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ETHICSPresented by: Melinda Garvin, EA

Melinda Garvin, EA

Melinda is the Founder, President and Co-Owner of Foos-Garvin Accounting, Inc., a full-service, small-town practice serving the needs of 2000 clients. She has 25+ years of experience as a tax practitioner.

Foos-Garvin Accounting, Inc. and Melinda are members of Better Business Bureau, National Association of Tax Professionals and National Association of Enrolled Agents.

Since 2007, Melinda has been an instructor for National Association of Tax Professionals (NATP) and served for several years on the Ohio NATP Chapter Board as the Education Director. Melinda has also been a presenter at the IRS Nationwide Tax Forums and instructed various tax classes for Ohio State University, Ohio State Bar Association and local organizations. In 2012, to encourage tax professionals in office ‘best practices’, she authored the manual “Audit Proof the Tax Office” and has recently published a second manual called “Best Practices for the Tax Office”. Melinda has a strong aspiration to support the tax professional’s many sides of interactions with clients, IRS and the always needed education.

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Polling QuestionsAt least 5 out of 6

Submit questions of your own using Questions/Chat on the Control Panel

CPE CertificateNote: Your experience will be

enhanced if you refer to the text in Chapter 1 of the manual you received during the live seminar.

Before We Begin

PATH ACT – PROTECTING

AMERICANS FROM TAX HIKES

ACT OF 2015

Tax return preparers must exercise Due Diligence in

preparing returns that claim the Child Tax Credit and the

American Opportunity Tax Credit.

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Due D

ilige

nce

Due D

ilige

nce

Sign

Here?

If the return includes an

EITC, ACTC or

American

Opportunities Tax

Credit, the entire

refund will be held until

February 15, in

accordance with the

PATH Act. IRS says the

actual refund would be

about February 27th.

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POLLING QUESTION # 1

Requirements

Must file Form 8867

Knowledge of Preparer

◦ Incomplete –Inconsistent –Incorrect – MUST MAKE INQUIRIES

Record Retention

◦ Retain Form 8867 and supporting documentation for 3 years

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ww

w.e

itc.ir

s.go

v/Tax

-Pre

par

er-

Toolk

it/m

ain

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Engagement Letters

Key Components

New Items

When do you get

signatures

Sample Letter

POLLING QUESTION #2

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Conflict of Interest

POLLING QUESTION #3

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SAFEGUARDING TAXPAYER DATA

Legal and Ethical Requirements

(IDENTITY THEFT)

“…has become such a lucrative business that criminals…are

leaving the drug dealing trade…it’s easier and safer to scam the

IRS than it is to sell drugs.”

House Subcommittee on Government Operations,

Examining the Skyrocketing Problem of Identity Theft Related to Tax Fraud

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Legal Requirements

§7216

Gramm-Leach

Bliley Act

Federal Trade

Commission

Pub 1345

POLLING QUESTION #4

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SECURITY

SUMMIT

The Summit partners recently expanded their ongoing public awareness

campaign by launching the “Protect Your Clients; Protect Yourself”

campaign. As part of this initiative, the partners will issue weekly security

awareness tax tips through January aimed at tax professionals.

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Passwords

POLLING QUESTION #5

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Phishing

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Your

PT

IN is

bein

g st

ole

n…

…

Portals

Email is not secure or GLB compliant

Portal is great tool if you get one that is

GLB compliant

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POLLING QUESTION #6

CYBER INSURANCE

Data Breach Coverage

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3

1

IRS Publication 4557www.ftc.gov

IRS PONDERING UPDATING CIRCULAR 230

Watch for updates coming!

The Internal Revenue Service Advisory Council (IRSAC) issued its 2016 Public Report. In that report, IRSAC made two recommendations relating to the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR). 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 paid tax return preparers and broadly define tax practice. 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 IRSAC for its thorough analysis of these issues, and committed to work with the IRS, Treasury and tax professional groups to determine whether additional topics should be addressed in a revision of Circular 230.

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Thank you for attending!