Office of Professional Responsibility (IRS)

For the Office of Professional Responsibility at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), see Office of Professional Responsibility.
OPR
Agency overview
HeadquartersWashington, DC
Agency executive
  • Sharyn Fisk, Director
Parent agencyIRS
Websitehttps://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/the-office-of-professional-responsibility-opr-at-a-glance

The Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) at the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is responsible for all matters related to "tax practitioner" misconduct, discipline and practice before the IRS under 31 CFR Subtitle A, Part 10 (Circular 230, Regulations Governing Practice before the Internal Revenue Service). A tax practitioner, sometimes referred to as a tax professional, is generally an attorney, CPA or enrolled agent.

OPR’s vision, mission, strategic goals and objectives support effective tax administration by ensuring all tax practitioners, tax return preparers, and other third parties in the tax system adhere to professional standards and follow the law.[1]

OPR’s goals include the following: (1) Increase awareness and understanding of Circular 230 and OPR through outreach activities, (2) Apply the principles of due process to the investigation, analysis, enforcement and litigation of Circular 230 cases and (3) Build, train and motivate a cohesive OPR team.[1]

OPR publishes all disciplinary actions in the Internal Revenue Bulletin (IRB). Published sanctions include censure, suspension or disbarment from practice before the IRS.[2]

According to former OPR director Karen Hawkins, "The focus has been on roadkill - the easy cases of tax practitioners who are non-filers."[3]

In FY 2018, OPR opened 2,672 new suspected practitioner misconduct cases.[4]

  1. ^ a b "The Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) At-A-Glance". US Internal Revenue Service. Retrieved February 4, 2019. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. ^ "Disciplinary Sanctions - Internal Revenue Bulletin - Internal Revenue Service". www.irs.gov.
  3. ^ "Karen Lee Hawkins". law.ggu.edu.
  4. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-06-02. Retrieved 2019-06-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)