On February 11, 2014, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (the “Court of Appeals”), in the case of Loving v. Internal Revenue Service, affirmed an order of the District Court enjoining the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from enforcing regulations related to paid tax-return preparers. The subject regulations were issued by the IRS in 2011 and purported to require paid tax-return preparers to pass a qualifying exam, pay annual registration fees, and meet certain professional continuing education requirements.

The IRS argued it had authority to regulate tax-return preparers based on 31 U.S.C. § 330, which authorizes the IRS to “regulate the practice of representatives of persons before the Department of Treasury.” The Court of Appeals disagreed, describing the IRS’s Read More