any return or claim for refund if such preparer 
is— 
‘‘(i) employed by a specified practi-
tioner, and 
‘‘(ii) under the supervision and direc-
tion of a tax return preparer who— 
‘‘(I) includes their identifying 
number (as described in subparagraph 
(A)) on such return or claim, 
‘‘(II) signs such return or claim, 
and 
‘‘(III) is a specified practitioner. 
‘‘(C) SUSPENSION
OR
REVOCATION.—In 
the case of any identifying number which has 
been suspended or revoked by the Secretary 
under subsection (e), such number shall not be 
deemed valid for purposes of subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(D) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 
section— 
‘‘(i) SPECIFIED PRACTITIONER.—The 
term ‘specified practitioner’ means a cer-
tified public accountant, attorney, or en-
rolled agent— 
‘‘(I) who is in good standing and 
authorized to represent persons before 
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the Department of the Treasury 
under section 330 of title 31, United 
States Code, and 
‘‘(II) whose professional license 
or certification has not been revoked. 
‘‘(ii) RETURN; CLAIM FOR REFUND.— 
The terms ‘return’ and ‘claim for refund’ 
have the respective meanings given to such 
terms by section 6696(e).’’, and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(e) IDENTIFYING NUMBER OF TAX RETURN PRE-
PARER.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall main-
tain a program for administration of preparer tax 
identification numbers required under subsection 
(a)(4), which shall include restrictions on the 
issuance of such numbers to any individual other 
than an individual who— 
‘‘(A) meets the suitability requirements of 
paragraph (2) and the education requirements 
of paragraph (3), 
‘‘(B) meets the state program require-
ments of paragraph (4), or 
‘‘(C) is a specified practitioner. 
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‘‘(2) DEMONSTRATION OF SUITABILITY.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An individual meets 
the suitability requirements of this paragraph if 
such individual has demonstrated to the Sec-
retary the individual’s suitability to be a tax re-
turn preparer by— 
‘‘(i) providing such information as the 
Secretary determines necessary, and 
‘‘(ii) undergoing a background check, 
including a review by the Secretary regard-
ing compliance with personal tax obliga-
tions. 
‘‘(B) CONDUCT DEMONSTRATING LACK OF 
SUITABILITY.—For purposes of subparagraph 
(A), an individual shall be deemed to have 
failed to demonstrate their suitability to be a 
tax return preparer if— 
‘‘(i) any license or registration issued 
to such individual by a State to prepare 
tax returns has been suspended or revoked 
by such State, or 
‘‘(ii) the Secretary determines that 
such individual is described in clauses (ii) 
through (vi) of paragraph (5)(A). 
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‘‘(C) REGULATIONS AND GUIDANCE.—The 
Secretary shall issue such regulations or other 
guidance as the Secretary determines necessary 
to carry out the purposes of this paragraph. 
‘‘(D) PROHIBITION ON EXAMINATIONS.— 
For purposes of subparagraph (A), except as 
provided in paragraph (3)(C)(iii), the Secretary 
may not require an examination as a pre-
requisite for the assignment or renewal of a 
preparer tax identification number. 
‘‘(E) GRANDFATHERING OF PRIOR BACK-
GROUND
CHECKS.—For purposes of subpara-
graph (A)(ii), in the case of an individual who 
has undergone a background check prior to the 
date of enactment of this subsection, the Sec-
retary may deem such individual to have satis-
fied the requirement under such subparagraph. 
‘‘(3) EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An individual meets 
the education requirements of this paragraph if 
such individual completes a specified number of 
hours of educational programs on ethics, profes-
sional responsibility, and tax law (including re-
cently enacted legislation) as may be required 
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by the Secretary prior to the assignment or re-
newal of a preparer tax identification number. 
‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL EDUCATIONAL REQUIRE-
MENTS FOR RENEWAL.—The Secretary may re-
quire any individual seeking the renewal of a 
preparer tax identification number to complete 
educational programs in addition to those re-
quired under subparagraph (A). Any edu-
cational programs required under this subpara-
graph shall be based on— 
‘‘(i) a review of returns which include 
the preparer tax identification number of 
such preparer, and 
‘‘(ii) any errors identified by the Sec-
retary as part of the review described in 
clause (i). 
‘‘(C) OTHER
REQUIREMENTS.—For pur-
poses of this paragraph, the Secretary— 
‘‘(i) may not require a tax return pre-
parer to annually complete more than 18 
hours of educational programs, 
‘‘(ii) shall require that any edu-
cational program include written materials 
which satisfy such standards as are estab-
lished by the Secretary, 
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‘‘(iii) may require that any edu-
cational program include a method to en-
sure that the tax return preparer attended 
the program and sufficiently understood 
the material presented, and 
‘‘(iv) may not direct any educational 
program to be completed through a specific 
provider. 
‘‘(D) NOTICE
OF
FAILURE
TO
TIMELY 
COMPLETE
REQUIREMENTS.—The 
Secretary 
shall provide any tax return preparer who fails 
to complete the requirements of this paragraph 
notice of such failure and a period in which to 
cure such failure. 
