Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Taxpayer Protection and Preparer Proficiency Act of 2015”.
Taxpayer Protection and Preparer Proficiency Act of 2015
A BILL
To amend title 31, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to regulate tax return preparers.
Sec. 2 Regulation of tax return preparers
by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
“(1) regulate—
“(A) the practice of representatives of persons before the Department of the Treasury; and
“(B) the practice of tax return preparers; and”
in paragraph (2)—
by inserting “or tax return preparer” after “representative” each place it appears, and
by inserting “or in preparing their tax returns, claims for refund, or documents in connection with tax returns or claims for refund” after “cases” in subparagraph (D).
Authority To sanction regulated tax return preparers— Subsection (b) of section 330 of title 31, United States Code, is amended—
by striking “before the Department”,
by inserting “or tax return preparer” after “representative” each place it appears, and
in paragraph (4), by striking “misleads or threatens” and all that follows and inserting
“(A) any person being represented or any prospective person being represented; or
“(B) any person or prospective person whose tax return, claim for refund, or document in connection with a tax return or claim for refund, is being or may be prepared.”
Tax return preparer defined— Section 330 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
“(e) Tax return preparer—For purposes of this section—
“(1) In general—The term tax return preparer has the meaning given such term under section 7701(a)(36) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
“(2) Tax return—The term tax return has the meaning given to the term return under section 6696(e)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
“(3) Claim for refund—The term claim for refund has the meaning given such term under section 6696(e)(2) of such Code.”