[Fredslist] An FYI about "Circular 230 disclaimers"

[Thomas S. Groth]

Under the newest version of Circular 230, the disclaimers don't work anymore. In essence, anything can be a "covered opinion" if the IRS decides it is, and the disclaimer will not (on its own) get you out of it like it used to under the old Circular 230...

So for those of you still using the standard Circular 230 disclaimer, I'd suggest changing it to something like mine below, or just scrapping it entirely (the IRS wants you to scrap it entirely - but... we're either lawyers, CPAs, or EAs... so that's hard for us because we like to make sure we're qualifying everything.

See the comments made by the IRS regarding Circular 230 disclaimers here: http://www.accountingweb.com/article/stop-delete-circular-230-disclaimer-client-emails/223630 (June 2014 article)

Hawkins says that the IRS will be sending out notices to those who are still using the disclaimer without any compulsion. "My only concern and my message is, if a disclaimer says 'The Internal Revenue Service says' or 'I am required under Circular 230,' I can promise you that you will get a letter from my office asking you to cease and desist using that kind of language because I don't want taxpayers to be misinformed," said Hawkins. "We do not require that language after last week. "


Best Regards,

Thomas S. Groth, Esq
Office Phone: (203) 628-2952
Cell Phone:    (860) 484-3529
Fax:               (203) 793-2526

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