Whatever the final details of moves by the Internal Revenue Service to regulate tax preparers, most in the industry have concluded that there's going to be a large demand for new continuing education courses. That will stem from the IRS requirement that those preparers by the requirements covered must take 15 hours of CPE.

Intuit has added a quick input screen to ProLine Tax Online, the Internet-based tax preparation product now going through its first tax season. The company said the screen enables preparers to profile clients by answering simple questions. The system then brings up only forms common to clients with that profile.

WASHINGTON - The Internal Revenue Service said this week it has secured 56 indictments, 25 convictions and 21 civil injunctions since January 1 as part of its effort to cut down on the number of unscrupulous tax return preparers. There have also been more than 5,000 field visits to tax return preparers during the federal government's fiscal year. Read more...