IRS: 44K take voluntary tax prep classes

Almost 44,000 tax preparers took part in a voluntary education program offered by the IRS for the most recent filing season, the agency said Thursday. 

Federal courts blocked the IRS from implementing mandatory education programs for tax preparers in recent years, leading the agency to offer the classes on a voluntary basis.

{mosads}John Koskinen, the IRS commissioner, said Thursday that it was encouraging that so many preparers participated in the program’s first year.

“Because of the potential benefits of this program for taxpayers, we plan to offer the program annually, as we continue to seek passage of the legislation we have requested,” he said. 

“In the interim, we would like to see all 400,000 uncredentialed preparers either obtain the enrolled agent credential or at least commit to participation in the Annual Filing Season Program.”

If preparers finished the program by the end of 2014, they were included on a new database that tells taxpayers about the preparers’ qualifications.

Participants in the program for this filing season had to complete 11 hours worth of continuing education classes, a figure that will be bumped up to 18 hours for future years.