Tax Court Exam

[WhiteOleander]

Has anyone here sat for the exam to represent clients before the Tax Court? If so, what was your experience?

From what I have read, less than 10% of the applicants pass during each exam cycle.

Curious of anyone's experience in this area of representation.

[New York Enrolled Agent]

Has anyone here sat for the exam to represent clients before the Tax Court? If so, what was your experience?

From what I have read, less than 10% of the applicants pass during each exam cycle.

Curious of anyone's experience in this area of representation.

I took and passed the TC exam for non-attorneys in 2002. It is very difficult - there are 4 parts - Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure; Substantive Tax Law; Federal Rules of Evidence; and Professional Responsibility. To pass you must dedicate a huge amount of study time. It is 4 hours long and is all hand written. It is given every other year (next in November, 2012) and you must pass all 4 parts.

It is believed that about 300 people have passed the exam since 1942 when the Board of Tax Appeals (BTA) was re-named to the Tax Court of the United States. (In 1969 a new re-name as United States Tax Court was adopted). Congress added §7452 which allows non-attorneys to be admitted to practice before the Court.

If you wish to see past exams, you can go to www.starkman.com and download the exams for free (The TC charges 50 cents a page).

There is merit to having the right to appear in Court but I follow the motto - "settle, settle and settle". If you wish to take the exam don't do it for money - do it for the challenge.

[WhiteOleander]

Thanks for the reply. I have read alot online about how difficult it is. I read that the next exam was in Nov. of 2012 and thought that I would have a good amount of time to study.

Then I read one person's thoughts on the whole point of representing your client before the court. He said that he could master the tax laws and prior court decisions, etc. His problem was being effective examining or cross examining witnesses. He said that you really need to be a seasoned attorney to do that very well.

So, I'm not sure the benefits would be worth the time.

[taxmandan]

If you look to the challenge of passing the test great, if you are looking at generating business ala tax court cases it's probably not a very high possibility. The Tax Court hears ~1200 cases a year, half of which were pro se (tax payer had no professional representation). Given the number of high profile lawyers in the business there is not much market for tax professionals to pick up. The vast majority of docketed cases are resolved with Appeals and an EA can represent a taxpayer at that level without being admitted to the Tax Court.

[WhiteOleander]

Yes, I agree with your thoughts about representing the client. To make it worth my time, they probably wouldn't want to pay the fee and decide to go it on their own. Or, try to pump me for info and then go it alone.

Also, I sure don't want more Cont. Ed to do. Getting the Cont Ed for the EA card is enough!