Will CPAs Need a Duty of Zealousness?
The Small Business and Work Opportunity Tax Act of 2007 imposed penalties on tax preparers if the tax return understates the taxes due to the government and the tax preparer knew or should have known. Most tax preparers will wisely avoid this problem by asking for less documentation from the client to avoid the “knew or should have known problem” and rely more on the representations made by clients. Thus, the government will actually reduce the accuracy of returns by blinding tax return preparers. This is a typical example of legislative over reaction.
But, some CPAs will panic and demand from their clients voluminous proofs, and no doubt, become defacto auditors for the government.
To avoid this problem, will CPAs need a duty of zeal to their clients ingrained into them through their ethics code as has been drilled into lawyers through theirs? In the meantime, taxpayers will have to determine who their non-attorney tax return preparer or tax advisor actually represents, them or the government?
