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Be careful in choosing someone to prepare your taxes

 
Published Feb. 15, 2016

Hire an honest tax preparer.

I know. This sounds like obvious advice, but there are a lot of schemers out there looking to help you boost your tax refund in ways that could cause you serious financial — or legal — trouble down the road.

Please don't get any type of refund loan or advance refund check — or whatever the product might be called — that promises you a quicker refund. Even the overwhelmed, understaffed Internal Revenue Service says it delivers 90 percent of refunds in less than 21 days when people file electronically and select direct deposit. The money you spend for a faster refund can surely be better used.

The National Consumer Law Center and the Consumer Federation of America again this year issued a consumer advisory about what can happen when using a paid preparer.

The advocacy groups point out that only four states — California, Oregon, Maryland and New York — mandate that independent tax preparers meet specific requirements.

And mystery-shopper testing in Florida and North Carolina last year found errors in 27 out of 29 tax returns by paid preparers.

"There's a minefield of dangers for the tens of millions of consumers who use paid tax preparers to fill out their most important financial document of the year," said Chi Chi Wu, staff attorney at the NCLC.

So, where can you find a preparer?

Plenty of preparers are lawyers or certified public accountants or are approved by the IRS as enrolled agents. The IRS has a directory of federal tax-return preparers having certain credentials. Go to irs.treasury.gov/rpo/rpo.jsf. Or, in the search field at irs.gov, type in "Directory of Federal Tax Return Preparers with Credentials and Select Qualifications."

You can search for various tax professionals, including lawyers, CPAs and what the IRS calls "annual filing season program participants." The people in the latter category voluntarily undergo 18 hours of continuing education, including two hours covering ethics.

The IRS directory isn't an endorsement of any preparer, but at least you know the folks in this database have had some training. One thing to keep in mind: Paid tax preparers must have a "preparer tax identification number," or PTIN. They have to sign your return as a preparer and include their PTIN. Ask about the PTIN upfront.

If you do hire someone, watch the fees. Steer clear of preparers who base their fees on a percentage of your refund. And certainly walk away from anyone encouraging you to lie about anything.

The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program offers free tax preparation to people with disabilities, the elderly and those who generally make $54,000 or less. Volunteers also assist taxpayers who don't speak English. Low- to moderate-income taxpayers can get free tax help from Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE), which focuses on helping people 60 and older with retirement and pension tax-related issues. Call 800-906-9887 to locate a VITA or TCE site. Free help also is available at AARP Foundation Tax-Aide sites. Call 888-227-7669 or go to aarp.org/findtaxhelp.

Also, there is the IRS Free File program — a partnership between the agency and the Free File Alliance, a group of 13 private preparers who have agreed to make their federal tax-return products available free to taxpayers whose adjusted gross income was $62,000 or less in 2015. Free File is available only at irs.gov/freefile.