WHAT IS AN ENROLLED AGENT?
Enrolled agents (EAs) are America's Tax Experts. EAs are the only federally licensed tax practitioners who specialize in taxation and also have unlimited rights to represent taxpayers before the IRS.
WHAT DOES THE TERM “ENROLLED AGENT” MEAN?
“Enrolled” means to be licensed to practice by the federal government, and “Agent” means authorized to appear in the place of the taxpayer at the IRS. Only enrolled agents, attorneys, and CPAs have unlimited rights to represent taxpayers before the IRS. The enrolled agent profession dates back to 1884 when, after questionable claims had been presented for Civil War losses, Congress acted to regulate persons who represented citizens in their dealings with the U.S. Treasury Department.
ARE ENROLLED AGENTS REQUIRED TO TAKE CONTINUING EDUCATION?
In addition to the stringent testing and application process, the IRS requires enrolled agents to complete 72 hours of continuing education, reported every three years, to maintain their enrolled agent status. Because of the expertise necessary to become an enrolled agent and the requirements to maintain the license, there are only about 53,000 practicing enrolled agents.
HOW CAN AN ENROLLED AGENT HELP ME?
Enrolled agents advise, represent, and prepare tax returns for individuals, partnerships, corporations, estates, trusts, and any entities with tax-reporting requirements. Enrolled agents’ expertise in the continually changing field of taxation enables them to effectively represent taxpayers at all administrative levels within the IRS. There are many rules and regulations that are specific to ex-pats and being one myself enables me to help answer and guide ones in completing the ever-changing laws for individuals living overseas!
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ENROLLED AGENTS AND OTHER TAX PROFESSIONALS?
Only enrolled agents are required to demonstrate to the IRS their competence in all areas of taxation, representation and ethics before they are given unlimited representation rights before IRS. Unlike attorneys and CPAs, who are state licensed and who may or may not choose to specialize in taxes, all enrolled agents specialize in taxation.