They boast that they were able to help close to 7,000 taxpayers during their last open house on May 15.  I know it’s Saturday and the last thing you probably want to do is worry about taxes, but honestly, if you’ve got some free time and a tax issue to resolve, it may be worth paying them a visit.

The last open house is schedule for sometime this fall.

Each office will be open from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. local time. You can find a listing of each IRS office here.

How will this affect tax return preparers? Potentially, these recommendations could focus on a new model for regulation, service and outreach, education and training, and enforcement.

The first part of this effort will focus on fact finding and receiving input from a very large and diverse constituent community that includes those that are licensed by state and federal authorities, which includes enrolled agents, accountants, and lawyers, and even unlicensed preparers and software vendors. Input and dialog will also be sought from consumer groups and taxpayers.

The IRS plans to hold meetings in Washington and around the country later this year. The Commissioner is expected to submit his recommendations to the Treasury Secretary and the President by the end of the year.

Please see the “Tax Professionals” page of the IRS website for more information such as schedules and agendas for upcoming public meetings.

This news should come as no surprise to you since it is completely inline with the IRS’ initiatives to crack down on unethical and noncompliant tax return preparers; one of the first signs of this was the increased tax return preparer penalties. I suspect there will be more programs just like this one. I, for one, am anxious to see what the end result will be. Though I am anxious, I do have a few concerns; for starters, if taxpayers will have the ability to review tax return preparers, what exactly will their review be based on? Normally, taxpayers don’t know exactly what the IRS’ rules and regulations are, which, might I add, is why they employ us. In such a situation, would they simply be reviewing the services provided by the tax professional, just like a regular reviewer would on, say, yelp.com? With that said, what exactly will this review system be based on and who will be doing the review? What are your thoughts? Please share in the comments.