IRS Test Scheduling

[Possi]

I just received this email from the IRS regarding the Registered tax preparer exam.
__________________________________________________ ____________________

1. IRS Moves to Next Phase of Return Preparer Initiative; New Competency Test to Begin
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IRS is moving into the next phase of its effort to improve the tax preparation industry by launching the new Registered Tax Return Preparer competency test.

Fact Sheet 2011-12 provides additional details about the test, including which preparers are required to take it and how to schedule an appointment.

__________________________________________________ ___________________
Here is a link to the information page.

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=249971,00.html

It says in part, "Initial test takers won’t receive their test scores for two to six weeks to allow the IRS to validate the exam and determine the pass/fail cutoff. Once validation is complete, around mid-January, those taking the computer-based test will receive their scores at the test center immediately upon completing the test."

Sounds like the first to take the test will determine the pass/fail cutoff. I say let's get the Simpletons in there first. =) I'm ready to take one for the team!

I hope you all have a lovely Thanksgiving. For many, the holidays are not so joyful. I pray you all are able to boldly lift up your blessings so that others will follow. Spread some joy~ I know you have certainly been a BLESSING in my Life, in my Office, and the ripple effect of your presence in my business has brought untold joy to my Clients~

God Bless Y'all Real Good~

[DaveO]

I saw that and found it curious since I'm scheduled to be on the final Prometics conference calls the last week of Nov or first week of Dec for the same purpose.

[taxea]

I saw that and found it curious since I'm scheduled to be on the final Prometics conference calls the last week of Nov or first week of Dec for the same purpose.

Dave...let us know what the final decision is. SOP is 70% as passing. I am curious to know what they are going to do if the first batch average is 50%. Do you think they will lower the standard or simplify the questions?

[DaveO]

Having been through the earlier phase of working on the wording and rating of the questions I would guess they will use easier questions. Each question was scored as easy or hard. We could also reject a question as being too difficult or not relevant to the test. We also could link questions in such a way that two questions would never be used on the same test. This would imply that there could be multiple tests in a given year.

It was an interesting process and I’ll be happy to share insights with the group short of the limits of the non-disclosure agreement of course.

[Gary2]

I'm more interested in how you got involved, how balanced was the team, and how effective was the Prometrics participant (assuming you had such an advisor/consultant/testing expert).

I was a participant on a test team several years ago, for a certification relating to software qualify. We learned a lot from our advisor (who was from ETS, the college board people). The memorable issues, for me, was balancing the views of people coming from different industries, along with explaining perceived ambiguities to colleagues who were sure their question was perfectly clear.

[OtisMozzetti]

...We also could link questions in such a way that two questions would never be used on the same test...

I recall from some EA exams conducted via Prometric that some of the questions shed light in my opinion upon other questions.

[Peachie]

And the same to you

I just received this email from the IRS regarding the Registered tax preparer exam.
__________________________________________________ ____________________

1. IRS Moves to Next Phase of Return Preparer Initiative; New Competency Test to Begin
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

IRS is moving into the next phase of its effort to improve the tax preparation industry by launching the new Registered Tax Return Preparer competency test.

Fact Sheet 2011-12 provides additional details about the test, including which preparers are required to take it and how to schedule an appointment.

__________________________________________________ ___________________
Here is a link to the information page.

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=249971,00.html

It says in part, "Initial test takers won’t receive their test scores for two to six weeks to allow the IRS to validate the exam and determine the pass/fail cutoff. Once validation is complete, around mid-January, those taking the computer-based test will receive their scores at the test center immediately upon completing the test."

Sounds like the first to take the test will determine the pass/fail cutoff. I say let's get the Simpletons in there first. =) I'm ready to take one for the team!

I hope you all have a lovely Thanksgiving. For many, the holidays are not so joyful. I pray you all are able to boldly lift up your blessings so that others will follow. Spread some joy~ I know you have certainly been a BLESSING in my Life, in my Office, and the ripple effect of your presence in my business has brought untold joy to my Clients~

God Bless Y'all Real Good~

Possi.

I plan to take the exam in January. I hope they give us a quality and relevant test with 70% being the lowest score of achievement. Anything lower would definitely seem like a failure.

[DaveO]

Update

I just got an email from Prometics where they are pushing the stands sessions ahead. Not sure if that means the people who have taken the test have to wait for a score.

Gary, I answered an invitation that came through the NAEA. I wasn’t selected for the part where the questions were composed but came in on the evaluation phase. I worked on the ethics section.

I found it educational. The other participants in my section included sole practitioners’, Attorney’s, CPA’s, EA’s and IRS employees from all areas; audit, collections, CID and OPR. I relate to your observation about ambiguities. One of the things I focused on was consistency in wording of the questions. In an effort to be gender neutral some of the questions got very unwieldy. I like the story problem format where you give everyone a name and call them that instead of juggling non-specific identifiers.

I agree with you Otis. When I took the SEE I caught an error or two based on a later question.