The IRS receives more than 160 million federal tax returns every year and most come from paid preparers, according to the National Taxpayer Advocate’s 2024 Purple Book of legislative recommendations.

There are no federal licensing or competency requirements, and some paid preparers have no training or experience, the report noted. Under current law, the minimum requirement for paid professionals is an IRS-issued preparer tax identification number, or PTIN.

However, certified public accountants, enrolled agents and attorneys — professionals with unlimited representation rights before the IRS — generally pass competency tests and have continuing education requirements.

Free preparation options like Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, or VITA, and Tax Counseling for the Elderly, or TCE, also have competency standards.  

The IRS keeps a database of credentialed preparers, including those who participate in the agency’s Annual Filing Season Program, which includes yearly refresher tests and continuing education.

You can check CPA and attorney licenses through state boards. Since the IRS oversees enrolled agents, you can email the agency to check licenses.

When a real estate agent works with a prospective homebuyer, they’re required to point out physical or material defects in the property.

A death on the property? It depends on the state where the house is located. In most states, death doesn’t count as a material defect requiring disclosure.

Some homes are considered “stigmatized properties,” or dwellings that have been “psychologically impacted by a past or suspected event on the property, but has no physical impact of any kind,” according to the National Association of Realtors. 

Stigmatizing events include murder, suicide, alleged hauntings or a notorious previous owner, NAR noted. 

Among those that do, rules can be straightforward and explicitly require prior death to be disclosed to homebuyers. Even those rules may only apply to recent deaths or more stigmatizing events such as murder.

In California, for example, a seller must disclose if someone died in the house within the last three years.

Meanwhile, in Alaska, the listing agent must communicate if any known murders or suicides happened in the last year. South Dakota requires sellers to disclose deaths within the last 12 months.

Regulations will depend on the stigma in question. In New York, a seller doesn’t need to disclose if the house was the site of death or crime. But if a seller has made claims of paranormal activity in the home, they have to inform the buyer of supposed ghosts in the property, experts say.

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Often, it falls on the homebuyers to directly ask the agent about the property’s history. States such as Georgia do not require real estate agents or sellers to disclose upfront if the home was the site of a death. But they have to be truthful if a prospective buyer inquires.

Outside of what the disclosure laws are in a specific state, listing agents have a fiduciary responsibility to the sellers, said Harrison Beacher, a real estate agent and managing partner at Coalition Properties Group in Washington, D.C.

“If somebody asks me about it, I can point them towards empirical resources to get answers, but I’m not under any requirements to go into detail,” said Beacher.

Here’s what homebuyers should know about properties that have been stigmatized by murder, suicide, alleged hauntings or notorious prior owners, and how to find more detail about the home’s history.

Nearly three-quarters, 72%, of potential homebuyers said they would buy a “haunted” house for a lower price, according to a new report by Real Estate Witch, a data site owned by Clever Real Estate. The site polled 1,000 U.S. adults in September to discover their views on buying and selling supposedly haunted houses.

Some buyers don’t care what happens in a stigmatized property “if it can get them a discount on price,” Beacher said.

About 43% of polled Americans said they would offer at least $50,000 below market value on a haunted house, according to the Real Estate Witch report.

In 2021, the LaBianca mansion, the home where Leno and Rosemary LaBianca were murdered by Charles Manson’s followers in 1969, sold for $1.875 million. The previous owner, Zak Bagans, a paranormal activity investigator, originally put the house on the market for $2.2 million, but later cut the price to $1.9 million.

“Different people interact with stigmatized properties in different ways,” Beacher said.

In 2023, about 67% of would-be buyers said they would buy a supposedly haunted house if it met their wants, like having appealing features, the right location or a more affordable price, according to Zillow.

But buyers should know that “every property has a history,” said Connie Vavra, managing broker of RE/MAX, a real estate brokerage franchise, at Elgin, Illinois.

“We can’t erase the history that’s been done there … That doesn’t mean that you can’t have good energy in there and have [a] good experience living in that home.”

For some shoppers, the upcoming holiday season may lead to significant credit card debt. Meanwhile, some people are still paying off debt from last year’s gift buying.

In fact, 28% of shoppers who used credit cards have not paid off the presents they purchased for family and friends last year, according to a recent holiday spending report by NerdWallet. The site polled more than 1,700 adults in September.  

“Between buying gifts and booking peak-season travel, the holidays are an expensive time of year,” said Sara Rathner, NerdWallet’s credit cards expert. “Not only are consumers at risk of getting into credit card debt, but that debt can stick around long after the decorations come down.”

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The stakes are higher in 2024 with credit card debt already at $1.14 trillion.

This year, spending between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31 is expected to increase again to a record total of $979.5 billion to $989 billion, according to the National Retail Federation.

Shoppers may spend $1,778 on average, up 8% compared to last year, Deloitte’s holiday retail survey found. Most will lean on plastic: About three-quarters, 74%, of consumers plan to use credit cards to make their purchases, according to NerdWallet.

Meanwhile, credit cards are one of the most-expensive ways to borrow money. The average credit card charges more than 20% — near an all-time high.

“There’s no magic wand, we just have to do the hard stuff,” said Candy Valentino, author of “The 9% Edge.” Mostly that means setting a budget and tracking expenses.

Valentino recommends reallocating funds from other areas — by canceling unwanted subscriptions or negotiating down utility costs — to help make room for holiday spending.

“A few hundred dollars here and there really adds up,” she said. That “stash of cash is one way set yourself up so you are not taking on new debt.”

Valentino also advises consumers to start their holiday shopping early to take advantage of early deals and discounts or try pooling funds among family or friends to share the cost of holiday gifts.

Then, curb temptation by staying away from the mall and unsubscribing from emails, opting out of text alerts, turning off push notifications in retail apps and unfollowing brands on social, she said.

“It will lessen your need and desire to spend,” Valentino said.

Also consider an investment, such as individual stocks or bonds or a charitable donation, instead of gifts to create a more lasting impression. Making something from scratch, such as cookies, a candle or a sugar scrub, may also prove especially meaningful, Valentino said.

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