‘‘(E) 
PUBLICATION
OF
APPROVED 
COURSES.—The Secretary shall publish, on the 
public website of the Internal Revenue Serv-
ice— 
‘‘(i) a list of educational programs 
which have been determined by the Sec-
retary to satisfy the requirement under 
clause (ii) of subparagraph (C) (and, if ap-
plicable, the requirement under clause (iii) 
of such subparagraph), including the pro-
viders of such programs, and 
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check requirements which are comparable to the 
suitability requirements described in paragraph 
(2) and the education requirements described in 
paragraph (3), such determination shall be 
made by the Secretary without regard to wheth-
er such requirements were included in such pro-
gram at the time that such individual was li-
censed or registered under such program, pro-
vided that such requirements are, as of the date 
that such individual requested assignment or 
renewal of a preparer tax identification number 
under this subsection, presently included in 
such program. 
‘‘(5) AUTHORITY TO REVOKE OR SUSPEND PRE-
PARER TAX IDENTIFICATION NUMBER.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary may 
suspend or revoke a preparer tax identification 
number if, after notice and opportunity for a 
hearing, the Secretary makes a determination 
that the tax return preparer— 
‘‘(i) has not met— 
‘‘(I) the suitability requirements 
of paragraph (2) and the education 
requirements of paragraph (3), or 
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‘‘(II) the State program require-
ments of paragraph (4), 
‘‘(ii) is incompetent, as demonstrated 
by a repeated pattern of errors in returns 
that were prepared by such preparer or in-
dividuals who were supervised by such pre-
parer 
(as 
described 
in 
subsection 
(a)(4)(B)) which affected the determina-
tion of tax liability in such returns, 
‘‘(iii) is disreputable, as demonstrated 
by— 
‘‘(I) giving false or misleading in-
formation under paragraph (2)(A)(i), 
‘‘(II) failure to comply with per-
sonal tax obligations, 
‘‘(III) revocation or suspension of 
any license or registration issued by a 
State for the preparation of tax re-
turns, 
‘‘(IV) conviction of any criminal 
offense— 
‘‘(aa) involving dishonesty or 
breach of trust, or 
‘‘(bb) which is punishable 
under this title, 
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‘‘(V) a final determination of li-
ability for a penalty pursuant to sec-
tion 6694, 6695(h), 6700, 6701, or 
6702, or 
‘‘(VI) any conduct similar to the 
conduct described in subclauses (I) 
through (V), 
‘‘(iv) in the case of a person subject to 
regulation under section 330 of title 31, 
United States Code, or regulations pre-
scribed thereunder, has violated the re-
quirements under such section or such reg-
ulations, 
‘‘(v) with intent to defraud, willfully 
and knowingly misleads or threatens— 
‘‘(I) the person whose return or 
claim for refund is being prepared, or 
‘‘(II) a prospective person seek-
ing for a return or claim for refund to 
be prepared, or 
‘‘(vi) has engaged in conduct (as iden-
tified in regulations or guidance issued by 
the Secretary) which is similar to the con-
duct described in clauses (i) through (v) 
and that the denial, suspension, or revoca-
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tion of such number would promote com-
pliance with the requirements of this title 
and effective tax administration. 
‘‘(B) MONETARY PENALTY.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In addition to, or 
in lieu of, any suspension or revocation of 
a preparer tax identification number under 
subparagraph (A), the Secretary may im-
pose a penalty in any amount not exceed-
ing— 
‘‘(I) in the case of any deter-
mination made by the Secretary with 
respect to a tax return preparer which 
is described in subparagraph (A) 
(with the exception of clause (v) of 
such subparagraph), $1,000 with re-
spect to each such determination, and 
‘‘(II) in the case of any deter-
mination made by the Secretary with 
respect to a tax return preparer which 
is described in subparagraph (A)(v), 
$5,000 with respect to each such de-
termination. 
‘‘(ii) REDUCTION.—Any penalty im-
posed under clause (i) shall be reduced by 
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the amount of any penalty imposed under 
section 6694, 6695, 6700, 6701, or 6702 
with regard to the same conduct. 
‘‘(iii) 
ADJUSTMENT
FOR
INFLA-
TION.— 
‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—In the case 
of any penalty imposed during any 
calendar year beginning after 2025, 
the $1,000 amount in clause (i)(I) 
and the $5,000 amount in clause 
(i)(II) shall each be increased by an 
amount equal to— 
‘‘(aa) such dollar amount, 
multiplied by 
‘‘(bb) the cost-of-living ad-
justment determined under sec-
tion 1(f)(3) for the calendar year, 
determined by substituting ‘cal-
endar year 2024’ for ‘calendar 
year 
2016’ 
in 
subparagraph 
(A)(ii) thereof. 
‘‘(II) 
ROUNDING.—If 
any 
amount determined under subclause 
(I) is not a multiple of $100, such 
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amount shall be rounded to the near-
est multiple of $100. 
‘‘(C) 
REINSTATEMENT.—The 
Secretary 
shall, through regulations or other guidance, es-
tablish procedures to allow any tax return pre-
parer whose preparer tax identification number 
has been suspended or revoked pursuant to sub-
paragraph (A) to have such number reissued 
(or, in the case of a suspension, for such sus-
pension to be terminated), provided that such 
preparer demonstrates, to the satisfaction of 
the Secretary, that— 
‘‘(i) the conduct described in such 
paragraph which was the basis for such 
suspension or revocation has been suffi-
ciently addressed or resolved (such as 
through completion of educational pro-
grams described in paragraph (3) or rein-
statement of a license issued by a State for 
the preparation of tax returns), and 
‘‘(ii) 
effective 
tax 
administration 
would be promoted by terminating the sus-
pension of such number or reissuing such 
number to such preparer. 
‘‘(D) PRELIMINARY SUSPENSION.— 
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