IRS Seeks Input from Tax Preparers

In Notice 2011-48, the IRS announces that it will seek input from the tax preparers and others regarding the 1040 series competency exam that is scheduled to be released later this year.  This is a great opportunity for the those of us in the preparer community to influence the examination content and process.  Among the things that IRS is interested in receiving input are:

• The areas of tax law that should be covered by the examination;
• The approximate percentage of the examination that should be dedicated to each area of tax law identified above;
• The format of the examination (e.g., multiple choice, short-answer questions, written tax computations problems, or a combination thereof);
• The general difficulty and approximate length of the examination;
• The detail of examination result information reported to the applicant (e.g., pass/fail, numeric scores);
• The appropriate time-of-year/month to annually update the examination to reflect the most current law;
• The frequency that the examination should be administered (e.g., annually, semiannually, quarterly, monthly, weekly, or daily);
• The period of time that applicants, other than those individuals who obtain a preparer tax identification number prior to the examination being offered, should be required to wait before retaking the examination if the applicant does not pass;
• The administration of the examination in languages other than English and the other languages that should be considered;
• The elements of the special enrollment examination (content or test administration) for either enrolled agents or enrolled retirement plan agents that the competency examination should attempt to utilize or should not attempt to reproduce; and
• Any additional information that the IRS should consider when developing the content of, and the procedures for administering, the competency examination.

The IRS provides contact information that input can be submitted to.

This blog is published concurrently at our website: www.taxpreparerlearningsystems.com