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Enrolled Agent

 
Business Dictionary: Enrolled Agent

Someone other than a CPA or attorney who is qualified to practice before the IRS. Enrolled agents have passed a two-day examination or have worked in a technical area at the IRS for at least five years.

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Accounting Dictionary: Enrolled Agents
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Income tax specialists who have passed the IRS's comprehensive, two-day Special Enrollment Examination on all aspects of tax law or who have had five years of audit experience with the agency. Enrolled agents are authorized by the Treasury Department to represent the taxpayer, at all levels of audit, review, and appeal when dealing with the IRS. The examination includes true-false and multiple-choice questions and covers the following tax topics: (1) individuals; (2) sole proprietorships and partnerships; (3) corporations (including Subchapter S Corporations), fiduciaries, and estate and gift tax; and (4) ethics, recordkeeping procedures, appeal procedures, exempt organizations, retirement plans, practitioner penalty provisions, and research materials.

Wikipedia: Enrolled Agent
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An Enrolled Agent (or EA) is a tax professional recognized by the United States federal government to represent taxpayers in dealings with the Internal Revenue Service. The profession has been regulated by Congress since 1884.[1]

To become an enrolled agent an applicant must pass the Special Enrollment Examination or present evidence of qualifying experience as an Internal Revenue Service employee. A background check, including a review of the applicant’s tax compliance, is conducted.

The right to practice before the Internal Revenue Service is regulated by Federal statute[1], and persons authorized to practice are known as "Federally Authorized Tax Practitioners,"[2] or "FATPs". The FATP status is granted to attorneys, Certified Public Accountants, Enrolled Agents, Enrolled Actuaries, and to persons in a few other categories {Circular 230 a/k/a Treasury Reg 10.3}.

Enrolled Agents, like other FATPs, are subject to a set of procedures and regulations described in Treasury Department Circular No. 230, Regulations Governing the Practice of Attorneys, Certified Public Accountants, Enrolled Agents, Enrolled Actuaries, and Appraisers before the Internal Revenue Service[3] (or Circular 230). FATPs are allowed to represent taxpayers in all proceedings before the Internal Revenue Service including audits and appeals.

Enrolled Agent status does not automatically allow the enrollee to practice before the United States Tax Court. That practice is limited to members of the Bar of the Court. The Internal Revenue Code states that "[n]o qualified person shall be denied admission to practice before the Tax Court because of his failure to be a member of any profession or calling."[4] Bar membership for non-attorneys requires that the applicant pass a Tax Court examination; attorneys are admitted without having to take the examination. Practice before the United States district courts, bankruptcy courts, courts of appeal, and Supreme Court of the United States is limited to attorneys.

Notes

  1. ^ 31 U.S.C. § 330 and 5 U.S.C. § 500.
  2. ^ See also 26 U.S.C. § 7525(a)(3)(A), relating to confidentiality of communications.
  3. ^ Codified in regulations at 31 C.F.R. subtitle A, part 10.
  4. ^ 26 U.S.C. § 7452.

See also

References

  • National Association of Enrolled Agents NAEA

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Business Dictionary. Dictionary of Business Terms. Copyright © 2000 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Accounting Dictionary. Dictionary of Accounting Terms. Copyright © 2005 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Enrolled Agent" Read more