Testing mandate, end of 2011 or 2013?

[AZ-Tax]

I was at a EA class yesterday and I understood the instructors say all paid tax preparers must pass the exam by year end 2011. I thought it was 2013 and I located this article on it mentioning 2013.

http://www.pnwtaxschool.com/licensing-laws/irs-preparer-exams

http://www.irs.gov/taxpros/article/0,,id=239683,00.html

Upon looking at the IRS link above, I think the instructors were referring to any paid preparer that did not register their PTIN before Jan 1, 2011, correct?

[Uncle Sam]

Testing Mandate

The testing is only required for NON-CPAs, attorneys, and enrolled agents.

The deadline for passing it IS the end of 2013 otherwise at that time they won't be
permitted to prepare tax returns. This is for the current non-Circular 230 people who
were preparing returns BEFORE the PTIN requirement was in place.

Once the PTIN requirement was established, one had to pass the exam
BEFORE being able to prepare returns

So what the IRS did was give the non-230 people a grandfathering time
in which to qualify.

[WhiteOleander]

I can't imagine how they would have to pass by 2011. They haven't even released the test yet. There wouldn't be enough time left in this year to get everyone tested if they did release the test.

[David1980]

Probably what they were thinking is the test should be available before the end of the year. Those without a PTIN will have to pass the test once the test is available in order to obtain a PTIN. So by the end of 2011, if you don't have a PTIN, you'll have to pass the test to get one.