@IRonMaN Those of us not so close to the Canadian border define "verbal" as either oral or written. But that's beside the point. I tried to find the penalty for providing a copy without a written request, and all I could find was $25, with a maximum of $10,000 for all violations. Or $100 with a maximum of $25,000 if related to identity theft. But those are indexed to inflation. I might be wrong, because it was a couple days ago that I looked.
Meanwhile, there is a regulation that says before you give any data to your software company, you have to make sure that they know they are then considered return preparers. How many of the people who call for technical assistance and allow access to their computers, do this?
"Example 2.
Firm, a tax return preparer, offers income tax return preparation services. Firm's contract with its software provider, Contractor, requires Firm to periodically randomly select certain taxpayers' tax return information solely for the purpose of testing the reliability of the software sold to Firm. Under its agreement with Contractor, Firm discloses tax return information to Contractor's employee, C, who services Firm's contract without providing Contractor or C with a written notice that describes the requirements of and penalties under sections 7216 and 6713. C uses the tax return information solely for quality assurance purposes. Firm's disclosure of tax return information to C was an impermissible disclosure because Firm failed to ensure that C received a written notice that describes the requirements and penalties of sections 7216 and 6713."
