An Enrolled Agent (EA) is a federally authorized tax practitioner who has technical expertise in the field of taxation and who is empowered by the U.S. Department of Treasury to represent taxpayers before all administrative levels of the Internal Revenue Service for audits, collections, and appeals.
The Enrolled Agent profession dates back to 1884 when, in response to an influx of questionable claims presented for Civil War losses, Congress acted to regulate persons who represented citizens in their dealings with the U.S. Treasury Department.
Only Enrolled Agents, attorneys, and CPAs may represent taxpayers before the IRS.
EAs advise, represent, and prepare tax returns for individuals, partnerships, corporations, estates, trusts, and any entities with tax-reporting requirements. EAs prepare millions of tax returns each year. In addition, their expertise in the continually changing field of tax law enables EAs to effectively represent taxpayers audited by the IRS.
EAs are the only taxpayer representatives who receive their right to practice from the United States government. CPAs and attorneys are licensed by the states.
In addition, unlike attorneys and CPAs (who may or may not choose to specialize in taxation), Enrolled Agents are required to demonstrate to the Internal Revenue Service their competence in matters of taxation before they may represent a taxpayer before the IRS.
For further confidence in your choice in tax representation, look for the designation of NTPI Fellow®. Receiving this designation from the National Association of Enrolled Agents’ National Tax Practice Institute™ isn’t easy. It requires completion of a rigorous three-level program (which often takes several years) that covers all facets of representing clients before the IRS. In addition, many NTPI Fellow®s participate in NTPI’s annual graduate level courses to serve their clients with the most up-to-date knowledge of the ever-evolving tax code. In short, this designation of NTPI Fellow® is evidence that your tax representative has significant expertise in the representation of taxpayers before the IRS and is an expert in solving tax issues for their clients.