In 1971, the United States Congress enacted the Section 7216 (§7216) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) (IRS, 2015). This provision served to prohibit unlawful disclose of tax return information by tax preparers (IRS, 2015). The purpose of this paper is to use the information provided in §7216 in concordance with the case of John Jones, CPA, to determine if confidentiality has been broken and is punishable by law. This paper will begin with a brief discussion of the statutes laid out in IRC §7216 followed by a section that will express an opinion on the case of John Jones and will conclude with a summary of the findings.
IRC §7216 This section of the paper will delve into more detail surrounding §7216 in order to be able to better determine …show more content…
Examples of individuals that would be considered “preparers” include (but are not limited to): volunteer preparers, casual preparers, e-file preparers, software developers, reporting agents, and intermediate service providers (Mauldin, et al., …show more content…
Jones was in violation of the regulation; however, after further investigation of the exception, it is determinable that his actions did not go against §7216 and cannot be punished. This is entirely due to the final exception that was discussed. In Mr. Jones’ case, he was using the information to contact his clients to inform them about tax, general business, and other economic matters. The use of his information was specifically for educational purposes, which, as discussed, is permitted under the exception found in §301.7216-2(n). It should be noted that the claim that he was not in violation of §7216 does assume that he used only the specified information under the exception found in §301.7216-2(n). In the situation that any other information was used, the verdict would be changed and he would be in violation of
IRC §7216 This section of the paper will delve into more detail surrounding §7216 in order to be able to better determine …show more content…
Examples of individuals that would be considered “preparers” include (but are not limited to): volunteer preparers, casual preparers, e-file preparers, software developers, reporting agents, and intermediate service providers (Mauldin, et al., …show more content…
Jones was in violation of the regulation; however, after further investigation of the exception, it is determinable that his actions did not go against §7216 and cannot be punished. This is entirely due to the final exception that was discussed. In Mr. Jones’ case, he was using the information to contact his clients to inform them about tax, general business, and other economic matters. The use of his information was specifically for educational purposes, which, as discussed, is permitted under the exception found in §301.7216-2(n). It should be noted that the claim that he was not in violation of §7216 does assume that he used only the specified information under the exception found in §301.7216-2(n). In the situation that any other information was used, the verdict would be changed and he would be in violation of