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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

If she did rent it, then amend the return. If she did not rent it, you are correct, it's moot.

I'd call it schedule D, sale of assets.

As a CPA, I resent having to fund IRS programs for other types of preparers.

It is every 3 years, and it is a license. Supposedly, it allows me to practice before the IRS. However, without the PTIN, I cannot have clients to represent, unless all I do is representation, not preparation. The PTIN fee is a TAX. Tom Newark, CA

I totally agree 100% Fees for PTIN have not done, nor cannot do, anything about the incompetent and unscrupulous preparers. The REAL issue are those that prepare return, do not sign them, and process them as self-prepared. The top two tiers of the IRS need to be thrown in jail. It would improve the integrity of the service, and Congress might be willing to fund them enough to allow them to do a proper job. Now if you believe any of that will happen in our lifetime, I have a bridge to sell you...

That's what our church did when we initiated a name change about 18 months back. We sent a letter to IRS giving them the old and new names, with a certified copy of the Articles of Amendment attached. Took them about two months to acknowledge it. You might need to do the same with your state revenue dept if you have any state filing requirements. In the course of the changeover, it's also important to make changes to EFTPS registration as well, if that applies.

I'll pay the about same either way, because EA renewal fees went down to account for PTIN fees. And, those fees are small compared to software, computer upgrades, education, etc., each year. I, too, am optimistic enough that maybe PTINs might help track abusers. I resent those that tarnish our profession.

Well I for one couldn't understand why the PTIN number that I have had since forever, FREE became an item I have had to pay for, well I guess, since 2010. It would be nice to see a refund of those fees. On another note, I think the IRS should develop some type of plan that is "legal" to critique tax preparers. The general public who pursue the use and advise of a tax preparer has the right to know the individual is competent. This should apply to ALL and not automatically eliminate the CPA's and Attorney's. They too should show competence and do make as many, if not more, mistakes than others. JMHO