Avoiding the Mistakes That End Careers
Most tax preparation training teaches you how to fill in forms. Very little of it covers the rules the IRS holds you to once you start accepting fees.
This free webinar covers the legal, regulatory, and practical issues that new preparers encounter after they start working but rarely learn about during training: ghost preparer enforcement, due diligence traps, IRS compliance visits, scope discipline, credential limitations, and data security obligations.
Watch the Free Webinar
Tax attorney Jason D. Carr, Esq., LL.M., founder of MuseSpring, walks through the compliance landscape every new preparer needs to understand.
You will learn:
- How the IRS monitors preparers using automated systems, pattern analysis, and compliance visits
- What happens to ghost preparers who don’t sign returns or include their PTIN
- How due diligence penalties work and why they are the biggest financial risk for new preparers
- What an IRS compliance visit looks like and what documentation the IRS reviews
- Why scope creep creates liability and how to avoid it
- The difference between a PTIN, the AFSP, and the Enrolled Agent credential
- Why every preparer must have a Written Information Security Plan
- How to build a practice that can survive scrutiny
What You Will Learn
1. The IRS Is Monitoring Preparers
The IRS uses automated filters and algorithms to identify preparer-submitted returns with a high probability of errors. Actions escalate from warning letters to audits of a preparer’s clients and in-person compliance visits.
2. Ghost Preparers Face Serious Consequences
3. Preparer Penalties Are Assessed Against You
4. Due Diligence Is the Biggest Trap
5. IRS Compliance Visits Are Real
6. Scope Creep Creates Liability
Taking returns beyond your training, such as S-Corps, partnerships, trusts, or complex multi-state filings, creates risk for your clients and for you. If the return has errors because you lacked the knowledge, the penalty and the liability fall on you.
7. Your PTIN Is Not a License
There is no federal competency test for unenrolled preparers. Anyone with a PTIN can prepare returns for compensation. The IRS’s voluntary Annual Filing Season Program provides a Record of Completion but requires no continuing education and grants only limited representation rights.
The Enrolled Agent credential provides unlimited representation rights before the IRS and is the professional target for preparers building a long-term practice.
8. Data Security Is Mandatory
Under the FTC Safeguards Rule, tax preparers are financial institutions and must maintain a Written Information Security Plan. Preparers confirm at PTIN renewal that they have a data security plan. Violations can result in fines up to $100,000 per violation.
Who This Webinar Is For
- New and aspiring tax preparers
- Career changers evaluating the profession
- Preparers who were never trained on compliance obligations
- Anyone building an independent tax practice
- Existing preparers who want a compliance review of their own habits
Building a Defensible Practice
A defensible practice is built on five foundations:
- Training: Know the tax rules and the legal framework.
- Documentation: Prove what you did and why.
- Scope discipline: Handle what you’re trained for, refer the rest.
- Data security: Protect client information with a written plan you follow.
- Continuing education: Keep learning through AFSP, the EA pathway, or both.
Why Attorney-Led Training Matters
MuseSpring teaches ethics and preparer responsibilities before it teaches a single tax form. The Tax Business Blueprint Program builds Circular 230, due diligence, data security, credential pathways, and documentation habits directly into the Learn, Launch, and Scale curriculum.
Your Next Step
Watch the free webinar. Download the Tax Business Blueprint and complete the self-assessment. Then watch the program overview to see how the full path works.
This webinar is for educational purposes only and does not create an attorney-client relationship or constitute legal advice.