U.S. court decision opens
doors to shoddy tax work


It may seem safe to assume that if somebody hangs a shingle on their building that says "Tax Preparer," that person is educated and competent. After all, wouldn't the Internal Revenue Service regulate this to make sure anyone who charges money to prepare a tax return has certain education and competency requirements?

In one of the few positive steps that organization has ever made, they did, in fact, try to regulate the practice of tax preparation. In 2011, the IRS required all tax preparers to register with it and obtain a unique preparer identification number called a PTIN. The IRS later instituted requirements that in order to maintain the PTIN, the preparers must also pass a small competency exam, pay annual dues, and complete a scant 15 hours of annual tax education.

In 2012, three unlicensed tax preparers brought suit in Federal District Court to overturn the IRS's new regulatory agenda. In 2013 the district court agreed with the unlicensed preparers, finding that Congress never gave the IRS the authority to create the regulations. The IRS appealed the decision, and last Feb. 11 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed the lower court.

The IRS could potentially petition the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case, and it may ask Congress to expand its regulatory power. However, for now, anybody can call him or herself a tax preparer and charge unsuspecting clients a significant fee without having any expertise or competence.

With almost 30 years of experience doing battle with the IRS, I am typically the last person who would advocate giving that organization more power. However, in this case, it makes sense. Unlicensed preparers hurt taxpayers because they often do not do a good job. This is going to be especially important for U.S. taxpayers living overseas. The IRS requirements for Americans abroad are more complex than they are for people who reside in the States, and the penalties for making mistakes can be quite steep. I've seen time and time again locally licensed foreign CPAs, who may know the laws of their country very well, dip their toes into the IRS pool with disastrous results.  This decision by the D.C. Circuit opens the door to this happening on a wider scale.

To protect themselves, expats should make sure that when they hire a tax preparer he or she has some credentials from the United States. Certified public accountants and tax attorneys are licensed by individual states. Enrolled Agents are licensed directly by the Treasury Department. Expats should avoid preparers with no credentials or those who are credentialed by a foreign jurisdiction. A Costa Rica licensed CPA is unlikely to understand the IRS regulations as well as a CPA or attorney from any one of the United States, or a treasury licensed enrolled agent.

Lindner is an enrolled agent with 20 years of practice in Costa Rica assisting Americans living abroad. For more information, please visit www.ustaxinternational.com or e-mail ustax@lawyer.com. 


Rights groups say Venezuela
should end its violent attacks


The government of Venezuela should immediately end its violent attacks against demonstrators, invite the opposition to join an open dialogue to end the country’s political crisis, and seek help from the international community in defusing the tensions, Freedom House said Thursday.

Meanwhile, in Caracas, student protesters and security forces faced off again.

Freedom House, the Latin America and Caribbean Network for Democracy, and the World Movement for Democracy co-signed a letter sent to the secretary general of the Organization of American States, José Miguel Insulza, requesting the organization's  “good offices” mission to Venezuela.

Former Costa Rican president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Oscar Arias has expressed willingness to lead such a delegation.

“Given the violence this week involving the National Guard and police, the government has crossed the line of behavior acceptable in a democracy, and the international community should speak up,” said Robert Herman, vice president for regional programs for Freedom House. “Conditions in Venezuela are reminders of the darkest periods of Latin American dictatorships. It is no longer possible to justify the government’s human rights violations on the grounds that it was elected democratically.”

Wednesday the national guard and police indiscriminately fired tear gas canisters in at least four major cities, in some cases aiming directly at protesters or inside residential buildings and homes in search of student protesters. Government-supported colectivos or paramilitary groups accompanied government forces, and fired live ammunition.  Though the government has sought to impose a media blackout, online videos show several civilian casualties lying on the streets.

There have been at least five deaths.

Freedom House said it also calls on the government to immediately release opposition leader Leopoldo López, who was arrested this week. A court convened on a military base has extended his detention for another 45 days, in violation of due process.


High-living hospital residents
now on their way to the wilds


The life-saving efforts at Hospital Monseñor Sanabria in Puntarenas include the lives of owls.

The Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social said that workers found three young owls on the sixth floor of the hospital's tower. The young owls have been placed in a foster home for eventual release, said the Caja.

The Cuerpo Bomberos and the Servicio de Salud Animal also were involved in the project.

Eventually the young owls will be taken to the Santuario de Lapas El Manantial, in Aranjuez, Puntarenas, for quarantine and eventual release.


U.S.A. charges higher fees
to tourists than to locals

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

In your readers opinions, Michael Connolly mentioned that he felt it was illogical to charge tourists more than locals for entrance into tourist destinations.

It is true that in the national parks it is quite a bit more for foreign tourists to enter then locals, but this same “illogical” thinking is very prevalent in state parks and other tourist destinations in the U.S.A., where residents of a state can enter at reduced prices or get seasonal passes that non-residents can not.

I believe the thinking there as here is that the residents pay more taxes and have an inherent right to access the land.  And as a whole, tourists do have more ability to pay than many local residents.  It would be a shame to see the national parks and other attractions to become only affordable for tourists and those who actually live here and own the land (this is a democratic country) are kept out. 

In a perfect world it would be free for everyone, but here as in the U.S.A. and most other countries around the world the parks need to be maintained and those fees, when everything goes as it should, go to maintain those parks.