IRS: Preparers Need to Disclose Outsourcing

Washington -- Speaking before a House regulatory subcommittee, Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Mark Everson said that tax preparers who outsource returns internationally should be mandated to notify the filers whose returns are being outsourced.

"Anyone buying that service ought to know the work is going overseas," Everson said during a hearing held earlier this week before the House Government Reform Regulatory Affairs Subcommittee, according to Tax Analysts.

The outsourcing of tax prep and subsequent security concerns has been a hot-button issue for the profession over the past several years.

Last year, the American Institute of CPAs adopted rules in which its members are required to inform clients -- preferably in writing -- before providing a third-party outsourcer with confidential information, and which say that the members are ultimately responsible for the work performed.

The IRS' Everson has previously said the IRS needed more time to study the matter.

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