information provided by the customer when opening an account, or to process a transaction, such as name, address, tax identification numbers, assets, bank information, prior trading experience, etc. ;
New requirements take effect on January 1, 2011, and include mandatory preparer taxidentificationnumbers, continuing education, competency testing, ethical standards and electronic filing.
Use care when choosing a preparer and remember that taxpayers should use only preparers who sign the returns they prepare and enter their IRS Preparer TaxIdentificationNumbers (PTINs).