Press Releases

Finding the Best and Worst Rated Tax Preparers, CPAs and Tax Pros is Now Easy

New York, February 19, 2015 /PRNewswire/ – Now there is an easy way to find the best tax specialist in your area and avoid the worst tax professionals by quickly comparing reviews, ratings and past feedback from their clients – all from your iPhone or iPad. If you are thinking about hiring a tax professional to do your taxes – don’t worry – help is at hand with Find the Best Tax Preparers – the great new free app from PTIN.ORG – the national organization for all licensed and federally registered tax preparers in the U.S.

The app is a fully comprehensive directory of over 700,000 licensed and registered tax preparers in the U.S. rated and reviewed by fellow users. Read the reviews yourself and decide who to call and who you should avoid in your area. Look up your own tax accountant and write a review to tell others how useful they are. See what others are saying about the professional you currently trust. This is the only mobile app where users can search, read and write reviews of every registered and licensed tax preparer in the United States, powered by the PTINdirectory.

Every company can provide an all-singing and dancing app but how many are rated by real customers and have these ratings displayed honestly and unbiased allowing easy comparison with other tax preparers? Find the Best Tax Preparers lets users search by ZIP code for the closest to them as well as best rated and worst rated to easily create a shortlist of ideal candidates – and those to be avoided!

Find the Best Tax Preparers also has an extensive knowledge database with the answers to over 2,500 of the most common tax questions people ask. Searchable by category, they are always up to date with the latest tax law changes, tax refund tips, refund estimates and much more.

Find the Best Tax Preparers is available to download for free from the Apple iTunes or Google Play. The app will run on any iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch running iOS 6.0 or later. Whether you’re an individual taxpayer, business owner or student, Find the Best Tax Preparers will help you choose the right tax professional when you just don’t want to do it yourself.

Tax Filing Season Opens with Official Launch and Ask A Tax Preparer Mobile App

New York, January 30, 2013 /PRNewswire/ – Coinciding with today’s IRS launch of tax season and their acceptance of returns for e-filing, is the release of the free Ask A Tax Preparer mobile app. Over 500 participating licensed tax professionals from around the nation will provide individuals and businesses that download this app with free answers to their tax questions throughout tax season.

The Ask A Tax Preparer app includes a comprehensive database of answers to more than 2,500 tax questions, and even includes the latest fiscal cliff tax changes recently passed by Congress. Users of the app can simply choose a category and search for the answer to their question in the tax archive. If unable to find the answer to a question, users have the option to type their question and send it to local participating tax preparers whom will answer it for free within 48 hours. The question and its answer will then be added to the robust tax archive for future inquiries. Additionally, those who would like to locate a licensed tax professional can use the app to “Find a Tax Pro” by ZIP code. Ask A Tax Preparer is available for free download and use on the Apple and Android platforms.

Tax season is getting started late this year because of last minute tax law changes made by Congress under the American Taxpayer Relief Act (ATRA). The IRS could not process returns earlier as this fiscal cliff legislation retroactively modified the tax laws for 2012, requiring tax forms and software to be corrected. The most common tax changes enacted under this fiscal cliff legislation that effect 120 million households can be found on the Ask A Tax Preparer mobile app.

Ask A Tax Preparer was released by PTINdirectory.com, the first online searchable database of over 700,000 federally PTIN registered tax preparers. As of 2011, all tax professionals were required to obtain from the IRS a Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) and register their “license” annually. PTINdirectory.com was made possible as a direct result of the Freedom of Information Act. Under the Freedom of Information Act the Internal Revenue Service was required to make tax preparer information available to the public. PTINdirectory.com is the only comprehensive directory where you can actually search for a licensed tax preparer by language criteria.

PTINdirectory.com is owned by the National Directory of Registered Tax Return Preparers & Professionals, Ltd. The company currently is focused on providing licensed tax professionals including CPAs, Enrolled Agents, and Registered Tax Return Preparers with the resources they need to succeed in this rapidly-changing and regulated environment. For more information on this free tax resource for your mobile phone, go to www.askataxpreparer.com.

PTINdirectory.com is the First Online Searchable Database of All Federally Registered Tax Preparers

New York, August 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – PTINdirectory.com is the first online searchable database of over 700,000 federally registered tax preparers. It is expected that tens of thousands of individuals, business owners, agencies, and financial institutions will use PTINdirectory.com over the coming months to verify and find tax preparers authorized by the IRS to prepare tax returns. Tax preparers can be found by IRS-sanctioned credentials, industries and services offered, and geographic criteria.

Over the past two years the IRS has been moving to clean up the tax return preparation industry. Last week, Treasury Department investigators indicated that the Internal Revenue Service may have delivered more than $5 billion in refund checks to identity thieves who filed fraudulent tax returns for 2011. Regulation of tax professionals is a huge step in resolving this problem. As of 2011, all tax professionals that prepare tax returns for compensation must obtain a Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) and meet minimum continuing education requirements. Prior to implementation of these IRS regulations, tax preparers had not been required to demonstrate a minimum level of knowledge or maintain a license to show their qualifications.

Registered Tax Return Preparer (RTRP) is a new category of federal tax return preparers created by the Internal Revenue Service. Starting January 1, 2014, only RTRPs, CPAs, Attorneys and Enrolled Agents will be authorized to prepare and sign federal individual tax returns for payment. With the launch of PTINdirectory.com, now everyone can “check out” their tax professional. Taxpayers that allow non-registered tax professionals to prepare their tax returns may be subject to penalties and risk of audit.

PTINdirectory.com was made possible as a direct result of the Freedom of Information Act. Under the Freedom of Information Act the Internal Revenue Service was required to make tax preparer information available to the public. Michael Rosedale, CPA understands the concern many tax professionals have about the privacy of their records made available under the FOIA: “For this reason, we encourage PTIN holders to verify and update their FOIA contact information. On PTINdirectory.com all tax professionals have the right to modify, enhance or delete their information in the directory. PTINdirectory.com allows the tax professional to control how much or how little information is available for others to see. We believe that most tax professionals will look at PTINdirectory.com as an opportunity to promote the credentials they have worked so hard to maintain.”

The National Directory of Registered Tax Return Preparers & Professionals, Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of CPAdirectory.com, Inc. CPAdirectory.com created the first comprehensive online public directory of the CPA profession in 1999 with over 450,000 Certified Public Accountants. The company currently is focused on providing all accounting professionals including CPAs, Enrolled Agents and RTRPs with marketing tools and resources they need to succeed in this rapidly-changing and regulated environment. It developed and retains an equity interest in 1800Accountant.com, owns the CPAclassifieds.com, FreeCPE.com, and introduced this past tax season a free tax resource for the iPhone and iPad called Ask A CPA – Tax Answers Free. For more information on this free tax resource for your mobile phone, go to www.askacpa.pro.