erage amount of time by which a person receiv19 ing tax return preparation services or a pro20 spective person to receive such services receives 

21 the tax refund (in whole or in part) from a re22 fund anticipation payment arrangement, and 

23 ‘‘(B) the average amount of time by which 

24 a person receiving tax return preparation serv25 ices or a prospective person to receive such 


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1 services who files a Federal income tax return 

2 electronically receives the tax refund deposited 

3 directly to that person’s account by the taxing 

4 authority, 

5 ‘‘(4) state that a refund anticipation payment 

6 arrangement is not necessary to receive a tax re7 fund, 

8 ‘‘(5) state that, if a person receiving tax return 

9 preparation services or a prospective person to re10 ceive such services does not receive a tax refund or 

11 the amount of the tax refund is less than the 

12 amount anticipated under the refund anticipation 

13 payment arrangement, the person receiving tax re14 turn preparation services or a prospective person to 

15 receive such services may be responsible for paying 

16 any fees and interest associated with a refund antici17 pation payment arrangement, and 

18 ‘‘(6) include any such other disclosures not 

19 specified in the preceding paragraphs to carry out 

20 this section that the Secretary deems appropriate. 

21 ‘‘(b) REFUND ANTICIPATION PAYMENT ARRANGE22 MENT DEFINED.—For purposes of this section, the term 

23 ‘refund anticipation payment arrangement’ means an ar24 rangement under which, in exchange for Federal income 

25 tax preparation services, a consumer agrees to pay a fee 


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1 or interest upon receipt of the consumer’s tax refund to 

2 a tax return preparer, lender, or other affiliated lender 

3 by— 

4 ‘‘(1) requesting the Federal Government to de5 posit such tax refund, in whole or in part, directly 

6 into a depository account designated by either the 

7 consumer or the tax return preparer, lender, or 

8 other affiliated lender, or 

9 ‘‘(2) directly paying the fee or interest to the 

10 tax return preparer, lender, or other affiliated lend11 er.’’. 

12 (b) FAILURE TO DISCLOSE.—Part I of subchapter 

13 B of chapter 68 of such Code is amended by adding at 

14 the end the following: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 6720D. FAILURE TO MEET DISCLOSURE REQUIRE16 MENTS FOR TAX RETURN PREPARERS. 

17 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—If a tax return preparer fails 

18 to meet the requirements of section 7813, the Secretary 

19 may impose a penalty of up to $1,000 per each such fail20 ure. 

21 ‘‘(b) PENALTY IN ADDITION TO OTHER PEN22 ALTIES.—The penalty imposed by this section shall be in 

23 addition to any other penalty imposed by law.’’. 

24 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.— 


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1 (1) The table of sections for subchapter B of 

2 chapter 68 of such Code is amended by inserting 

3 after the item related to section 6720C the following 

4 new item: 

‘‘Sec. 6720D. Failure to meet disclosure requirements for tax return preparers.’’. 

5 (2) The table of sections for subchapter A of 

6 chapter 80 of such Code is amended by inserting 

7 after the item related to section 7812 the following 

8 new item: 

‘‘Sec. 7813. Disclosure requirements for tax return preparers.’’. 

9 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

10 this section shall apply with respect to returns filed after 

11 December 31, 2023. 

Æ 


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