Sorry, I very much disagree. The PTIN has become a tax and a powerful, unfettered hammer that the commissioner can wield against tax professionals without due process. The commissioner can pull your PTIN at any time and you cannot practice because it is now required for efile, and efile is required as well. There is no appeals process to stop this from happening. You can do absolutely nothing wrong and the commissioner can pull your PTIN and put you out of business. By the time you go through the bureaucracy to get it back, too late, you missed a season or two and you have no clients left.
It isn't about the dollars, it is about the power. Never forget that government power affects the lawful more than it affects the lawless.
Remember, the PTIN was a tool for practitioners to hide their social on tax returns. That is what it was created for. It is now required by the IRS to practice your profession.
I am for preparer oversight and regulation. I have my EA license and I don't have a problem with renewing and paying for that license. I am also for IRS oversight and competency testing as well. If we had more professionals in the IRS, we might have a better tax system. They need to stop doing the president's dirty work and get rid of the Lois Lerners of the service. If they would have just fessed up about her, rather than let her piss off the Congress, they might have gotten some funding. Now they get what they deserve.
Rant over.
Tom
Newark, CA