What do you get when you combine the IRS with crony capitalism

Something really bad… Campaign for Liberty has joined a collation letter in opposition to HR 4141. This legislation gives the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) authority to license tax preparers. Proponents of the bill claim that the IRS needs this authority to protect consumers from unscrupulous tax preparers and tax fraud. Oddly, this legislation is being supported by many conservatives since the “licensing will prevent fraud” argument is very similar to the “gun registration will prevent crime” argument. What this bill will do is restrict competition among tax preparers. Of course, this will raise prices. This increase in the price of tax preparation will harm the  low-income people the supporters of the bill claim they are helping. Campaign for Liberty opposes all power-grabs by the IRS, including their unjustified demand that we turn over information on some of our top supporters. Text of the letter here.