- quote -

72 hours of CPE every three years, minimum of 16 per year, must include two
hours of Ethics per year.

--
Don EA in Upstate NY

--
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On Jan 2, 8:24 pm, SMF <smf...[at]comcast.net> wrote:
- quote -

There have been changes to circular 230 and its going in the direction
you pointed out.
So, I think becoming an EA might be something you want to pursue.
Being a CPA, not an EA, I am not familiar with the cpe requirements
for the EA.
However, I do suspect that they are likely similar to being a CPA.

Why not re-activate your CPA license & do the cpe?
I personally find much of the cpe to be professionally beneficial.


___________________________________
<<< Benjamin Yazersky, CPA [NJ & NY] > > -----> real address on hobokeni or hobokenx <-----





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<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >

SMF wrote:
- quote -

That's not my understanding. CTEC (Calif. Tax Educ. Council) registers
paid preparers and specifically exempts "(a) A person with a current
and valid license issued by the California Board of Accountancy and his
or her employees while functioning within the scope of their
employment." Other than similar exemptions for EA's and current
attorneys, I think you have to be registered to avoid penalties.

[...]
- quote -

They don't mean helping a taxpayer file ordinary individual tax returns,
they mean filing other documents on behalf of a taxpayer, typically in
an audit situation. So, to prepare tax returns for pay requires no
special blessing from the IRS.

- quote -

Being a CPA does not preclude also being an EA, or a California (CTEC)
Registered Tax Preparer (CRTP). Clients can "look you up" online at
www.ctec.org if you are registered, kind of like looking up a
construction contractor to see if they are licenesed (but CTEC does not
issue licenses!).

- quote -

There may or may not be a potential CTEC penalty, which may or may not
be enforced for prior years. ;-)

Incidentally, there is actually a blog

www.ctec.org/blog.asp

on the official CTEC web site, which I find both useful in content and
surprising for a government-sponsored agency.

-Mark Bole

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<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >

I have been operating a very small bookkeeping tax return preparation
business out of my home for the past 20 years. I file my business on
Schedule C. I have an inactive CPA license from the state I lived in
over 20 years ago. I do not operate under a CPA title or use it in
anyway, as I shouldn't being inactive and all. I am not required by CA
to do any continuing education etc. to keep it in the inactive state.
I do however attend yearly state and federal update seminars. I have
been approved by the IRS for years to participate as an Authorized IRS
E-file provider. I have always told clients that I could help them
with any IRS issues but could not represent them before the IRS. In 20
years I have never had the need to do anything but help gather
documents and information to substantiate a line item in question.
Here are my concerns, and you may pose others:
- IRS Circular 230 seems to say that "Practice before the IRS"
includes preparing and filing documents. As such it seems I should be
either an attorney, CPA, enrolled agent, or and enrolled actuary. It
would seem, the inactive license wouldn't qualify. Is it possible I
should be taking steps to become an Enrolled agent? Do you see the
possible problem here? - I also am concerned about PSC being a
required form of business for bookkeepers. Is this the case too?

I would really appreciate any guidance possible. I have the fear that
the 200+ very basic tax returns I file yearly could have been done
without the proper authority to do so.

Thanks, Michael

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<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >