IRS Office toughens up - News & Trends - Internal Revenue Service Office of Professional Responsibility

The IRS' Office of Professional Responsibility, which enforces standards of practice for those who represent taxpayers before the IRS, is toughening up--and it wants CPAs, attorneys and enrolled agents to be aware of it.

"As many of you know, my office has been woefully understaffed in the past," said Brien Downing, director of the IRS' Office of Professional Responsibility. Downing met in late May with members of the tax practice community at an IRS stakeholder meeting in Laguna Nigel.

"We are increasing our attorney staff and recently were provided staffing for a new executive deputy director position," Downing told the group.

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Downing vowed to increase his visibility among the community, with he or his deputy director attending each of the upcoming IRS summer tax forums. Downing also said he would be more aggressive in seeking practitioner infractions and expediting the process of complaints and resolutions.

"I would like to see a more timely resolution of cases and a more strategic approach to the exercise of our authority," Downing said. "Overall, I plan to be more proactive."

The visibility initiative follows on the heels of a reorganization of the office, which is charged with enhancing the oversight of tax professionals. Earlier this year, the IRS announced its renewed commitment to the office, vowing to quadruple the staff to 32.

As a result of the reorganization, the Office of Professional Responsibility replaced the Office of the Director of Practice, which, for a number of years, levied sanctions against the practitioner community.

Among the possible directions for his office, Downing said it might gain the power to crackdown on promoters of offshore tax shelter schemes. If his office were given that authority, Downing may be given the authority to levy sanctions against entities as well as individuals.

"It sounds like he's going to go looking for more practitioners that aren't following the rules, instead of waiting for people to refer cases to him," said James Counts, a member of CalCPA's Committee on Taxation, who attended the event.

"They've just been too relaxed in the past," says Counts, who serves as a liaison between CalCPA and the California Employment Development Department. "There hasn't been much control."

The two most common types of infractions the office sees involve practitioners who are delinquent in filing or paying their personal income or payroll taxes, and those practitioners convicted of a criminal offense.

Downing hopes to speed up and improve the process when case referrals are made to his office. A letter of acknowledgement would be sent within 60 days of the referral, and within 90 days, a letter would be sent to the tax practitioner asking for their side of the story.

For the full text of the event's question and answer session, visit www.calcpa.org/QA.pdf.>