Your tax files for sale? IRS says go for it

[kpete]

Your tax files for sale? IRS says go for it
Kathleen Pender

Thursday, March 9, 2006

The Internal Revenue Service has proposed a new rule that would let tax preparers sell or share a client's tax-return information with third parties, as long as they got the client's consent.

Three consumer organizations on Wednesday called the proposal shocking and urged the IRS to drop it.

They fear that many taxpayers could be rushed or duped into signing the consent form when they are signing their tax returns and related documents. They could end up losing control over financial data they wouldn't want their closest friends or family to see, much less outside marketing and database firms.

"If you have someone doing the paper shuffle -- sign here, sign here, sign here -- there is tremendous opportunity for mischief," says Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director with the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.

The proposal is part of a larger plan for overhauling the decades-old section of the IRS code that regulates how tax preparers can use and disclose confidential taxpayer information.

A hearing on the overall proposal is scheduled for April 4.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/03/09/BUGEAHKOC034.DTL