The Center for Taxpayer Rights (CTR) is pleased to announce another installment of its online series of free Tax Chats!, focusing on the IRS Return Preparer Strategy. 

During the last year, CTR conducted a comprehensive review of the current environment of federal tax return preparation.  The review incorporates two projects.  The first project examines the IRS’s strategy for ensuring volunteer and commercial tax preparation is competent, professional, ethical, and accessible, and to combat fraud facilitated or committed by return preparers.  It also incorporates a study of the different approaches adopted by tax agencies internationally and at the state level to address these issues, as well as a literature review of writings about federal return preparation and preparers.

The second project consists of mystery shopper visits to commercial non-credentialed return preparers during the early 2025 filing season to identify points of weakness in the current system, and to test the viability of a consumer information campaign so taxpayers can protect themselves from unscrupulous or incompetent preparers.  The goal of the project is to make informed, actionable recommendations for how the IRS can ensure the quality of return preparation in today’s environment, better detect problematic preparers and intervene quickly, thereby protecting taxpayers from errors and preparer fraud.

We will be holding four Tax Chats! over the months of June through September 2025.  The Tax Chats! are free but you must register in order to receive the zoom link. The first chat is:

June 30, 2025:  1:00 pm to 2:30 pm EDT — IRS Return Preparer Strategy

Moderator — Nina Olson, Center for Taxpayer Rights

Panelists –
— Les Book, Villanova University Law School
— Jason DeBacker, University of South Carolina
— Mandi Matlock, Center for Taxpayer Rights
— Jay McTigue, Government Accountability Office

July 14, 2025: 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm EDT — Australian Tax Practitioner Board

Moderators — Les Book, Villanova University Law School & Nina Olson, Center for Taxpayer Rights- 

Panelists —
— Ken Devos, Faculty of Business and Law at Swinburne University, Melbourne, Australia
— Elizabeth Morton, Curtin Law School, Perth, Australia

July 28, 2025: 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm EDT — 2025 Filing Season Mystery Shopping Visits — Observations and Recommendations

Moderator — Nina Olson, Center for Taxpayer Rights

Panelists — 
— Elizabeth Colvin, Executive Director, RAISE Texas, of Austin, Texas
— Elaine Javonovich, Mystery Shopping Project Director, Center for Taxpayer Rights, Washington DC
— Michael Wallace, EA, Agostino & Associates, Hackensack, New Jersey
— Cara Williams, Chief Financial Officer, Reinvestment Partners, Durham, North Carolina

September 4, 2025: 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm EDT — State Oversight of Return Preparers

Moderator — Nina Olson, Center for Taxpayer Rights

Panelists —
— Laura Kardokus, Executive Director, Oregon Board of Tax Practitioners
— Paul Smith, Taxpayer Advocate, District of Columbia Office of Tax and Revenue

Do you have suggestions for future online Tax Chats? Contact the Center for Taxpayer Rights at info@taxpayer-rights.org.

The IRS Return Preparer Strategy Project is made possible by the generous support of the Laura and John Arnold Foundation.