Talk:Enrolled agent

Organizational notes
This article needs some organizational work, possibly in tandem with the articles on Tax advisor, Certified Public Accountant, and maybe even Attorney at Law. The term "tax advisor" and the term "tax preparer" (meaning income tax return preparer) and the term "Federally Authorized Tax Practitioner" are probably not precisely equivalent, yet the articles on Tax advisor and Enrolled Agent briefly discuss these kinds of concepts without a sufficiently-detailed distinction. These are related and somewhat overlapping concepts. Also, "practice before the Internal Revenue Service" under Circular 230, is a related, overlapping concept. In the United States you could be a "tax advisor" without actually preparing income tax returns. You could be a "tax advisor" without actually representing taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). You could be an income tax return preparer without being a tax advisor -- and without representing taxpayers before the IRS. You could be an enrolled agent and represent taxpayers in dealings with the IRS without being an income tax return preparer. You could also be a tax return preparer without being an income tax return preparer. For example, a person who prepares Form 941 (payroll tax), Form 706 (estate tax), Form 709 (gift tax) or other forms is not an income tax return preparer. Statutory rules for income tax return preparers, such as those at et seq., would not necessarily apply to preparers of tax returns that are not income tax returns. So, we have a lot of related but only partially overlapping concepts that need to be addressed. Yours, Famspear 17:09, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

An article which describes the relationship between these concepts would be nice. Not sure what to call it though. Maybe tax preparation in the United States? Hmm, or maybe tax preparation and representation in the United States. Suggestions, anyone? anthony 12:53, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

I am working on some revisions that expand the definitions of and interrelationships among various categories of tax professional. Please note that PL 110-28, 5/25/2007  expanded the definition of tax return preparer after the date of enactment to include income, estate, gift, employment and excise taxes, that there has been a recent very controversial change in the standards for preparer penalties, and some rather curious interrelationships among Circular 230, the e-file program, the e-services program, and preparer penalties. This does not even address the National Taxpayer Advocates position that the Treasury should license return preparers. I would appreciate guidance as to whether this should be a separate article or a major revision of this one, and whether anyone else is contemplating drafting anything in this area. Any ideas?Jmarsh48 (talk) 06:22, 19 July 2008 (UTC)

Practice Before State DOR's
Agreed that attorneys and CPA's are licensed by states, but I don't think that fact lessens their status. I'm not sure of the statement that EA's can practice before any state tax authority is correct. Is ther a citation? P.S. I have been an EA since 1979.Jmarsh48 22:25, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

I also am not sure about the statement. (In the interest of disclosure, I am an attorney-CPA.) I'm adding a citation tag until I can check on this. Yours, Famspear 15:20, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

Dear fellow editors: I am at least temporarily removing the following verbiage:


 * Since EAs are nationally registered, an Enrolled Agent can appear before the Internal Revenue Service and before any state tax enforcement agency, making the EA license a national license, compared to CPA and attorney licenses as only state licenses.

First, I know of no authority for the proposition that the EA designation in and of itself authorizes an EA to appear before a state tax enforcement agency.

Second, without checking on this I suspect that attorneys or CPAs or maybe both probably have some authority to appear on behalf of taxpayers in dealings with state tax enforcement agencies -- especially attorneys -- and that the authority to practice might actually exceed that of an EA. I don't know that to be a fact -- it's something we need to check.

Third, the verbiage deleted from the article seems to at least imply that an EA -- who is not licensed by a state -- somehow would have a greater ability to practice before a state taxing authority than would an attorney or CPA -- who IS licensed by the state.

Stay tuned; I will try to check on what the rule actually is. If the text is accurate, it can be re-inserted later. Yours, Famspear 15:58, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

Regarding the removed quote above: The term "Any state tax enforcement agency" covers a lot of ground, but I can offer my experience on the states I deal with frequently.

California FTB does not care what credentials a taxpayer's representative has, as long as the taxpayer gives them Power of Attorney to represent them. I suspect that many states work in this manner.

