- After completing the December course, has the enrolled agent satisfied her 2025 annual continuing education requirement?
Answer: Yes, because the course provides 3 credit hours and she then has 16 credit hours for 2025, including more than the required 2 hours of ethics.
Cir. 230 § 10.6. For an enrolled agent in her second enrollment cycle, the general annual requirement applies: she must complete 16 credit hours per enrollment year, including 2 hours of ethics, and a credit hour is 50 minutes of instruction. The 150-minute ethics course is 150 ÷ 50 = 3 credit hours, so the agent's 2025 total is 13 + 3 = 16 credit hours, with 1 + 3 = 4 credit hours in ethics. The annual requirement is satisfied. Choice D is correct. Choice A computes credits using a 60-minute hour; Choice B treats the 2 ethics hours as a separate add-on to the 16-hour minimum; Choice C is wrong because ethics credit counts toward the 16-hour annual minimum.
- Which of the following is correct regarding the scope of authority of the individuals who may practice before the IRS under Circular 230?
Answer: An enrolled retirement plan agent may represent a taxpayer only in employee plan matters, and may not represent the taxpayer in an examination of the taxpayer's individual income tax return.
Cir. 230 § 10.3. Enrolled retirement plan agents have limited practice rights: they may practice only in employee plan matters, such as plan qualification, so Choice C is correct. Choice A misstates the rule for attorneys and CPAs: members of the bar and licensed CPAs in good standing may practice before the IRS after filing a written declaration, without becoming enrolled agents. Choice B misstates the scope of an enrolled actuary's authority, which is limited to matters involving the actuarial provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, not all tax matters. Choice D misstates the rights of an enrolled agent, who may represent any client in any matter before the IRS regardless of who prepared the return.
- Which of the following is correct regarding the representation rights of a tax return preparer who participates in the IRS Annual Filing Season Program (AFSP) but is not otherwise licensed or enrolled?
Answer: The preparer may represent a taxpayer before a revenue agent during an examination of a return the preparer prepared and signed, but not before Appeals or in collection matters.
Governing authority: Rev. Proc. 2014-42; IRS Pub. 947. A preparer who holds an Annual Filing Season Program Record of Completion and is not otherwise licensed or enrolled may represent a client before revenue agents, customer service representatives, similar IRS employees, and the Taxpayer Advocate Service, but only in an examination of a return the preparer prepared and signed. The preparer may not represent the client before Appeals officers, revenue officers, or the Tax Court. Choice C states that rule. Choice A misstates the effect of a power of attorney: taxpayer authorization cannot expand the limited right to include Appeals. Choice B misstates the proceeding: collection matters before revenue officers are outside the limited right. Choice D drops the requirement that the preparer must have prepared and signed the return under examination; a listing in the IRS directory does not confer representation rights.
- Which of the following is correct regarding the continuing education (CE) requirements for an enrolled agent under Circular 230?
Answer: An EA must complete 72 hours of CE per three-year cycle, including 66 qualifying and 6 ethics hours, with at least 16 hours (2 ethics) in each year, from IRS-approved providers.
Cir. 230 § 10.6. Choice D correctly states the enrolled agent CE requirement: 72 hours per three-year enrollment cycle, of which at least 66 hours must be qualifying and at least 6 hours must be ethics, with a minimum of 16 hours (including 2 ethics) in each year, completed through IRS-approved providers. Choice A misstates the total: 72 hours are required, not 66. Choice B misstates the ethics allocation: the requirement is 6 ethics hours per cycle, not 16. Choice C misstates the contact hour: one hour of CE credit equals 50 minutes of continuous instruction, not 60.
- Which is correct regarding the CPA's ability to represent her friend in the examination?
Answer: She may not represent her friend because an inactive CPA license does not satisfy the qualification requirement for CPA practice, and she did not prepare the return, so no limited practice right applies.
Circular 230 §§ 10.2(a)(2) and 10.3(b). A CPA may practice before the IRS only while duly qualified to practice as a certified public accountant in a state; an inactive license means she is not duly qualified. Her only remaining route would be the limited representation right of an unenrolled return preparer (Rev. Proc. 2014-42; Instructions for Form 2848), which covers only an examination of a return the preparer prepared and signed, and she did not prepare the friend's return. Choice A is correct. Choice C is wrong because it ignores the active-license condition. Choice B is wrong because Form 8821 only authorizes disclosure of return information and grants no practice rights. Choice D is wrong because a PTIN registers a return preparer but does not by itself authorize representation.
