Choosing A Tax Preparer

Thursday, March 1, 2001

Treasury apartment ot the ice SArv nternal Revenue Your name Jam p \ANiNg i IN 4998, ch t > a | Occupa tian in whic a h eapenses we! TURE” dees AVE new Choosing A Tax Preparer (NAPS)—Enlisting an Enrolled vice for a minimum offive years becoming too taxing a time for you. Enrolled Agents (EAs) are applied—and interpreted—provisions of the Internal Revenue Agent can keep April 15 from tax practitioners empowered and in a job where he or she regularly Code and regulations. licensed by the federal government to represent you beforeall administrative levels of the Internal Revenue Service. Unlike attorneys or CPAs—who may or may In addition to their stringent testing and application process, all EAsspecialize in taxation. Remember, not all tax practitioners are created alike. CPAs and tax attorneys earn their credentials through recognized professional channels. Their license their status. What Enrolled Agents Do not choose to specialize in taxes— to practice, however, comes from the individual states where they work. EAs, a select group of highly trained and extraordinarily experienced tax professionals, must demonstrate critical technical competence in thefields of taxation to the Internal Revenue Service before they can represent taxpayers. The EA designation is earnedin one of two ways: (1) An individual must pass a difficult, two-day examination administered by the IRS which covers taxation of individuals, cor- porations, partnerships, estates and trusts, procedures andethics. Then, a successful candidate is subjected to a rigorous back- ground check conducted by the Internal RevenueService. (2) An individual may become an EA basedonhis or her employ- ment at the Internal Revenue Ser- Enrolled Agents are required to complete 72 hours of continuing professional education—reported every three years—to maintain Enrolled Agents advise, represent and prepare tax returns for individuals, partnerships, corporations, estates, trusts and anyenti- ties with tax-reporting requirements. EAs prepare literally millions of tax returns each year. Because of their expertise in the continually changingfield of tax law, EAs are the tax professionals most effectively equipped to represent taxpayers audited by the IRS. Howto Find an Enrolled Agent To locate an EA, call the National Association of Enrolled Agents’ 24-hour referral service at 800-424-4339. The toll-free referral service operates seven days a week. You will be sent a list of nearby NAEA members. Listing of member EAscan also be found on NAEA’s Web site: www.naea.org. In addition to finding a list of EAs on this site, taxpayers can sign up for a free newsletter, TaxbEAt. TaxbEAt offers many useful tips to taxpayers throughout the year.

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