Once you have invested long hours to becoming an Enrolled Agent (EA), jeopardizing your title by failing to complete Continuing Education (CE) requirements is simply not an option. Read on to learn the details of EA CE requirements, and how you can fulfill these credits with engaging and relevant material on a convenient and user-friendly platform.
What is an Enrolled Agent (EA)?
If you’re exploring this designation and want to learn more, EAs are accounting professionals certified by the U.S. Department of Treasury to represent individuals and organizations before the IRS. An EA earns this title by passing the IRS’s Special Enrollment Examination (SEE), thus demonstrating a high-level understanding of all that relates to tax regulations, reporting, ethics, and proceedings.
EA Continuing Education Requirements
EA CE requirements ensure that EAs remain abreast of any regulation updates and best practices in tax accounting, so they can continually provide optimal, accurate services for their clients. EAs must complete seventy-two hours of CE over three years, with at least sixteen hours per year, two of which must be dedicated to ethics CE.
These requirements may vary for newly enrolled agents who are applying for their first renewal and have not been enrolled for three full years. The IRS provides a chart detailing the EA CE requirements for professionals with new designations, depending upon their enrollment date.1
For example, an EA who enrolls midway through the second year of the three-year enrollment cycle may only be required to complete thirty-eight hours of CE, rather than the full seventy-two. But regardless of this consideration, every EA must complete two hours of ethics CE for every year (or partial year) enrolled.
Also note that, under these EA CE requirements, the IRS does not tolerate procrastination. Because the guidelines stipulate that you must complete sixteen credit hours, including two hours of ethics, EAs cannot wait until year three to cram in all seventy-two hours of learning and hope that this will be accepted.
Do EA CE requirements vary by state?
No. The IRS awards the Enrolled Agent designation. Since it is a federal agency, the same CE standards apply nationwide.
How to earn your EA Continuing Education requirements
No one wants to stress over their EA Continuing Education requirements. As a trusted partner by accounting professionals for 60+ years, Becker understands the importance of remaining relevant and compliant, while also easing the process and eliminating the anxiety around meeting your CE requirements.
Becker offers the over 1,700 courses, including the following tax CE courses, which are engaging and timely, user-friendly and convenient, and will fulfill your required credit hours:
- Federal Tax Update August 2024
- Earned Income Tax Credit—Rules and Common Pitfalls
- Cash and Accrual Methods of Tax Accounting
- Navigating M&A Transaction Costs from a Tax Perspective
- Annual Professional Ethics Update 2024
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