The Atlanta Lawyer January/February 2013 | Page 28

section update Tax Law Section Update By Julian A. Fortuna The Saylor Law Firm LLP O n Tuesday, January 22, 2013, the Tax Law Section of the Atlanta Bar Association and the Taxation Section of the State Bar of Georgia held a joint CLE program on Ethics and Professionalism in the practice of tax law. David F. Golden, a partner at Troutman Sanders presented the ethics portion of the program. David covered recent changes to Treasury Department Circular 230 which sets forth regulations governing practice before the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS"). Practitioners who violate these regulations may be sanctioned by public reprimand, suspension, disbarment and/or monetary penalty. In most cases, practitioners are sanctioned for failing to file or pay taxes for which they are personally responsible. Historically, these regulations have applied only to attorneys, CPAs and other specified professionals who give written advice to taxpayers or represent them before the IRS. In May 2011, the IRS expanded the regulations to cover individuals who prepare tax returns for others, requiring them to pass a 28 THE ATLANTA LAWYER January/February 2013 [email protected] qualifying exam, pay an annual application fee and take annual CLE. However, on January 18, 2013, in Loving v. IRS, Civil Action No. 12-385, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia invalidated that portion of the regulations and enjoined the IRS from enforcing them. David noted that the IRS Office of Professional Responsibility is reeling from this decision and has suspended enforcement of its regulation of tax return preparers pending its probable appeal of the case. Much less controversial changes to other portions of the Circular 230 regulations were proposed on September 17, 2012, and are likely to be finalized this year. These changes include a new "competency requirement" which states that a tax practitioner must exh