The demand for tax professionals is growing, making starting your own tax practice a lucrative and fulfilling career choice. As an Enrolled Agent (EA), you’ll possess the credibility, knowledge, and skills needed to serve clients effectively and grow your business. All three parts of the SEE must be passed within a two-year window. Each exam lasts 3.5 hours and contains 100 multiple choice questions. You will need to achieve a passing score on all three parts of the exam to become an Enrolled Agent.
What Does the Special Enrollment Exam Cover?
Prometric has a testing accommodations request packet that you’ll need to call about. Corporations, consultancies, private practices, independent tax preparation firms, legal offices, and more. Unlike lawyers or CPAs who are licensed by individual states, EAs are free to practice anywhere in the country. Become an enrolled agent, the highest credential the IRS awards, and find out how to maintain your status. Water is allowed in the testing room but it must be in a clear or transparent container with a lid or cap.
Maintain your enrolled agent status
You are not allowed to access notes, books, reference materials, or electronic devices at any time during the examination or during breaks. Unauthorized access to notes, books, reference materials or electronic devices may result in your test results being nullified by the IRS. how to become an enrolled agent You will be provided scratch paper and pencils at the test center and you are not allowed to leave the testing room with notes taken during the examination. The tax services you will be using will determine the type of account you need. As a realtor and member of NAR, you gain access to resources and tools to help your clients, including marketing and professional opportunities to enhance your career.
How do you determine if a person passes or fails? What is the passing score? (reviewed Oct. 19,
All EAs—in fact, anyone paid to prepare tax returns—need this IRS-issued ID number. EA candidates schedule and sit for each EA Exam part separately. Becker recommends you block out the following times for each part of the exam. Each exam part has 100 multiple-choice questions, split into two sections of 50 questions each. Only 85 of these questions are scored, while the remaining 15 are termed “experimental questions,” covering topics that may later be integrated into the scored questions of the exam.
If you know your personal history has issues, take the initiative to alert IRS by listing the details in a disclosure statement. Specifically, explain how the problem(s) originated, how it was corrected, and why it won’t happen again. The following list covers some tips to prepare for the EA exam.
Plus, we’ll share the guidance and tips we’ve accumulated over decades of helping candidates like you earn their Enrolled Agent certification. To prove you know your stuff, you’ll need to pass the Enrolled Agent exam, which has a pass rate that usually sits somewhere between 70% and 74%. It’s something most tax preparers should be able to pass if they study, which makes the short list of requirements pretty great news. Prometric has released data on EA Exam pass rates for the past three years. However, it’s important to note that not everyone who takes one exam part takes the other two, and the pass rates therefore can’t be reliably compared to one another.
- In addition, Surgent EA Review has a feature called ReadySCORE.
- Upholding ethical standards is crucial for building a trustworthy and reputable practice.
- Prometric calls the EA exam the Special Enrollment Examination (SEE), so when you see this instead of “Enrolled Agent exam” or “EA exam,” don’t panic!
- All of the information on the exam is publicly available via the IRS’s website.
All VAT registered businesses should now be signed up for Making Tax Digital for VAT. Compliance Partnership Accounting and Ethics – As an EA, you must adhere to the highest standards of ethics and compliance. Familiarize yourself with IRS regulations, maintain accurate records, and ensure your practice complies with all legal requirements.
Fewer CPAs are emerging to fill vacancies, and employers are increasingly turning to EAs to address ongoing demand for taxation expertise. EA certification is much easier to earn than a CPA license, creating a low barrier of entry to the career. After you complete the EA exam scheduling process, check your email to make sure you receive your appointment confirmation, which contains other useful information about your exam. If you Accounting Periods and Methods notice any issues, reach out to Prometric as soon as possible to correct your appointment information. To expedite the process and avoid any delays when you go to schedule your exam, we recommend following the first method and registering on Prometric’s website instead. After completing the first question, consisting of 50 questions, you’ll be prompted to take a 15 minute break.
- Passing the exam doesn’t automatically qualify you for a license.
- If you are interested in the EA, this 11-step guide about how to become an enrolled agent will lead you through each important decision and action on the way to the designation.
- Being better prepared for the test experience will allow you to perform better the day of your test.
- If you fail, you can usually retake the exam after a few days.
- If you plan to certify as an EA by examination, preparation is essential.
Prometric administers many different exams, so make sure you’re registering for the Enrolled Agent exam specifically. Prometric calls the EA exam the Special Enrollment Examination (SEE), so when you see this instead of “Enrolled Agent exam” or “EA exam,” don’t panic! We’ve got the details on how to tackle each of those steps below.