{"id":66487,"date":"2018-12-27T09:15:00","date_gmt":"2018-12-27T13:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/english-statewide-campaign-focuses-on-busting-ghost-tax-preparers\/"},"modified":"2018-12-27T10:16:17","modified_gmt":"2018-12-27T14:16:17","slug":"campana-en-todo-el-estado-se-enfoca-en-atrapar-a-los-preparadores-fantasmas-de-declaraciones-de-impuestos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/campana-en-todo-el-estado-se-enfoca-en-atrapar-a-los-preparadores-fantasmas-de-declaraciones-de-impuestos\/","title":{"rendered":"Statewide Campaign Focuses on Busting &#8220;Ghost Tax Preparers&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<style type=\"text\/css\"><![CDATA[\n\/* Style Definitions *\/\nspan.prnews_span\n{\nfont-size:8pt;\nfont-family:\"Arial\";\ncolor:black;\n}\na.prnews_a\n{\ncolor:blue;\n}\nli.prnews_li\n{\nfont-size:8pt;\nfont-family:\"Arial\";\ncolor:black;\n}\np.prnews_p\n{\nfont-size:0.62em;\nfont-family:\"Arial\";\ncolor:black;\nmargin:0in;\n}\n]]><\/style>\n<div class=\"xn-content\">\n<p><span class=\"xn-location\">SACRAMENTO, California<\/span>, <span class=\"xn-chron\">Dec. 27, 2018<\/span> \/PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE\/ &#8212;\u00a0It happens every tax season. Fly-by-night tax preparers set up tables in shopping centers or rent office spaces from February to April. They crank out countless tax returns, often touting &#8220;big and fast&#8221; tax refunds.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Eventually the taxpayer is left with a financial mess and the tax preparer is nowhere to be found. We call them ghost tax preparers,&#8221; said <span class=\"xn-person\">Lester Crawford<\/span>, chair of the <u><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/c212.net\/c\/link\/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=2333858-1&amp;h=2410894708&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ctec.org%2F&amp;a=California+Tax+Education+Council+(CTEC)\" rel=\"nofollow\">California Tax Education Council (CTEC)<\/a><\/u>, a state-mandated nonprofit organization that manages the registration of more than 40,000 unlicensed tax preparers. &#8220;It&#8217;s a big issue even on the federal level, which is why we are launching an online reporting system that focuses just on ghost tax preparers.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>The new reporting system only requires taxpayers to answer a few quick questions with the name and last known location of the ghost tax preparer. Personal information from the taxpayer is helpful, but not required. Taxpayers can submit reports at <u><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/c212.net\/c\/link\/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=2333858-1&amp;h=2959150699&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ctec.org%2F&amp;a=ctec.org\" rel=\"nofollow\">ctec.org<\/a><\/u>. All reports go directly to the <span class=\"xn-location\">California<\/span> <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/c212.net\/c\/link\/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=2333858-1&amp;h=2164254345&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ftb.ca.gov%2F&amp;a=Franchise+Tax+Board\" rel=\"nofollow\">Franchise Tax Board<\/a>, the enforcement arm for CTEC. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We found too many taxpayers are scared to report a tax preparer because they think it will get them into trouble. We hope the new anonymous option will change that,&#8221; Crawford said. &#8220;Ghost tax preparers are masters of the disappearing act so it helps enforcement teams to get outside reports.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Taxpayers are urged to verify the legal status of a tax preparer before handing over their personal information. <span class=\"xn-location\">California<\/span> law requires anyone who prepares tax returns for a fee to be either an <u><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/c212.net\/c\/link\/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=2333858-1&amp;h=1625718372&amp;u=http%3A%2F%2Fmembers.calbar.ca.gov%2Ffal%2FLicenseeSearch%2FFindLegalHelp&amp;a=attorney\" rel=\"nofollow\">attorney<\/a><\/u>, <u><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/c212.net\/c\/link\/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=2333858-1&amp;h=3936016321&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fsearch.dca.ca.gov%2F%3FRD%3DY&amp;a=certified+public+accountant+(CPA)\" rel=\"nofollow\">certified public accountant (CPA)<\/a><\/u>, <u><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/c212.net\/c\/link\/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=2333858-1&amp;h=799272915&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ctec.org%2Fverify&amp;a=CTEC-registered+tax+preparer+(CRTP)+\" rel=\"nofollow\">CTEC-registered tax preparer (CRTP) <\/a><\/u>or<u><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/c212.net\/c\/link\/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=2333858-1&amp;h=3123923041&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Firs.treasury.gov%2Frpo%2Frpo.jsf&amp;a=%C2%A0enrolled+agent+(EA)\" rel=\"nofollow\">\u00a0enrolled agent (EA)<\/a><\/u>. Each is required to pass an initial test and complete educational requirements.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to <span class=\"xn-location\">California<\/span> requirements, tax preparers are required by the <u><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/c212.net\/c\/link\/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=2333858-1&amp;h=3539565682&amp;u=http%3A%2F%2Firs.gov%2F&amp;a=Internal+Revenue+Service+\" rel=\"nofollow\">Internal Revenue Service <\/a><\/u>to provide a <u><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/c212.net\/c\/link\/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=2333858-1&amp;h=3281732526&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.irs.gov%2Ftax-professionals%2Fptin-requirements-for-tax-return-preparers&amp;a=Preparer+Tax+Identification+Number+(PTIN)\" rel=\"nofollow\">Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN)<\/a><\/u>\u00a0on all federal tax returns they prepare for a fee.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Licenses or registrations can be suspended or revoked without any notice to clients. Always verify the legal status even if you&#8217;ve been going to the same tax preparer for years,&#8221; Crawford said.<\/p>\n<p>Taxpayers should report tax preparers to CTEC if they cannot verify their legal status or if they refuse to sign the tax return. Typical red flags of ghost tax preparers include listing the tax return as &#8220;self prepared&#8221; or sticking a business label on it instead of listing their individual name and PTIN.<\/p>\n<p>CTEC is a nonprofit organization that was established in 1997 by the California State Legislature to protect taxpayers against fraud and incompetent tax preparers.<\/p>\n<p>SOURCE  California Tax Education Council<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"xn-content\">\n<p><span class=\"xn-location\">SACRAMENTO, California<\/span>, <span class=\"xn-chron\">Dec. 27, 2018<\/span> \/PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE\/ &#8212;\u00a0It happens every tax season. Fly-by-night tax preparers set up tables in shopping centers or rent office spaces from February to April. They crank out countless tax returns, often touting &#8220;big and fast&#8221; tax refunds.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Eventually the taxpayer is left with a financial mess and the tax preparer is nowhere to be found. We call them ghost tax preparers,&#8221; said <span class=\"xn-person\">Lester Crawford<\/span>, chair of the <u>&lt;a&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gobierno-y-politica"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66487\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}