Comments Regarding Proposed Amendments to the Regulations
Governing Practice Before the Internal Revenue Service
(Title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, Subtitle A, Part 10)
April 23, 2001

Section 10.60  Institution of Proceedings.

Section 10.60(a) provides for a public censure. See our comments to section 10.50 for comments regarding the Director’s authority to impose this new sanction. A censure should not be imposed without administrative due process or a practitioner’s offer of consent to the censure. Apparently the censure would not affect a practitioner’s eligibility to practice before the IRS. As stated above, the Section supports this proposal. It is consistent with what a number of state bars provide and could prove beneficial to a practitioner who would prefer a censure to a much more harsh suspension. The fact that it is public also works to the benefit to the tax system in situations where an appropriate disposition of a matter should be something more than a private reprimand but not serious enough for a suspension. However, as discussed above, the Section believes that statutory authorization for this proposed new sanction should be obtained.