Cpe

[dyne]

I soon will attend 24 hours of CPE toward my required 72 hours every 3 years.

IRS starts it's new auditors off with SIX WEEKS of intensive education and students
must pass written tests! Most already have accounting or business law background and
many of them obtain additional education on their own over the years while they work for
IRS. IRS also requires its auditors to attend tax schools every year or two which last for
two weeks or longer and periodic tax schools of a day or two. IRS tax schools are
excellent and the instructors are generally IRS agents with many years of experience.
The teaching approach is very much like the military approach. They use flip charts and
slide projectors and teach in a 1, 2, 3 manner: 1. We will teach you the following.
2. We are now teaching the following(same issue). 3. We are now going over what we
just taught you. Questions, discussions, TEST! Day dreaming will NOT cut it!
Each instructor teaches only about an hour then a new instructor comes in
for the next hour and so on. As a result the IRS instructors are EXPERTS in their
assigned tax issue.

Many people go to work for IRS for a few years soley to obtain a good tax education.
One District Director said that IRS approves this. As a result their are many
former IRS auditors now working as tax preparers.


I have been very much impressed by the civilian instructors at CPE seminars but the
IRS instructors are even better. Our CPE pales in comparison to the tax
training provided to IRS auditors. If any taxpayers or tax preparers believe that they can
fool IRS auditors, they better reconsider.

[OldJack]

Wow... with all that expert agent training it is difficult to understand how there can be so many agents that don't know what they are doing. Maybe its just my IRS region.

By the way, my state requires 120 hours over 3 years with a minimum of something like 30 hours every year. The yearly requirement is new and I don't remember off hand the exact number.

[Bees Knees]

I'm glad they receive so much training. Think how much even less info IRS auditors would know if they weren't so well trained.

[Bird Legs]

IRS Training

Just got through with a 2 day seminar in central Tx. Amazing how many people in
attendance, and the speakers, mentioned the fact that they had to train the auditor
in how to do the audit. One speaker said that he showed the auditor something
out of the IRS manual. The auditor asked him if he could take it back and show
his supervisor for further clarification.

[dyne]

IRS loses many auditors now because it is a difficult job and management is not the
best. There are many new auditors because of this loss. It takes several years for an
auditor to earn his keep. I knew a secretary for IRS who attended night classes, etc.
and after about 10 years she qualified and became an agent. After all that, she quit in
disgust about a year later due to the difficult job and bad attitude of IRS management.
Auditors are trained to QUESTION everything and to ask questions which seem
irrelivant to taxpayers and some tax preparers. Do NOT ASSUME is an IRS motto.
Many people interpret these questions as an indication that the auditor is not smart.
And some auditors make it a point to avoid being perceived as very smart. Many
believe that the dumber the auditor appears, the more adjustments he can likely find.
Do you remember Lt. Columbo on TV? He appeared dumb until he solved the murder.
Taxpayers for whom no additional tax is assessed may believe the auditor to not be very
smart or knowlegible about tax. This SAME taxpayer if assessed $100,000
additional tax will suddently percieve the auditor to be very smart, smart enough
to catch him. IRS pressure upon auditors to PRODUCE takes it's toll causing some to
take short-cuts. . Sure, there are some bad auditors but most are good I believe.
Regardless, IRS has excellent tax training.