How to report a tax preparer or CPA

Where you report a tax preparer or CPA depends on what happened and who they are. The IRS takes reports of paid preparer misconduct on Form 14157. If a preparer changed your return or diverted your refund without your consent and you want your tax account corrected, the IRS uses a separate affidavit, Form 14157-A. A CPA’s license is handled by the state board that issued it, and the IRS Office of Professional Responsibility disciplines attorneys, CPAs and enrolled agents under its practice rules.

This guide explains each route, what it can and can’t do for you, and what to have ready. Reporting is separate from getting your money back. For that side, see If your tax preparer makes a mistake, who pays?

Which route fits what happened

What happened	Where it usually goes
A paid preparer did something improper on your return, such as false deductions, a ghost return with no preparer signature, or refusing to give you a copy	IRS, Form 14157
A preparer changed your return, diverted your refund, or filed without your consent, and you want the IRS to correct your account	IRS, Form 14157-A, with supporting evidence
You received IRS Letter 4733 or Letter 6623 about a return you paid someone to prepare	IRS, through its preparer misconduct page
A CPA’s work or conduct, including negligence	The state board of accountancy that licensed the CPA
An attorney, CPA or enrolled agent who represents taxpayers before the IRS	The IRS Office of Professional Responsibility may also be involved

You can use more than one route. Each one has a different job.

What the IRS treats as preparer misconduct

The IRS lists examples of paid preparer fraud or misconduct, including a preparer who (IRS, Tax return preparer misconduct):

• steals all or part of a client’s refund, or diverts it to an account that isn’t the client’s;
• gives the client a copy of the return that doesn’t match what was filed, or shows direct deposit information that isn’t theirs;
• claims false expenses, deductions, income or withholding, or leaves out income to make a refund bigger;
• files using a last pay stub instead of the official Form W-2;
• e-files without the client’s signature on Form 8879, or files without the client’s knowledge or consent;
• doesn’t sign the return or include a Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN);
• won’t give the client a copy of their return, or won’t return their original records;
• claims to be an attorney, CPA, enrolled agent or registered preparer without a valid credential;
• doesn’t pay a client’s employment taxes to the IRS in full or on time, or doesn’t prepare those returns accurately or on time.

The IRS asks for “specific and credible information” and says not to submit unsupported or purely speculative reports. It also says to have your return and related documents on hand, since you can attach them.

An honest mistake is different from misconduct. If your preparer simply got something wrong, the IRS misconduct process may not fit. Your options with the preparer are covered in Can you sue your tax preparer or accountant?

Form 14157: reporting a preparer to the IRS

For a paid preparer, the IRS says: “Please report your tax return preparer to us by filing Form 14157” (IRS, Tax return preparer misconduct). Its preparer misconduct page walks you through a few questions and points you to the right form for your situation.

Before you start, it helps to gather:

• the preparer’s name, business name, address and any contact details you have;
• the tax year or years involved;
• your copy of the return, and anything showing what was filed;
• receipts, messages or other proof of your dealings with the preparer;
• any IRS letter or notice you received.

Filing Form 14157 reports the preparer. It doesn’t change your own tax account. If you need your account corrected, read the next section.

Form 14157-A: when you need your account corrected

The IRS says that if you’re an individual taxpayer and your preparer altered tax data, misdirected a refund, or filed a Form 1040 series return without your knowledge or consent, you can ask the IRS to change your tax account to reflect what you intended (IRS, Tax return preparer misconduct). The form is the Tax Return Preparer Fraud or Misconduct Affidavit.

Because the IRS is changing your account, it says it requires significant evidence, including:

• information about the preparer, and, if the preparer didn’t sign the return, evidence that they held themselves out as being in the business of preparing returns;
• evidence of your dealings with the preparer that shows their name and the tax year, with dates;
• a statement describing the misconduct and the theft of the refund;
• a copy of any IRS letter or notice you’re responding to.

The IRS says not to submit Form 14157-A until you have all the required documentation, because an incomplete submission can be delayed or disallowed. If you’re responding to an IRS letter or notice, you mail the items to the address on that letter. Otherwise, you mail them to where you would normally send your tax return.

