RTRP test

[Koss]

Exam Prep Course

My comments are based on information on the IRS website.

The IRS FAQ says:

What programs qualify for IRS approval?

1. Is there a minimum length of time that my continuing education program must be to qualify for IRS approved continuing education? (updated 1/3/12)

Yes. Continuing education credit is only given for full contact hours, or multiple thereof. A contact hour is 50 minutes in length, excluding breaks and introductions.

2. May a tax return preparer obtain continuing education credit for completing a Registered Tax Return Preparer competency examination preparation program? (posted 12/6/11)

A tax return preparer can obtain continuing education credit for completing an approved Registered Tax Return Preparer competency examination preparation program until December 31, 2013. A maximum of ten hours will be allowed and it will be qualified as a program under other federal tax law. Enrolled Agents and Enrolled Retirement Plan Agents will not receive continuing education credit for completing any test preparation programs. (Emphasis supplied)

This FAQ can be found at the following link:

http://www.irs.gov/taxpros/article/0,,id=255497,00.html

However...

This is definitely an area of the regulations that is a little ambiguous.

I am the continuing education administrator for two different nonprofit organizations, so this is something that I am intimately familiar with.

I have spoken with the staff of the IRS Return Preparer Office, and they have acknowledged that--

Most professionals would consider the content and subject matter of an RTRP exam prep course to be valid material for a general course in federal tax law. So the same content and subject matter could also be offered as a federal tax course, presumably with the same number of credit hours. And such a course would qualify as valid CE for enrolled agents.

If the staff at the The Tax Book is representing that a particular course is valid CE for enrolled agents, then I think you may reasonably rely on that representation.

From a technical standpoint, I think it comes down to how the course is packaged and registered with the IRS.

Under the new CE provider system, there are actually nine different types of continuing education. When a provider registers a course with the IRS, they have to classify the course according to the target audience and according to the category.

The result is nine different permutations:

(1) RTRP Update
(2) RTRP Federal Tax
(3) RTRP Ethics
(4) RTRP Exam Prep
(5) EA Update
(6) EA Ethics
(7) EA Federal Tax
(8) ERPA Qualified Retirement Plan Matters
(9) ERPA Ethics

The IRS recognizes that many programs will be appropriate for more than one target audience. It is undisputed that most ethics programs are approrpriate for all three types of professionals, and that most update programs are appropriate for EAs and RTRPs.

But according to the IRS guidelines, a provider can't offer an exam prep course to EAs.

A course containing the same content, however, can be registered by the provider as a federal tax course for EAs.

BMK

[Peachie]

Hi Supermom,

Those looked great Koss, thank you! Because of issues that arose this tax season with schedule F, was thinking of going with NATP's Schedule F prep, it has 8 CPE's, know would still need the 3 updates and 2 ethics, my question is finding tax law for only 2 CPE's because all I see is bundles for the 10, any advice there?

I paid $15 for 5 hours through APlusCPE. They give you a year to complete. I used Wise Guides for my refresher course and it cost $59 for 90 days and I got 10 hours CE credit. Hope this helps.

Peachie

[dtlee]

Taking and passing the RTRP test does not earn any continuing education credit.

The continuing education requirement is totally separate from the test.

You can earn 10 hours of CE credit by taking an exam prep course. You earn this credit by taking the course. Most exam prep courses have a course exam at the end of the course, and you have to pass that exam in order to get the 10 hours of credit.

If you pass the course exam, you get the 10 hours of credit, regardless of whether you take the RTRP exam in the same year, and regardless of whether you actually pass the RTRP exam.

You still need the other 2 hours of ethics and 3 hours of update.

BMK

Burton,

Thanks for your many posts on this topic.

I was posed this question earlier and came here to compare notes with what you had posted previously on this topic. The point of the discussion was that even though an RTRP Test Preparation Course will cover Tax Topics and Ethics, such courses will count only towards the Federal Tax (i.e., Category "T") CE Requirement for RTRPs (and any other preparers subject to the RTRP Education Requirements for 2012 and 2013).

Per your post, the participant who successfully completes such a course will still need to meet the Ethics (Category "E") and Federal Tax Update (Category "U") requirements. I am not sure the way the IRS looks at this makes complete sense, but then again, it does not have to.

Thanks again!