From the IRS report on IRSAC's report: "On
November 16, 2016, the Internal Revenue Service Advisory Council (IRSAC) issued
its 2016 Public Report. In that report,
the IRSAC made two recommendations related to the Office of Professional
Responsibility(OPR). The IRSAC recommended that the Commissioner request
Congress to enact legislation expressly affirming the Treasury Department’s
authority under 31 USC 330 to establish and enforce professional standards for
both paid tax return preparers and tax ‘practice’ broadly defined. The
IRSAC has made similar recommendations in its two previous reports. The
IRSAC also made a series of recommendations for revisions to Treasury Circular
230, to delete obsolete references, provide authority to address some topics
currently contained in Circular 230 through revenue procedures or other
administrative guidance, add references to appraisers, and delete outdated
language. OPR Director Stephen Whitlock thanked the IRSAC for its thorough
analysis of these issues, and committed to work with IRS, Treasury and tax
professional groups to determine whether additional topics should be addressed
in a revision of Circular 230."
It would be interesting to see some of the updates. After some recent cases, practitioners are up in the air over what sections of Circular 230 are even actionable anymore.
