II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1192 

To set minimum standards for tax return preparers. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 11, 2019 

Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. BENNET, Mr. CARPER, Mr. 

BROWN, and Ms. CORTEZ MASTO) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To set minimum standards for tax return preparers. 

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 ‘‘Taxpayer Protection 

5 and Preparer Proficiency Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REGULATION OF TAX RETURN PREPARERS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 330 of 

8 title 31, United States Code, is amended— 

9 (1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(1) regulate— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the practice of representatives of per2 sons before the Department of the Treasury; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(B) the practice of tax return preparers; 

5 and’’; and 

6 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

7 (A) by inserting ‘‘or a tax return preparer 

8 to prepare tax returns’’ after ‘‘practice’’; 

9 (B) by inserting ‘‘or tax return preparer’’ 

10 before ‘‘demonstrate’’; and 

11 (C) by inserting ‘‘or in preparing their tax 

12 returns, claims for refund, or documents in con13 nection with tax returns or claims for refund’’ 

14 after ‘‘cases’’ in subparagraph (D). 

15 (b) AUTHORITY TO SANCTION REGULATED TAX RE16 TURN PREPARERS.—Subsection (c) of section 330 of title 

17 31, United States Code, is amended— 

18 (1) by striking ‘‘before the Department’’; 

19 (2) by inserting ‘‘or tax return preparer’’ after 

20 ‘‘representative’’ each place it appears; and 

21 (3) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘misleads or 

22 threatens’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘mis23 leads or threatens— 

24 ‘‘(A) any person being represented or any 

25 prospective person being represented; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) any person or prospective person 

2 whose tax return, claim for refund, or document 

3 in connection with a tax return or claim for re4 fund, is being or may be prepared.’’. 

5 (c) MINIMUM COMPETENCY STANDARDS FOR TAX

6 RETURN PREPARERS.—Section 330 of title 31, United 

7 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol8 lowing new subsection: 

9 ‘‘(f) TAX RETURN PREPARERS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any tax return preparer 

11 shall demonstrate minimum competency standards 

12 under this subsection by— 

13 ‘‘(A) obtaining an identifying number for 

14 securing proper identification of such preparer 

15 as described in section 6109(a)(4) of the Inter16 nal Revenue Code of 1986; 

17 ‘‘(B) satisfying any examination and an18 nual continuing education requirements as pre19 scribed by the Secretary; and 

20 ‘‘(C) completing a background check ad21 ministered by the Secretary. 

22 ‘‘(2) EXEMPTION.—The Secretary shall exempt 

23 tax return preparers who have been subject to com24 parable examination, continuing education require25 ments, and background checks administered by the 


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1 Secretary or any comparable State licensing pro2 gram. Such exemption shall extend directly to indi3 viduals who are supervised by such preparers and 

4 are not required to secure an identification number 

5 under section 6109(a)(4).’’. 

6 (d) TAX RETURN PREPARER DEFINED.—Section 

7 330 of title 31, United States Code, as amended by sub8 section (c), is amended by adding at the end the following 

9 new subsection: 

10 ‘‘(g) TAX RETURN PREPARER.—For purposes of this 

11 section— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘tax return pre13 parer’ has the meaning given such term under sec14 tion 7701(a)(36) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

15 1986. 

16 ‘‘(2) TAX RETURN.—The term ‘tax return’ has 

17 the meaning given to the term ‘return’ under section 

18 6696(e)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

19 ‘‘(3) CLAIM FOR REFUND.—The term ‘claim for 

20 refund’ has the meaning given such term under sec21 tion 6696(e)(2) of such Code.’’. 

22 (e) AMENDMENTS WITH RESPECT TO IDENTIFYING

23 NUMBER.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 6109(a) is amended 

2 by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the fol3 lowing: 

4 ‘‘(4) FURNISHING IDENTIFYING NUMBER OF

5 TAX RETURN PREPARER.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any return or claim 

7 for refund prepared by a tax return preparer 

8 shall bear such identifying number for securing 

9 proper identification of such preparer, his em10 ployer, or both, as may be prescribed. For pur11 poses of this paragraph, the terms ‘return’ and 

12 ‘claim for refund’ have the respective meanings 

13 given to such terms by section 6696(e). 

14 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Subparagraph (A) 

15 shall not apply to any tax return preparer who 

16 prepares a return or claim for refund under the 

17 supervision and direction of a tax return pre18 parer who signs the return or claim for refund 

19 and is a certified public accountant, an attorney 

20 or enrolled agent.’’. 

21 (2) CLARIFICATION OF RESCISSION AUTHOR22 ITY.—Section 6109 is amended by inserting after 

23 subsection (d) the following new subsection: 

24 ‘‘(e) AUTHORITY TO RESCIND IDENTIFYING NUM25 BER OF TAX RETURN PREPARER.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may rescind 

2 an identifying number issued under subsection 

3 (a)(4) if— 

4 ‘‘(A) after notice and opportunity for a 

5 hearing, the preparer is shown to be incom6 petent or disreputable (as such terms are used 

7 in subsection (c) of section 330 of title 31, 

8 United States Code); and 

9 ‘‘(B) rescinding the identifying number 

10 would promote compliance with the require11 ments of this title and effective tax administra12 tion. 

13 ‘‘(2) RECORDS.—If an identifying number is re14 scinded under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 

15 place in the file in the Office of the Director of Pro16 fessional Responsibility the opinion of the Secretary 

17 with respect to the determination, including— 

18 ‘‘(A) a statement of the facts and cir19 cumstances relating to the determination; and 

20 ‘‘(B) the reasons for the rescission.’’. 

21 (f) GAO STUDY AND REPORT ON THE EXCHANGE

22 OF INFORMATION BETWEEN THE IRS AND STATE TAX23 ATION AUTHORITIES.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months 

25 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 


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1 Comptroller General shall conduct a study and sub2 mit to Congress a report on the sharing of informa3 tion between the Secretary of the Treasury and 

4 State authorities, as authorized under section 

5 6103(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, re6 garding identification numbers issued to paid tax re7 turn preparers and return preparer minimum stand8 ards. 

9 (2) INCREASED INFORMATION SHARING.—The 

10 study and report described in paragraph (1) shall in11 clude an analysis of the impact that increased infor12 mation sharing between Federal and State authori13 ties would have on efforts to enforce minimum 

14 standards on paid tax return preparers. 

Æ 


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