Back to Show
PBS News Hour
Is your tax preparer actually prepared?
Each year about 42 million tax returns are prepared by tax professionals who are unaccredited and unregulated by the IRS. After a plan to regulate them was struck down by a federal court last year, there's more regulation on hairdressers in most of the country. Critics say this leaves low-income taxpayers particularly vulnerable. But does licensing tax preparers mean tax preparation will improve?