If you filed your own return electronically with tax preparation software, the IRS says not to submit Form 14157-A.

Ghost preparers and IRS letters 4733 and 6623

Paid preparers must sign and include a valid PTIN on every return they prepare. The IRS calls a preparer who prepares a return but won’t sign it or include a PTIN a “ghost” preparer. It sends Letter 4733 or Letter 6623 when it believes a return was prepared by one. If you get one of those letters and you paid someone to prepare the return, the IRS asks you to report the preparer through its preparer misconduct page (IRS, Tax return preparer misconduct).

Complaints about a CPA’s license

CPAs are licensed by states, and each state has its own board and complaint process. Two examples:

• Florida. The Department of Business and Professional Regulation handles complaints about Florida CPAs. Florida law lists grounds for discipline that include “committing an act of fraud or deceit, or of negligence, incompetency, or misconduct, in the practice of public accounting” (Fla. Stat. § 473.323(1)(g)). The department says its discipline is administrative, such as a reprimand, fine, probation, suspension or revocation, and that it “cannot represent you in civil matters to recover fees paid or seek remedies for injuries” (Florida DBPR, File a complaint).
• Arizona. The Arizona State Board of Accountancy administers and enforces the state’s accountancy law (A.R.S. § 32-702). After notice and an opportunity for a hearing, it may revoke or suspend a certificate or take other disciplinary action for the causes the law lists (A.R.S. § 32-741).

For every other state, our CPA license lookup by state links each board’s license lookup and complaint page. A board complaint can lead to discipline. It doesn’t usually get your money back, and it doesn’t pause any legal deadline.

Check the license before you write to a board. Search the CPA’s name in the board’s lookup, and note the license number, its status, and any public discipline the board lists. Then write down, in order, who did the work, what they agreed to do, what went wrong, and when you found out. Keep copies of the engagement letter, invoices, the returns or statements, letters from the IRS or your state tax agency, and your emails with the preparer. Send copies rather than originals, and keep a note of the date you filed and any reference number or case number the board gives you.

Attorneys, CPAs and enrolled agents who practice before the IRS

Treasury Department Circular 230 sets rules of conduct for tax professionals who represent taxpayers before the IRS, mainly attorneys, CPAs and enrolled agents. The IRS Office of Professional Responsibility investigates and disciplines violations of those rules. It lists its sanctions as censure, suspension from practice, disbarment from practice, monetary penalties, and disqualification of appraisers, and it publishes information about tax professionals who have been sanctioned (IRS, Office of Professional Responsibility and Circular 230).

You don’t need to decide which IRS office handles your report. The IRS preparer misconduct page and Form 14157 are the starting point for taxpayers.

What reporting does, and what it doesn’t

• It can: start an investigation, lead to discipline or penalties for the preparer, and, through Form 14157-A, get your IRS account corrected when a preparer acted without your consent.
• It doesn’t: pause the deadline on an IRS notice you received, remove penalties or interest you owe, or recover what the mistake cost you.

Keep answering IRS notices on time while a report is pending. If the preparer’s conduct cost you money, claims against preparers have their own short time limits under state law. Talk with an attorney licensed in your state about those, and read our accounting malpractice guide or how our service works.

Sources and corrections

We wrote this guide from the primary sources below and checked it against them on September 27, 2026.

• IRS, Tax return preparer misconduct: types of misconduct, Forms 14157 and 14157-A, evidence requirements, ghost preparers and Letters 4733 and 6623
• IRS, Office of Professional Responsibility and Circular 230: who Circular 230 covers, and sanctions
• Fla. Stat. § 473.323: grounds for CPA discipline in Florida
• Florida DBPR, File a complaint: types of discipline and what the department cannot do
• A.R.S. § 32-702: Arizona State Board of Accountancy
• A.R.S. § 32-741: Arizona CPA discipline

We are not attorneys, and this guide is not legal advice. Laws change and differ from state to state. If anything here is out of date or wrong, email support@malpracticeattorneys.com with the page name, and we’ll review it and update the page.