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IRS Cracks Down on Data Tax Preparer's Need to be Ready Contact Name: Dylan Borden Contact Email: dmborden@fourwindsnetworkservices.com Contact Phone Number: 9415879886 Cybercrime has been on the rise for the last decade, and after a year where we've seen entire cities (think Baltimore) brought to a grinding halt from ransomware, the US government, the IRS in particular, is finally paying attention. This year the IRS is adding a data security responsibilities statement requirement to their Provider Tax Information Number (PTIN) renewal application. This is a big deal because a tax return preparer is required by the IRS to have a valid PTIN to practice, and PTINs must be renewed yearly between October 15th and December 31st. In the past this renewal process has been rather quick and painless, especially now that tax preparers can submit their application online, but if preparers haven't been paying attention to recent announcements from the IRS, this new addition might catch them off guard. Why is this so concerning? For the most part, the renewal process was just a matter of verifying information and updating any changes from the previous year, but this Data Security Statement is a bit trickier. Before explaining why let's first take a step back... Financial institutions, as defined by the Gramm-Leach Bliley Act, have had a legal obligation to protect individual taxpayer information since 2002. The FTC Safeguards Rule established guidelines for how they should go about meeting this obligation. The problem is that up until recently there wasn't much being done to ensure that financial institutions were following suit. This data security statement is significant because it is the first time tax preparers must officially acknowledge this duty on an IRS document. In the past, if the FTC decided to investigate whether a firm met this obligation or not, the firm could throw up their hands and plead ignorance. By placing the security responsibility statement right in the middle of the PTIN renewal application they are essentially removing this scapegoat. Going forward, every tax preparer with a PTIN in 2020 will be expected to cover their legal obligation to security which means putting together and implementing a written data security plan. Employees must be made aware of and routinely trained on this plan and the plan must be in compliance with the FTC's Safeguard Rule. If you are a tax preparer, make sure you do your homework and get ready because this is likely just the first of many regulations to be handed down specific to data security. For more information please contact Dylan M. Borden at 941-315-2380 or email info@fourwindsnetworkervices.com. Dylan is the marketing director at Four Winds Network Services and his mission is to educate businesses on the latest trends/happenings in technology and to teach companies how they can better leverage current technologies to scale their business. Four Winds Network Services is an IT managed service provider founded in 2014 and a member of The Routz Group with offices in five countries and has 250 certified engineers on three continents. Four Winds Network Services specializes in cyber security, data back-ups, network monitoring and other computer services.