Grassley calls tax profession to leadership

Washington — Tax professionals must be leaders to ensure that the tax system remains above board, Senate Finance Committee chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told the Tax Council Policy Institute.

“While the Internal Revenue Service seems to have gotten the message regarding professional responsibility and Circular 230,” Grassley told the group in mid-February, “I would suggest that the law and accounting professions need to look at their own discipline efforts and ethics guidelines to make certain that they are doing all they can to ensure the highest standards in the field.”

“The Finance Committee has been aggressive in looking at the work of tax professionals at law firms and accounting firms in the areas of tax shelters, and will continue to do so,” he continued. “But, bottom line, tax professionals need to take the lead in bringing a new view of good corporate citizenship. Tax professionals need to shut the door on the snake oil salesmen.”

Grassley added that legislation that the Senate has passed “is the most sweeping response to tax shelters in a generation. I’m pleased that President Bush has embraced the critical elements of this legislation in his budget, and I hope to have it on his desk for signature this year.”

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