It looks like income tax preparers and refund loan providers will soon have to register with the IRS in order to sign as a paid preparer or to offer RAL's.
Last year, the House of Representatives passed HR 1528 and yesterday (May 19th) the Senate added their version, S 882, on as an amendment and passed it. I am sure there are some details to work out in conference, and the President will need sign it, but look for some panicked tax professionals. The proposed law would require a basic exam and annual updates along with a background check to get a registration number. To get more information, The Thomas Web Site will let you search under either number. (I am sorry I can't give you the exact URL, but it times out.) The registration info is under Subtitle B section 141.
Is this a good thing. Yes! In 48 states, CA and OR have state licensing, anyone can call themselves a tax preparer and charge to fill out returns. This legislation was triggered by the number of car dealerships, pawn shops, and loan companies offering to prepare returns for customers who will use their service (buy a car, borrow against the refund). In order to maximize the refund, some preparers have ignore the tax code and prepared fraudulent returns. This and the problems that have plagued the Refund loan program are the reasons for this law. The IRS is create a public awareness campaign explaining the new requirements. There are also some stiff penalties for working without a license. This could be interesting!
There is a lot more to this law and I will be talking about it here.