GAO finds gaps in IRS efforts to track ghost tax preparers
By Staff Writer · Published 10/20/2026, 4:05:52 PM ET
Auditors say disconnected records hinder oversight. IRS agreed to three recommendations; taxpayers can use its existing preparer-complaint process.
The IRS lacks a reliable agency-wide count of tax preparers who conceal their identities on clients’ returns, the Government Accountability Office found in a report dated October 15 and made public October 16. Auditors said disconnected records and work spread across six offices limit the agency’s ability to measure its response.
IRS agreed to GAO’s three recommendations: improve information sharing, include ghost preparers in a coordinated oversight strategy, and establish measurable goals. GAO lists all three as open recommendations, not completed changes.
The audit examined 44 federal civil and criminal cases with judgments or sentences from 2017 through 2025. Those cases illustrate fraud involving false returns, missing refunds and identity theft; they are not a nationwide estimate. A missing preparer identification number does not, by itself, establish fraud.
What it means
GAO’s recommendations would change how IRS tracks preparers, not the checks available to clients today. IRS guidance says paid preparers must sign returns and provide their Preparer Tax Identification Number; clients remain responsible for accuracy.
At IRS.gov, the Tax return preparer misconduct page explains how to submit Form 14157 with specific evidence. It separately explains Form 14157-A for individual Form 1040 filers seeking account changes after unauthorized alterations or refund diversion. Filing a complaint alone is not that account-correction request.
IRS generally cannot act on complaints about federal tax matters more than three years old. People already under audit or investigation should give the preparer information to the IRS employee handling their case.
Source
This State & Nation summary is based on U.S. Government Accountability Office’s original release, dated 2026-10-15. The reporting and statistics above are attributed to that publication.