At first David's quote seemed so off-the-wall that I suspected yet another hoax going around (not David doing it, just passing it along), so I checked the Philly Inquirer.

Unfortunately, the article's genuine.

Near as I can figure it out, the IRS, no doubt to get the government off the backs of private enterprise, is going to allow tax preparers to sell personal info to marketers and databases, if the taxpayer signs a consent form. So on the surface it doesn't sound so godawful bad because it's voluntary. But there's a really, really, strong argument to be made that people filling out piles of tax forms in a hurry will miss the significance of that one, and it's nothing less than a trap.

If I understand this right, this is an absolute travesty. The IRS should not allow personal taxpayer information outside the narrow channel of taxpayer to preparer to IRS. Period. Ever. No matter how much money some sleaze bag can make selling the data.

A way to fight back, since apparently it's a done deal, of course, would be to sue tax preparers who sell personal data, and make them show that permission from the IRS, which doesn't obligate them to do it, takes precedence over their fiduciary duty to their clients. They still have to choose to betray the confidence of their clients and they can't claim the IRS made 'em do it.