Cheating, Visibility and Return Preparers (8/8/13)

A new tax procedure blog, Procedurally Taxing, here, has a new blog entry written by Professor Leslie Book, here, titled Cheating and Visibility on Taxes: IRS Efforts to Regulate Tax Return Preparers Should Continue (Procedurally Taxing 8/6/13), here.

The blog entry opens with the following:

It comes as no surprise that people cheat on their taxes. There is a rich literature discussing tax noncompliance, analyzing its causes and discussing ways that the government can deter, detect and if necessary sanction those who would cheat or help others cheat. I too have contributed to the discussion, primarily considering the role that commercial preparers play in decisions to comply with our tax laws in research reports commissioned by the Taxpayer Advocate Service and made part of the National Taxpayer Advocate Reports to Congress in 2007 and 2008.

The blog entry then follows with some very interesting insight and research on cheating and how the findings of this research can be deployed by increasing visibility in tax settings.  I particularly commend to readers the Halloween research study.  Visibility is enhanced through information reporting and the IRS's return preparer initiatives, one facet of which is in play in the recent Loving case now on appeal to the D.C. Circuit.