Form 8655 Enrollment 2024

Hi there, this is our truck tax TV. I'm Sean Kenefick, an enrolled agent and customer service representative here at Aardvark Tax. In this video, we're going to talk about IRS registration and enrollment for tax preparers. This video is part of a complete continuing education course available at our website, wrfftax.com. There has been a lot of confusion about IRS requirements for tax preparers because of changes that the IRS made after they were challenged by a lawsuit in 2010. The IRS announced that it would increase standards for tax return preparers by instituting testing and continuing education requirements. Before the changes, anyone could prepare taxes for other people as long as they followed the ethical standards as dictated by the Treasury Department in Circular 230. This was regardless of their experience or training, except in California and Oregon, which had their own strict sets of regulations. The 2010 initiative required that all tax return preparers pass a competency exam and also complete 15 hours of continuing education every year. In return for completing these requirements, tax preparers could prepare and sign returns but were also given limited authority to represent taxpayers before the IRS. Registered tax return preparers, or RTRPs, would be able to represent clients before revenue agents, customer service representatives, or similar officers/employees of the IRS during an audit if they had signed the original tax return or a claim for refund during the tax period under examination. Exempt from the testing and continuing education requirements were attorneys, Certified Public Accountants (CPAs), and enrolled agents. Attorneys and CPAs are well-known professionals in the tax industry, but what exactly is an enrolled agent? An enrolled agent is a person who has earned the privilege of representing taxpayers before the IRS. They have either worked for the IRS or passed a comprehensive examination covering...