Taxpayers may obtain representation before the IRS by a registered tax return preparer concerning returns the RTRP prepared. The Declaration of Taxpayer Rights states that individuals have this right for a professional to represent them in IRS matters. Unfortunately, IRS authority also governs every RTRP practice.

This presents a subtle balancing act for tax preparers. The IRS can sanction any professional with a tax preparer license. That presents some reservation in how aggressive an RTRP defends a taxpayer. The tax professional must possess complete assurance that deducted expenses are legitimate. Otherwise, the IRS is likely to sanction a tax preparer who submits client information without substantiation.

The IRS Office of Professional Responsibility is the department charged with administering activities in the tax preparation business. OPR has a staff of 58 employees. They investigate complaints about the conduct of tax practitioners. Several punishments are available for OPR to implement.

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HOUSTON – What would the future of education look like if teachers were reduced to cheating to get their students to score better on state tests?

It’s an idea grandparents like Andrew Wilson at Cullen Middle School simply can’t live with.

“I don’t think that’s right,” Wilson said. “I think children need to take care of their own business because if you pass me, and I can’t read; I don’t believe that’s right.”

FOX 26 News has learned at least two teachers at Cullen Middle School have been removed for allegedly cheating.

And they are not alone. The Houston Independent School District also confirms two more teachers at Ryan Middle School are also being investigated for cheating.

The instructors were preparing their students for state tests like the STARR using the benchmark exam.

Gayle Fallon, president of the local teachers union, said the tests, “give you an idea of, are your children learning? Are they progressing where they should be? It gi

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Choosing the best EKG technician training available is your first step to a successful career. A relevant degree or diploma from an accredited training institution is an added bonus for those who are willing to make a career in the health sector. The average compensation depends on the level of skills, knowledge and experience in performing the EKG tests.

Unlike most medical fields, ECG technicians are not required to have a degree before starting to work. A relevant certificate of medical training schools or community college is usually sufficient. Read more…

Home › Teacher development › Top stories › IATEFL competition for teachers in Brazil

TeachingEnglish IATEFL competition for teachers in Brazil Submitted by Rob Lewis on 19 December, 2011 – 15:22

The International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language - IATEFL - holds an international conference in the United Kingdom every year. The event attracts over 2000 ELT professionals from more than a 100 countries who attend talks, workshops and symposiums, have the chance to meet leading writers and linguists and exchange ideas with professionals from all sectors of ELT. 

The 2012 conference will take place in Glasgow, from 19 to 23rd March, at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre.  

This year the British Council Brazil is running a competition in partnership with BRAZ-TESOL to award a trip to the conference with all expenses covered (air fare, accommodation and registration fees). Participa

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Michael O’Keefe stars in “A Thousand Cuts.”

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – “A Thousand Cuts,” a psychological thriller feature film directed by UC Riverside theatre professor Charles Evered, will premiere Jan. 12 at the 23rd Palm Springs International Film Festival. The film will screen at 7 p.m. in the 433-seat Annenberg Theater in downtown Palm Springs. There will be an additional showing on Jan. 15 at 4 p.m. at the Camelot Theatres in Palm Springs.

The film is a psychological thriller about a stranger (Michael O’Keefe, nominated for an Academy Award in “The Great Santini”) with a haunted past who shows up at the home of Hollywood’s hottest horror director (Michael A. Newcomer, “Pants on Fire”), determined to teach him what real horror is all about.

“We’re very proud of the fact that we made a film that explores the nature of violence and its effect on our society – with a narrative that puts the victims of violent crime at the center of the story, rather than using them as props or for purely exploitative purposes,” said Evered, a noted playwright and associate professor of theatre at the University of California, Riverside. Evered wrote the Read more…

The IRS has revealed that the tax preparer exam will contain multiple questions covering tax credits. Among these topics are the education tax credits that are commonly involved in tax preparation work.

A typical process for a tax practitioner is identifying whether an eligible person incurred higher education expenses. However, each education credit has distinctive qualifications for the types of expenses and student eligibility. Because of these variances, tax preparation software doesn’t automatically determine the correct tax credit. Instead, tax preparer study is required each year to affirm the information needed to correctly apply education credits.

The Taxpayer Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) has released a report of its finding that 2.1 million tax returns erroneously claimed $3.2 billion of education tax credits for the 2009 tax year. Such abuse is an area the registered tax return preparer program can address by required tax education. T

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HOUSTON – The Houston ISD school board has approved the creation of a new language immersion magnet school that would teach students Mandarin Chinese.

Mandarin is the most widely-spoken language in the world. With China a growing trading partner with Texas and the United States, the move is a nod toward preparing Houston students for being competitive participants.

The district already has a number of Chinese studies programs, but the new school would take the learning even further.

“It’s very important that we teach our students to be able to communicate in that language, and I think the Chinese people especially appreciate western faces speaking their language and understanding their culture and their customs,” said Kolter Elementary magnet coordinator Dottie Lawrence.

Kolter already includes Mandarin studies.

Additionally, some studies suggest different parts of the brain are engaged when learning Chinese, which can offer academic benefits for some students.

Paul Pass, of the Asia Society, said, “students that learn Mandarin and then they go on to other ventures, especially with mathematics and sciences … the

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