What to know as a New York tax return preparer

Posting requirements for tax return preparers and facilitators can be found by going to the NY website https://www.tax.ny.gov/tp/posting-reqs.htm. Failure to comply with these requirements can result in civil penalties.

To summarize:

• Publication 135.1 must be posted, prominently and conspicuously, at your place of business

• Publication 135 must be provided to the client PRIOR TO any discussion about tax preparation with the client.

  • This document is available:

    • from the NY DTF website: https://www.tax.ny.gov/pdf/publications/income/pub135.pdf

    • through a link in the software on the NY FAQ page

• The REQUIRED DISCLOSURE STATEMENT must be read and signed by the taxpayer BEFORE entering into a bank product agreement. The software automatically generates the disclosure statement with any return that has a bank product indicated on the BANK screen

  • The disclosure statement in the program provides all required information, as listed below:

    • Statement that the taxpayer is not required to enter into a RAC agreement

    • Clarification that a RAC is a loan (not a refund), and that the taxpayer will be required to repay the loan, along with all related fees and costs

    • Amount of federal refund the taxpayer would receive if he or she does NOT take the RAC

    • Amount the taxpayer is required to pay if he or she DOES take the RAC, and the approximate remaining amount he or she will receive

    • Estimated annual percentage rate of the RAC

    • Approximate date the taxpayer can expect to receive the RAC funds

    • Approximate dates taxpayer can expect to receive the federal refund if no RAC is taken and if e-filing the return and (a) receiving the refund by mail, or (b) receiving the refund by direct deposit

  • A PDF of the disclosure statement is available in links below. This PDF is identical to the one generated by the software, with the exception that all taxpayer-specific information (such as estimated refund amounts) must be entered manually.

For more information, and for further technical guidance, see the following links

NY DTF website (example of a tax preparer price list) – https://www.tax.ny.gov/pdf/tp/example-tp-price-list.pdf

NY DTF website (Publication 135.1) – https://www.tax.ny.gov/pdf/publications/income/pub135_1.pdf

NY DTF website (Publication 135) – https://www.tax.ny.gov/pdf/publications/income/pub135.pdf

NYC DOF website (Consumer Bill of Rights) – https://www.nyc.gov/assets/dca/downloads/pdf/consumers/Consumer-Bill-of-Rights-Regarding-Tax-Preparers-English.pdf