- Which is correct regarding the enrolled agent's ability to represent the client in the Tax Court proceeding?
Answer: The enrolled agent may not represent the client in the Tax Court unless the agent is separately admitted to the Tax Court bar.
Cir. 230 § 10.3(c) admits enrolled agents to practice before the IRS, but the United States Tax Court is an Article I court with its own admission rules; IRS enrollment does not carry the right to appear there. Under Tax Court Rule 200, attorneys may be admitted on application and qualified non-attorneys may be admitted by passing the court's examination, so an enrolled agent must obtain separate admission to handle a deficiency case. Choice D states this. Choice A overstates the scope of enrollment; Choice B is wrong because the Tax Court bar is not limited to attorneys; Choice C mistakes an IRS power of attorney for admission to the Tax Court bar.
- Which of the following is correct regarding the eligibility requirements for initial enrollment as an enrolled agent under Circular 230?
Answer: An applicant must be at least 18 years old, hold a valid PTIN, pass an IRS background check, and not be under suspension or disbarment from practice before the IRS.
Cir. 230 § 10.4. To be eligible for initial enrollment as an enrolled agent, an applicant generally must be at least 18 years old, hold a valid PTIN, pass an IRS background and suitability check, pass the special enrollment examination (unless a regulatory exception applies), and not be under suspension or disbarment from practice before the IRS. Choice A is correct because each condition it lists is a genuine enrollment requirement. Choice B misstates the requirements: neither U.S. citizenship nor lawful permanent resident status is required for enrollment. Choice C adds a qualification the regulations do not impose: no minimum private tax-preparation experience is required. Choice D misstates the examination requirement: although a licensed CPA may practice before the IRS without enrolling, CPA licensure alone does not exempt an applicant from the special enrollment examination.
- Which of the following is correct regarding the representation rights of a paid preparer who holds a PTIN but has no professional credential and no Annual Filing Season Program Record of Completion?
Answer: The preparer may not represent a taxpayer before the IRS on a return the preparer prepared and signed in 2025, although the preparer may still prepare returns for compensation.
Governing authority: Rev. Proc. 2014-42; IRS, Annual Filing Season Program. A PTIN holder who is not an attorney, CPA, or enrolled agent and who does not hold an AFSP Record of Completion may only prepare tax returns. For returns prepared and signed after December 31, 2015, such a preparer may not represent clients before the IRS. Limited representation, before revenue agents, customer service representatives, similar IRS employees, and the Taxpayer Advocate Service, on returns the preparer prepared and signed, belongs only to holders of a Record of Completion. Choice C is correct. Choice A is wrong because a power of attorney cannot create a practice right, and even an AFSP holder may not appear before Appeals. Choice B states the limited right of an AFSP Record of Completion holder, which this preparer does not have. Choice D is wrong because collection matters before revenue officers are outside even the AFSP holder's limited right.
- Which is correct regarding the ERPA's authority to represent the client?
Answer: The ERPA may represent the client in the plan examination but not in the examination of the client's Form 1040, which covers matters outside an ERPA's limited scope.
Cir. 230 § 10.3(e). An enrolled retirement plan agent may practice before the IRS only in qualified retirement plan matters, including plan qualification and the forms and returns required for the plan, such as the Form 5500 series. The examination of the owner's Form 1040 is an individual income tax matter and is outside an ERPA's limited enrollment. Choice C states the correct result. Choice A is wrong because enrolled retirement plan agents are a recognized class of practitioners before the IRS; Choice B reads ERPA authority far too broadly; Choice D is wrong because a Form 2848 designates a representative but does not expand the scope of the representative's enrollment.
- Which is correct regarding the son's ability to represent his mother in the Appeals conference?
Answer: The son may represent his mother because an individual may represent a member of his or her immediate family before the IRS without enrollment.
