11/02/2026
The Horse Act of 1884 was not on Frost Law's bingo card last month but that is where IRS Office of Professional Responsibility Director Tom Curtin began his presentation to our attorneys, Enrolled Agents, and CPAs. Congress needed Treasury’s help to police the agents filing Civil War horse claims, and the resulting statute still governs practice before the IRS today. Three points from Director Curtin worth passing along for those that practice:
1. Due diligence under § 10.22 is where the major violations live. Reliance on a client or another professional has to be reasonable. Willful blindness is not reliance.
2. The practitioner's own tax compliance record is part of the agency's file. OPR checks a practitioner’s tax filing and payment history as a matter of course, and persistent nonfiling can support an expedited suspension under § 10.82.
3. OPR is a relatively small office. Keep in mind a formal inquiry from OPR is an investigation, not a verdict. Practitioners get to see the allegations, bring counsel, submit evidence, and confer. Hostility towards IRS employees helps none of that, and contemptuous conduct is itself on the § 10.51 list.
The OPR standards are demanding, but they are not mysterious. Thanks to Director Curtin for making the trip to our office and sharing this important information.
