User talk:JXThornton

Welcome to Wikipedia!
Welcome to Wikipedia!

In the article on Accountant, I'm not sure that we can say that an Enrolled Agent can practice public "accounting." Neither the Internal Revenue Code nor Title 31 of the U.S. Code nor the Federal regulations (such as 31 CFR part 10) expressly give an EA that power.

And, in Texas, there is no state statute giving EAs that power, either. Indeed, in Texas, an EA who is not a CPA generally cannot even legally use the designation "accountant." The Texas statute reads (in part):


 * A person may hold the person out to the public as an "accountant," "auditor," or any combination of those terms or assert that the person has expertise in accounting or auditing only if:


 * (1) the person holds a license issued under this chapter [i.e., a license as a certified public accountant] and each of the person's offices in this state for the practice of public accounting is maintained and practices under a firm license as required under Subchapter H; or


 * (2) the person practices under a privilege under Section 901.461 or 901.462.

--Tex. Occup. Code sec. 901.453(b) (italics added).

As you know, under the U.S. Constitution, Federal law is supreme over state law where the state law is "contrary" to Federal law. But here, I believe there is no Federal law that is "contrary" to the Texas statute.

Your thoughts? Famspear (talk) 03:50, 4 July 2016 (UTC)

PS: The reference to a privilege under section 901.461 or 901.462 covers persons licensed as CPAs in jurisdictions outside Texas. Famspear (talk) 03:55, 4 July 2016 (UTC)

On another note: As you may know, EAs are required to pass a rigorous exam or to have sufficient experience working for the Internal Revenue Service. However, the exam is pretty much limited to Federal tax matters. An EA is not even required to have ever taken an accounting course, or to have a college degree, or to have ever even been to college.

Also, the legal restrictions on an EA are not just that the EA cannot issue an audit opinion on audited financial statements. Depending on the jurisdiction, in the past the EA could not even legally sign an accountant's report for a set of unaudited financial statements, although that may have changed, depending on the state. Famspear (talk) 04:06, 4 July 2016 (UTC)