IRS faces federal lawsuit for 'unlawful power grab

In a new federal lawsuit, the Institute for Justice argues that Congress never gave the IRS the authority to license tax preparers and that the IRS can’t legally give itself that power. But last year, the IRS imposed a "sweeping new licensing scheme" that requires IRS permission for tax preparers to work. "This is an unlawful power grab that exceeds the authority granted to the IRS by Congress," IJ argues.

"This lawsuit challenges the IRS’s statutory authority to impose this licensing scheme, and seeks to overturn regulations that would affect an estimated 350,000 tax return preparers, forcing many of them to stop working in the occupation of their choice."