US Tax Preparers Face New Education Requirements

by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington

14 February 2012

The United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has reminded certain tax return preparers that they must complete 15 hours of continuing education (CE) annually beginning in 2012 and the programs must be taken from IRS-approved providers.

The new CE requirement is part of an IRS return preparer oversight effort and applies to the same individuals who are required to pass a new Registered Tax Return Preparer competency test.

However, certified public accountants (CPAs), attorneys and enrolled agents are exempt from these CE and test requirements because they already meet separate requirements. Non-signing preparers supervised by CPAs, attorneys or enrolled agents in law, accounting and recognized firms are also exempt from the requirements.

The 15 hours of continuing education must include 10 hours of federal tax law, three hours of federal tax law updates and two hours of ethics each calendar year. Return preparers must provide their Preparer Tax Identification Numbers (PTINs) to the CE providers so their continuing education can be properly reported to the IRS.

Completion of the CE requirement for these preparers is a condition for the annual renewal of the PTIN, which is required to prepare federal tax returns. The requirement is pro-rated for preparers who obtain a PTIN during the year.

To date, 163 education providers have applied and been approved through the new IRS provider application process launched in December 2011. Providers must be an accredited educational institution; recognized for CE purposes by the licensing body of any state or US territory; approved by an IRS Accrediting Organization as a provider of CE; or any other professional organization, society or business recognized by the IRS as a provider of CE to registered tax return preparers, enrolled agents and enrolled retirement plan agents.

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