Ethics for Tax Practice Professionals: Circular 230 and the SSTSs

Course Outline*

• Welcome
  
• Introduction
  
• Standard-Setting Bodies and Regulators
  
• Competence and Due Professional Care
  
• Conflicts of Interest
  
• Training Session / Preparer and Taxpayer Penalties
  
• Training Session / Willfulness and Accuracy Related Penalties Part 1
  
• Quick Review 1 of 3
  
• Quick Review 2 of 3
  
• Quick Review 3 of 3
  
• Training Session / Willfulness and Accuracy Related Penalties Part 2
  
• The Discussion Board
  
• Quick Review 1 of 3
  
• Quick Review 2 of 3
  
• Quick Review 3 of 3
  
• Client Records Requests
  
• Discovery of Client Errors or Omissions
  
• Weekly Partner Meeting
  
• Independence and Contingent Fees
  
• Other Rules and Regulations
  
• Quick Review 1 of 5
  
• Quick Review 2 of 5
  
• Quick Review 3 of 5
  
• Quick Review 4 of 5
  
• Quick Review 5 of 5
  
• Questions to Consider and Lessons Learned
  
• Glossary

Introduction

Course Objectives.

After completing this course, you should be able to:

• Understand the ethical rules that apply to you as a tax practitioner practicing before the IRS and as an AICPA member.
  
• Identify the organizations that set and enforce the ethics rules affecting tax practitioners.
  
• Describe the standards of competence and due professional care.
  
• Identify professional requirements for maintaining independence with an attest client and for avoiding conflicts of interest when tax services are performed.
  
• Describe preparer and taxpayer penalty provisions of the Internal Revenue Code.
  
• Identify professional requirements applying to client records requests, outsourcing, and contingent fee arrangements.

Every day CPAs and their firms are exposed to possible litigation and inquiries by regulatory bodies that can threaten their ability to practice as a CPA and before the IRS. These matters also mar the profession in general and erode the public’s confidence in the CPA brand and its ability to provide valuable tax services to individuals and businesses.

Course Resources

To help you work through the course, we've included several resources, including this Study Guide. This Study Guide can serve as a notetaking
tool as you go through the course and as a way to review after completing the course. Additional resources are:

• IRS Circular 230 Rule 10.29, Conflicting Interests
• IRC Income Tax Preparer Penalties
• Reasonable Cause Summary- Internal Revenue Manual Excerpt
• IRS Tax Position Standards
• Disclosure Requirements - IRC Civil Penalty Provisions
• SemperBarnes Federal Tax Preparation and Advisory Tools
• Records Retention Rules - AICPA and IRS
• AICPA Ethics Rules on Outsourcing
• AICPA Non-Attest Services Rule
• Summary of AICPA SSTSs
• Circular 230 Written Advice Flow Chart
• Ethics Rules Relating to Tax Practice: AICPA and IRS
• IRC Civil Penalty Provisions
• Reasonable Cause - Internal Revenue Manual Excerpt

Go to http://www.aicpa.org/CPEupdates to check for any significant new developments directly related to the content of this course.

* Please note: This tip sheet is provided as a convenience for note taking and review purposes. It does not present complete
or comprehensive information on each topic. For more information, you should refer to the course materials and technical
standards.

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