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Adam Steele is Going to Pry Your $63 PTIN Fee Out Of the IRS’s Cold Dead Hands

Posted on by Greg Kyte

Thank God for people like Adam Steele, CPA. Not only has his free-range facial hair been the non-ironic inspiration for the irony of hipsters everywhere, he’s also the frontman for the PTIN class action lawsuit against the IRS because Adam Steele is the kind of guy who isn’t going to put up with the IRS’s sixty-three-dollars-per-year-to-register-as-a-paid-tax-preparer bullshit.

He and some lady who’s not nearly as interesting are demanding that the IRS refund all PTIN fees collected in the past and never collect PTIN fees in the future, or “at the very least, the plaintiffs want the IRS to lower the fee to about $13.”

He’s the William Fucking Wallace of tax preparers. “You can make us E-file, you can make us fill out an EITC checklist, but you can never make us pay more the actual cost you incur from a third-party vendor for administering the PTIN registration process!!! 'MURICA!"

Not only is it questionable as to whether or not the IRS even has the authority to charge the PTIN registration fee, your sixty-three bucks was also supposed to cover the cost of “the registration cards and certificates that the IRS was supposed to provide to preparers.” But you, me, and Adam Steele never got our goddamn cards. How the hell are we supposed to get our discount at Big Tim’s Tax Supply Warehouse without the fucking card?!

Plus there are no realistic options for recouping the $63. No one wants to raise their billing rates by 3.5¢ per hour, nor do they want to eat at Cheesecake Factory one less time per year.

As Adam Steele leads the charge against the PTIN, I only hope he doesn’t trip over his giant balls. Giant balls of Steele. This BMF has big enough balls to give his firm the name “Very Expensive Tax Service” and to run an ad campaign that included the follow FAQs:

Q: What is Very Expensive Tax Service?
A: It is a tax service that is very expensive.

Q: How expensive is Very Expensive Tax Service:
A: Very

Q: Can I smoke when I am receiving Very Expensive Tax Service?
A: Yes. Anyone who is paying that much has a right to be comfortable, in hospitable surroundings. Besides, we kind of like it when people smoke in our office.

Q: Is Very Expensive Tax Service fast?
A: No. It is slow and painstaking.

Mr. Steele also ran for Congress in 2012 as a Tea Party candidate. His bio says he’s a “frequent political candidate”1, a fiscal conservative, and a strong supporter of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.” I’d vote for him because apparently the alternative is a fiscally irresponsible hater of America and/or freedom.

I can’t wait to see the IRS gets its ass handed to it by this straight shooting, second-hand smoke loving, big government hating, estranged father of the sons of Mumford and Sons.

1Read “perennial loser”

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Note: The IRS Does Not Appreciate You Not Reporting Your Embezzlement Gains

Let this serve as a warning to any would-be embezzlers out there, if you steal, you better report it to the IRS.


42-year-old Collette Snyder of Timonium, MD pleaded guilty earlier this month to filing false tax returns in 2007 and 2008 after she neglected to claim over $382,000 embezzled from her former employer, Towson, MD-based Maple Leaf Title.

As part of her duties at the title company, Snyder had signature authority over the company’s operating, settlement and recording accounts, which allowed her to begin embezzling money from MLT accounts starting in 2007. She deposited company checks directly into her personal bank account, as well as made checks payable to her husband without his knowledge, forging his signature to deposit those checks in an account he was not aware of. At that point, Snyder had been an employee of MLT for two years.

Snyder took around $149,560 in 2007 and $232,968 in 2008. These embezzled funds were used to purchase jewelry, a BMW, trips, home improvements and private school tuition.

Because reporting this money to the IRS without it clearly declared on her W-2 (despite her writing “payroll” in the memo section of company checks she wrote out to herself) would have alerted authorities to the fraud, Snyder neglected to mention the ill-gotten gains. This resulted in an estimated tax loss of $115,529.37 for her 2007 and 2008 returns.

Due to the embezzlement by Snyder and MLT President Anthony Weis, MLT was unable to perform its duties as a provider of settlement services. With MLT’s escrow account drained, existing mortgage notes could not be paid off by MLT, meaning clear and free title could not be passed to the new lender and borrower of those notes. An insurance company that had issued title insurance policies to the borrowers guaranteeing clear title ultimately paid out $3.9 million to financial institutions that held mortgage notes.

Weis pleaded guilty to wire fraud, was sentenced to 78 months in prison and was ordered to pay restitution of $4,007,705, which includes the loss to the title insurance company and the expenses of the individual victims. He began his sentence in May of this year. The interesting part of this story is that Weis stole money intended for his clients’ real estate closings. And then Snyder stole from the company. Birds of a feather…

Snyder faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a fine of $250,000. U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake has scheduled her sentencing for February 3 , 2012 at 11:00 am.

“Mortgage fraud adds to the underground economy that erodes the integrity of our tax system and threatens the financial health of our communities. IRS Criminal Investigation is committed to ‘following the money trail’ to ensure that those who engage in these illegal activities are vigorously investigated and brought to justice,” said IRS – Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Jeannine A. Hammett.

Cleveland IRS Office Is Getting a Jumpstart on the Shutdown

Feels a little bit like a false start but apparently an IRS office in Cleveland has already said “fuck it” and sent employees home this morning.

WKYC reports, “They told us there was a government shutdown and there was nothing they could do and we should take our taxes to someplace where you pay,” said taxpayer Samantha Beynum. [WKYC]

These New IRS Competency Exams Are Going To Be a Hoot

Our resident tax nerd, Joe Kristan, touched on the IRS competency exam a couple of weeks ago but yesterday the IRS officially rolled out the red carpet. So, if you prepare tax returns but aren’t a CPA, lawyer, or enrolled agent, you now have the distinct pleasure of spending $116 to spend a few hours with everyone’s favorite test vendor – Prometric – whose proctors will keep a watchful eye on you to make sure your ostomy bag isn’t a secret answer bank, that you aren’t packing heat and your gum is appropriately disposed of. What’s the point of all this, you ask? IRS Commish Doug Shulman can answer that:

“This is another major step forward in our effort to enhance tax preparation service to millions of taxpayers. People should feel assured that the person they hire to prepare their federal tax returns has a working knowledge of the tax code,” said Doug Shulman, IRS Commissioner. “The majority of tax return preparers are reputable professionals but the few bad apples cause great harm to taxpayers and the industry.”

Got it? It’s for the good of the country. Just make sure you don’t have a runny nose on the day of your test. That’ll get you in trouble.

[via IRS via NYSSCPA]