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At first, the mild objection to a part of a proposal by the Internal Revenue Service didn't sink in. After all, it was made by the American Institute of CPAs which generally supported the steps the IRS outlined this week for regulating paid tax preparers. The IRS would exempt CPAs, Enrolled Agents and attorneys from competency tests and additional continuing education requirements. But the AICPA's objection, in language that just touches the surface of the issue, is on target, although I don't share the concern about the impact.

Here is the statement issue by AICPA CEO Barry Melancon. "However, we have concerns about the IRS plan to provide tax preparers who are not already CPAs, enrolled agents or attorneys with a certification based on limited qualifications,” Melancon said. “A new IRS examination process may cause confusion among taxpayers about the relative qualifications of tax return preparers.”

I don't know about confusion. I do believe that the major tax chains should feel pretty good about this because once their preparers have been tested for competency and met continuing education requirements; they will have been legitimized in a way that's never been possible.

CPAs should have little to worry about. They don’t reach much of the clientele that frequents the chains and that’s not likely to change. They don’t have a business model that lets them serve much of this market and they don’t have a culture understanding of much of it.

The latter shows up in the attitude towards refund loans. While the fees do carry a hint of loan sharking, these loans are necessary. But I suspect that many accountants, who are relatively secure financially, don’t know how much they would pay to get a refund if they needed that money to prevent having a car towed the same day. All of those using refund loans don’t have that urgent a need, but some do.

Then there’s the CPA attitude that if a client is getting a refund, the accountant hasn’t done the job. Sorry, most of America doesn’t think that way. For many taxpayers, the difference in the refund stretched across a year of paychecks wouldn’t be noticeable. It would be spent. Refunds are enforced savings and the amount they could earn on the money is negligible. Taxpayers use the federal government as a Christmas Club and then also get the emotional lift of getting a check and perhaps buying something that makes them feel good.

These things aren’t going to change. Yes, the chains will get a stamp of approval, as will other non-credentialed preparers who meet requirements. But it’s not going to come at the CPAs’ expense because their clients and the chains' clients speak a different language when it comes to money.

 

 

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