Published: Sunday, February 15, 2009 at 3:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, February 14, 2009 at 8:09 p.m.
Legislators are aboard the Alabama Taxpayer Protection and Assistance Act.
The Senate last week passed the bill by Sen. Quinton Ross, D-Montgomery. The House version sponsored by Rep. Tammy Irons, D-Florence, is in a House committee.
The bill, if it becomes law, requires testing and licensing of commercial tax preparers to ensure a minimum level of competence.
“More than a million lower and middle income Alabamians put their trust, their legal liability for taxes and their financial health in the hands of unregulated paid preparers,” Irons said.
The bill is the product of theUniversityofAlabama’s Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility. Stephen Black heads the center that took on a project to recruit and train students to help prepare simple tax returns for free.
“This type of grassroots mobilization of students to achieve such a significant improvement in the lives of working Alabamians not only brings more attention to this important effort,” he said, “[but] it also inspires the students themselves to believe in the efficacy of collective action and to continue to work for structural changes to solve societal problems.”
Irons’ bill has nearly 50 House and Senate backers.
