RPO Facebook Post
A Message from Carol A. Campbell, RPO Director
I enjoyed seeing many of you this summer at the IRS Nationwide Tax Forums. I traveled to Chicago, New Orleans, and Orlando, while our Deputy Director Preston Benoit attended the San Diego and National Harbor events.
Preston and I spent much of our time at the tax forums sharing information about the IRS’s new Annual Filing Season Program (AFSP) for tax return preparers. For those of you who were unable to attend one of our seminars, I hope you will take time to review the purpose and requirements of this new program and consider participating for the upcoming 2015 filing season.
The new program is voluntary. While anyone with a PTIN can participate, the Annual Filing Season Program is aimed at encouraging continuing education by non-credentialed return preparers.
Ideally, we continue to hope the Congress will authorize the IRS to mandate minimum standards for tax return preparers, but in the interim, we have launched this program to promote the importance of education and filing season preparation for return preparers without professional credentials.
Why should you participate?
Many of you already take continuing education (CE) courses even though you may not have a professional obligation to do so. So participating in the Annual Filing Season Program won’t require a major adjustment for you. You’ll just need to ensure you’re taking the correct types of continuing education and that you’re taking the courses from IRS-approved CE providers.
By participating in the program and receiving an Annual Filing Season Program Record of Completion, you will be included in a public directory we plan to launch on the IRS website in January 2015. The “Directory of Federal Tax Return Preparers with Credentials and Select Qualifications” will contain the name, city, state, and zip code of the following tax return preparers: attorneys, certified public accountants, enrolled agents, enrolled retirement plan agents, enrolled actuaries, and AFSP Record of Completion holders.
Additionally, beginning in 2016, only the categories of preparers listed in the public directory will have the right to represent taxpayers before the IRS. Attorneys, certified public accountants, and enrolled professionals will continue to have full representational rights for all clients before all IRS offices. AFSP Record of Completion holders will have limited representation rights, meaning they can represent clients whose returns they prepared and signed, but only before examination, customer service representatives, and the Taxpayer Advocate Service. Other tax return preparers will not have any representational rights before the IRS.
What are the requirements for the Annual Filing Season Program?
Because we’re beginning this new program mid-year, the continuing education requirement is prorated for the first year. There are several exceptions that I will cover later, but in general, you must obtain 11 hours of continuing education before December 31, 2014. The hours must include a six hour “Annual Federal Tax Refresher Course and Test”, as well as two hours of ethics, and three hours of other federal tax law. Once you obtain your CE credits (which the providers will report directly to us) and you renew your PTIN for 2015, we will contact you by email with instructions on how to participate and receive your AFSP Record of Completion. To participate, you will be required to consent to the duties and restrictions outlined in Subpart B and section 10.51 of Treasury Department Circular No. 230.
What are the exceptions and where can you find more info?
Certain tax return preparers are exempt from taking the “Annual Federal Tax Refresher Course and Test”. The following categories need eight hours of CE before December 31, 2014, including three hours of federal tax law updates, two hours of ethics, and three hours of other federal tax law:
· Anyone who passed the Registered Tax Return Preparer test administered by the IRS between November 2011 and January 2013.
· Established state-based return preparer program participants currently with testing requirements: Return preparers who are active members of the Oregon Board of Tax Practitioners and/or the California Tax Education Council.
· SEE Part I Test-Passers: Tax practitioners who have passed the Special Enrollment Exam Part I within the past two years as of the first day of the upcoming filing season.
· VITA volunteers: Quality reviewers and instructors with active PTINs.
· Other accredited tax-focused credential-holders: The Accreditation Council for Accountancy and Taxation’s Accredited Business Accountant/Advisor (ABA) and Accredited Tax Preparer (ATP) programs.
For more information, including requirements for future years, how to locate IRS-approved CE providers, and course and test descriptions, visit www.irs.gov/Tax-Professionals/Annual-Filing-Season-Program.
I hope you will consider participating in this new program and I look forward to meeting and speaking to more of you in the months ahead.
Carol A. Campbel
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