Are you paying an unlicensed tax preparer? California Franchise Tax “Ghost Busters” program ain’t afraid of no ghost!
Ghost tax preparers
Source: December 2019 Tax News
Our California Tax Education Council (CTEC) Enforcement Team within the Filing Compliance Bureau is conducting a pilot program focused on ghost tax preparers.
California State Legislature created CTEC to promote competent tax preparation and to protect California taxpayers. Since 2005, CTEC has partnered with us to identify unregistered tax preparers. Through our ongoing partnership, the Ghost Preparer pilot program was born. Ghost preparers are tax preparers who fail to provide their PTIN (Preparer Tax Identification Number) or otherwise failed to identify themselves on tax returns they prepared for compensation.
The Ghost Preparer pilot program includes two new letters, FTB 906A – Tax Preparer Verification, and FTB 906B - Request for Tax Preparer Information. Both letters were created to help identify ghost preparers by requesting the tax preparer’s identifying information.
We mailed the FTB 906A letters to tax preparers during the week of November 18, 2019. The response or lack of response received from the tax preparer after 30 days will allow staff to determine who will receive the FTB 906B letter. FTB 906B letters will be mailed to the taxpayer in December 2019 and January 2020.
Go to the CTEC website to report unregistered tax preparers and ghost preparers. All complaints go directly to our CTEC staff. It’s important that we receive as much information about the unregistered tax preparer and ghost preparer to review and understand the complaint. We will not share your identity and also cannot provide updates about the case due to privacy and disclosure laws.
Click here for more information:
https://www.ftb.ca.gov/about-ftb/newsroom/tax-news/december-2019/ghost-tax-preparers.html