The nation's three largest tax store chains, H&R Block, Jackson Hewitt and Liberty Tax, and the American Institute of CPAs all welcomed the proposed regulation of paid preparers by the Internal Revenue Service. Those proposals, which exempt CPAs, Enrolled Agents and attorneys from some major requirements, were released this week by the IRS.

LAGUNA HILLS, Calif. – SpeedTax, which provides Internet-based sales-and-use-tax applications, has received a new round of equity funding from Committed Capital, a private equity firm. SpeedTax said this represented the largest equity investment the company has secured. However, it has not revealed amounts of any funding rounds.

After the acquisition of IntelliTax resulted in waits on support lines for its customers of its TaxWise and ATX tax preparation software during the 2009 tax season, CCH Small Firm Services added resources to ensure more prompt answers to support calls, according to Gene Goldenberg, VP of marketing for the CCH unit. That includes revamped telephone services and extra staff.

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WASHINGTON  D.C. - The Internal Revenue Service has proposed major regulations of the tax preparation business, but would exempt  attorneys, CPAs and Enrolled Agents from competency tests and new continuing education requirements. However, all paid preparers would be required to register with the IRS and receive a preparer tax identification number and be subject to a limited tax compliance check. The requirements do not take effect this year and would be rolled out over several years. Read more...