Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!princeton!caip!topaz!think!harvard!seismo!styx!MIT-MULTICS.ARPA!Schauble
From: Schauble@MIT-MULTICS.ARPA (Paul Schauble)
Newsgroups: mod.legal
Subject: Tax preparing software
Message-ID: <860616081607.995591@MIT-MULTICS.ARPA>
Date: Mon, 16-Jun-86 04:16:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: MIT-MULT.860616081607.995591
Posted: Mon Jun 16 04:16:00 1986
Date-Received: Thu, 19-Jun-86 09:21:42 EDT
Sender: daemon@styx.UUCP
Organization: The ARPA Internet
Lines: 10
Approved: info-law@brl.arpa

As I read the ruling, taking the software product as the legal preparer
is exactly what the IRS is doing.  This would hold the product author
responsible for the accuracy of the return, given the accuracy of the
source data, just like a human preparer.  The problem I see here is that
the human preparer, if smart, will keep copies of the original data.
These won't be there for a program used at home.  Obviously, this issue
is far from settled.

          Paul
          Schauble at MIT-Multics.arpa