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Examples Of Circular 230

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Circular 230 Verse SSTS The profession of accounting is a one that is highly regulated, due to the knowledge and power each accountant possesses. Although an accountants duties differ from one position to the next, the main sectors that accountants pursue are auditing or taxation. Auditing is ensuring the public that the information listed on the financial statements of public companies is free of material misstatements. While taxation is helping people or companies file their tax returns to the federal government or offering tax advice. In the world of auditing, you either follow the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), for public company audits, or the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), for other entities …show more content…

There are differences between the circular 230 and SSTS when it comes to omission and errors. Circular 230 is limited to the statement above, it is lightly, but effectively, mentioned in the document. The SSTS goes into greater detail by explaining what to do in certain circumstances. For example, the SSTS state, “If a member believes the taxpayer may face possible exposure to allegation of fraud or other criminal misconduct, the member should advise the taxpayer to consult with an attorney before the taxpayer takes any action” (SSTS, pg.25). Circular 230 talks about the basics of the consequences a taxpayer might face if they do not fix their errors or omissions and informing the client. The SSTS on the other hand, gives a tax practitioner a guide in what to do in certain circumstances to further enhance their limited liability. Not once does Circular 230 talk about an omission or error being linked to fraud, in the manner that the SSTS does. The SSTS guides the tax practitioner to intelligently handle the situation by having an attorney contacted, that way if the IRS does find fraud in the return the tax accountant will not be liable. The main difference between the way the regulatory bodies treat omissions and errors is that the SSTS provides a more detailed guidance to handling different …show more content…

Both these regulatory frameworks seeks to provide tax practitioners a “safe heaven”. These regulations are implemented to ensure that if you follow these rules set forth by the IRS and AICPA you cannot be liable for any prosecution that might lead back to a client. In other words, these documents serve as a policing agency so abide by the rules to ensure freedom of practice. Another general similarity within the documents is that both use rather vague descriptions of certain words or use ambiguity to cover a broad range of subjects. This ambiguity created by the codes is the reason why there are still lawsuits against tax practitioners. These documents are written in a way that different people might interpret the same message differently. That is why both these documents get revised every year or so, to encompass the true message the enforcing body wants to convey. These general similarities between the two documents make them both suspect to attack by intelligent law practitioners to take advantage of loop holes written in the

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