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Tax preparation is the process of preparing tax returns, often income tax returns, often for a person other than the taxpayer, and generally for compensation. Tax preparation may be done by the taxpayer with or without the help of tax preparation software and online services. Tax preparation may also be done by a licensed professional such as an attorney, certified public accountant or enrolled agent, or by an unlicensed tax preparation business. Because United States income tax laws are considered to be complicated, many taxpayers seek outside assistance with taxes (59.2% of individual tax returns in 2007 were filed by paid preparers〔(IRS - Tax Stats at a Glance )〕). The remainder of this article describes tax preparation by someone other than the taxpayer. Some states have licensing requirements for anyone who prepares tax returns for a fee and some for fee-based preparation of state tax returns only. The Free File Alliance provides free tax preparation software for individuals with less than $58,000 of adjusted gross income for tax year 2010. People who make more than $58,000 can use Free File Fillable Forms, electronic versions of U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) paper forms. Both the brand-name software and online fillable forms are available only at the IRS website at (www.irs.gov/freefile ). ==National registration of federal tax return preparers in the United States== Until 2011, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service did not have a requirement for national registration of paid tax return preparers in the United States. However, effective January 1, 2011, new rules required the registration of almost all paid federal tax return preparers. Many of the new rules, however, were soon struck down by a federal court. The new rules had required that some paid preparers pass a national tax law exam and undergo continuing education requirements. Persons who are certified public accountants (CPAs), attorneys or enrolled agents were required to register, but were not required to take the exam and were not subject to the continuing education requirements.〔"Proposed New Requirements for Tax Return Preparers," Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Dep't of the Treasury, at ()〕 For purposes of the registration requirement, the IRS had defined a "tax return preparer" as "an individual who, for compensation, prepares all or substantially all of a federal tax return or claim for refund."〔Id.〕 Beginning in mid-2011, tax return preparers (other than CPAs, attorneys, and enrolled agents and a few others) had generally been required to take and pass a competency test to become a registered tax return preparer.〔 Tax return preparers who had a Practitioner Tax Identification Number (PTIN) before testing was to become available were to have until December 31, 2013, to pass the competency test. New tax return preparers would have been required to pass the competency test before they could obtain a PTIN.〔 The IRS had indicated that the new rules would have applied to all kinds of federal tax returns, including income taxes and payroll taxes.〔 A new continuing education requirement of 15 hours per year would have been imposed on tax return preparers (except for CPAs, attorneys, enrolled agents, and a few others).〔 In 2013, however, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia struck down most of these rules in the ''Loving'' case, holding that the Internal Revenue Service had no authority to require competency exams for tax preparers. The Court did indicate its decision did not affect the PTIN requirement. This requirement remains in effect.〔http://www.irs.gov/Tax-Professionals/IRS-Test-Requirements-for-Becoming-a-Paid-Tax-Professional〕 All tax return preparers, including those tax return preparers who are attorneys, certified public accountants, or enrolled agents, are still required to have a PTIN. This rule continues to be effective for preparation of any federal tax returns after December 31, 2010.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Tax preparation」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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