In my home state of Oregon, we are unique in that every individual tax return preparer of any number tax returns of who is not an attorney or a CPA must be licensed by a separate state licensing board. Enrolled Agents are not exempt. There are two levels of licensing, and to represent a taxpayer before the Oregon DOR, the representative must be an Attorney, a CPA, or a Licensed Tax Consultant, the more advanced of the two state designations. So the above verbiage is clearly incorrect, but Oregon notwithstanding, I suspect the answer is more that anyone can represent a taxpayer before the state taxing authorities. Bryan2000 01:04, 25 December 2006 (UTC)


 * Dear Bryan2000: Thanks for the update. Based on your commentary and that of user Jmarsh48, and on the fact that the verbiage was inserted by a user back on 13 July 2006 -- a user whose unregistered IP address shows no other edits at all in Wikipedia, and who obviously has not provided any sourcing -- I agree that the verbiage in question has been thoroughly discredited. Yours, Famspear 04:29, 25 December 2006 (UTC)

Enrolled Agents, accountants, and attorneys
Another user keeps referring to Enrolled Agents as "accountants," without any sourcing. Here is the definition of an Enrolled Agent, from the source material:


 * "An enrolled agent is a person who has earned the privilege of representing taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service by either passing a three-part comprehensive IRS test covering individual and business tax returns, or through experience as a former IRS employee. Enrolled agent status is the highest credential the IRS awards. Individuals who obtain this elite status must adhere to ethical standards and complete 72 hours of continuing education courses every three years.


 * "Enrolled agents, like attorneys and certified public accountants (CPAs), have unlimited practice rights. This means they are unrestricted as to which taxpayers they can represent, what types of tax matters they can handle, and which IRS offices they can represent clients before....."

--from Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Dep't of the Treasury, at.

The fact that an attorney can represent someone before the IRS does not magically transform the attorney into either an "accountant" or an Enrolled Agent. The fact that a Certified Public Accountant can represent someone before the IRS does not magically turn the Certified Public Accountant into either an attorney or an Enrolled Agent. The fact that an Enrolled Agent can represent someone before the IRS does not magically turn the Enrolled Agent into either an attorney or an "accountant" (whether certified or not).

Further, nothing in the requirements to become an Enrolled Agent mandates that the candidate have an accounting degree. Nothing in the requirements to become an Enrolled Agent mandates that the candidate have ever taken an accounting course. As noted above, some Enrolled Agents are not even required to take the examination administered by the IRS.

Indeed, the fact that some Enrolled Agents may have taken accounting courses does not make them "accountants." All Certified Public Accountants are required to take law courses and to pass the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination, which includes sections on law -- but that does not magically make the CPA into an "attorney." Some attorneys may have taken an "accounting and the law" course in law school, but that does not magically make those attorneys be "accountants".

If we can find a reliable source that refers to Enrolled Agents as "accountants," that would work. But the source material cited does not refer to Enrolled Agents as "accountants" (whether certified or not). Famspear (talk) 03:45, 20 July 2016 (UTC)


 * I also notice that one or two editors have tried to introduce the word "automatic" into the article in the context of a passage saying that enrolled agent status does not "automatically" authorize the individual to practice before the United States Tax Court. Although that is a correct statement, it is misleading.


 * There is no such thing as being "automatically" authorized to practice in a U.S. Federal court. Period. So, the use of this word "automatically" in the article is superfluous. Even a person who is licensed to practice law in a particular state who wants to practice in a given Federal court generally must apply for admission and be admitted to the bar of that Federal court -- either through the regular admission process or on a pro hac vice basis.


 * Also, the use of the word "automatically" in this context seems to give the false implication that being an Enrolled Agent gives the agent some sort of right to practice in Tax Court, even if the right is not "automatic." That is incorrect.


 * Being an Enrolled Agent means nothing in terms of practice before the U.S. Tax Court. A person who is not licensed as an attorney must sit for the Tax Court examination and must pass the exam before being allowed to practice before the Tax Court. A non-attorney enrolled agent has to pass the exam if he or she wants to practice in Tax Court, just as a non-attorney CPA or a non-attorney "anyone else" would have to do (to coin a phrase). Famspear (talk) 18:48, 2 August 2016 (UTC)