Circular 230 § 10.7(c)(1)(i). An individual may represent a member of his or her immediate family before the IRS without enrollment, on presenting satisfactory identification and proof of authority, and the exception is not limited to examinations before revenue agents. A son is a family member for this purpose (the Form 2848 family-member designation includes a child), and the Form 2848 naming him supplies the proof of authority. Choice C is correct. Choice A is wrong because it overlooks the immediate-family exception. Choice B is wrong because it imports the forum limit that applies to an unenrolled return preparer's limited representation (Rev. Proc. 2014-42), not to family representation. Choice D is wrong because a PTIN is needed for paid return preparation and for an unenrolled preparer's limited representation, not for family representation.
- Which of the following is correct regarding the continuing education required of an enrolled agent during the agent's first enrollment cycle under Circular 230?
Answer: The EA must complete two hours of qualifying continuing education for each month enrolled during the cycle, including two hours of ethics for each enrollment year of the cycle.
Governing authority: Cir. 230 § 10.6(e)(2)(iii). An individual who receives initial enrollment during an enrollment cycle must complete two hours of qualifying continuing education for each month enrolled during the cycle (part of a month counts as a full month), and two hours of ethics or professional conduct for each enrollment year in the cycle. The ethics hours count toward the monthly total; they are not added to it. Choice B is correct. Choice A misstates the proration: the first cycle is not treated as a full three-year cycle, so the 72-hour requirement does not apply. Choice C misstates the monthly rate: the prorated requirement is two hours per month, not 16 (16 hours is the annual minimum in a full cycle). Choice D misstates the rule: there is no exemption from continuing education in the first enrollment cycle.
- Which is correct regarding the enrolled agent's ability to represent the client at the scheduled examination?
Answer: She may not represent the client until the IRS approves her reinstatement, because an individual whose enrollment is inactive is not authorized to practice before the IRS.
Circular 230 § 10.6(j)(3) and (5). An enrolled agent who has not satisfied the renewal requirements is placed on the roster of inactive enrolled individuals and is ineligible to practice before the IRS until reinstated to active status by filing a renewal application and showing completion of the required continuing education; intending to file, or filing, the application does not restore practice rights before reinstatement. Because the return under examination was prepared by another preparer, she also cannot rely on the limited representation right of an unenrolled return preparer. Choice B is correct. Choice A is wrong because a PTIN is not a practice credential. Choice D is wrong because Form 8821 authorizes the IRS to disclose information to a designee but does not authorize representation. Choice C is wrong because the regulations provide no 30-day grace period.
- Which is correct regarding the preparer's ability to represent the client at the Appeals conference?
Answer: The preparer may not represent the client at the Appeals conference because an unenrolled preparer's limited practice rights do not extend to Appeals proceedings.
Rev. Proc. 2014-42; Instructions for Form 2848 (Unenrolled Return Preparers). An unenrolled return preparer with a valid PTIN and the required Annual Filing Season Program Records of Completion may represent a client only before revenue agents, customer service representatives, or similar IRS employees (including the Taxpayer Advocate Service) during an examination of a period covered by a return the preparer prepared and signed. The right never reaches appeals officers, revenue officers, or Counsel. She meets every condition except the forum, and the forum is decisive. Choice B is correct. Choice A is wrong because preparing and signing the return does not extend the limited right to Appeals. Choice C is wrong because a Form 2848 authorizes representation only within the practice rights the representative already has; it cannot enlarge them. Choice D is wrong because it checks the record-of-completion conditions but ignores the limit on where the preparer may appear.
- Which is correct regarding her continuing education requirement for her initial enrollment cycle?
Answer: She must complete 60 hours by December 31, 2027, which is 2 hours for each of the 30 months she is enrolled during the cycle, and those hours must include 2 hours of ethics or professional conduct for each of 2025, 2026, and 2027.
Circular 230 § 10.6(e)(2)(iii). An individual who receives initial enrollment during an enrollment cycle must complete 2 hours of qualifying continuing education for each month enrolled during the cycle, with any part of a month counting as a full month, and must complete 2 hours of ethics or professional conduct for each enrollment year in the cycle. The ethics hours are qualifying hours, so they count toward the monthly total rather than being added to it. July 2025 through December 2027 is 30 months, so she needs 60 hours, including 2 ethics hours in each of the three enrollment years. Choice A is correct. Choice B is wrong because it applies the 72-hour requirement for a full cycle (§ 10.6(e)(2)(i)) without the proration for initial enrollment. Choice C is wrong because it adds the ethics hours on top of the monthly total instead of counting them within it. Choice D is wrong because the monthly requirement begins with the month she is enrolled.
