31 C.F.R. § 10.6 Enrollment.
Title 31 - Money and Finance: Treasury
(a) Roster. The Director of Practice will maintain rosters of all individuals— (1) Who have been granted active enrollment to practice before the Internal Revenue Service; (2) Whose enrollment has been placed in inactive status for failure to meet the requirements for renewal of enrollment; (3) Whose enrollment has been placed in inactive retirement status; (4) Who have been censured, suspended, or disbarred from practice before the Internal Revenue Service; (5) Whose offer of consent to resign from enrollment to practice before the Internal Revenue Service has been accepted by the Director of Practice under §10.61; and (6) Whose application for enrollment has been denied. (b) Enrollment card. The Director of Practice will issue an enrollment card to each individual whose application for enrollment to practice before the Internal Revenue Service is approved after July 26, 2002. Each enrollment card will be valid for the period stated on the enrollment card. An individual is not eligible to practice before the Internal Revenue Service if his or her enrollment card is not valid. (c) Term of enrollment. Each individual enrolled to practice before the Internal Revenue Service will be accorded active enrollment status subject to his or her renewal of enrollment as provided in this part. (d) Renewal of enrollment. To maintain active enrollment to practice before the Internal Revenue Service, each individual enrolled is required to have his or her enrollment renewed. Failure by an individual to receive notification from the Director of Practice of the renewal requirement will not be justification for the failure to satisfy this requirement. (1) All individuals licensed to practice before the Internal Revenue Service who have a social security number or tax identification number that ends with the numbers 0, 1, 2, or 3, except for those individuals who received their initial enrollment after November 1, 2003, must apply for renewal between November 1, 2003, and January 31, 2004. The renewal will be effective April 1, 2004. (2) All individuals licensed to practice before the Internal Revenue Service who have a social security number or tax identification number that ends with the numbers 4, 5, or 6, except for those individuals who received their initial enrollment after November 1, 2004, must apply for renewal between November 1, 2004, and January 31, 2005. The renewal will be effective April 1, 2005. (3) All individuals licensed to practice before the Internal Revenue Service who have a social security number or tax identification number that ends with the numbers 7, 8, or 9, except for those individuals who received their initial enrollment after November 1, 2005, must apply for renewal between November 1, 2005, and January 31, 2006. The renewal will be effective April 1, 2006. (4) Thereafter, applications for renewal will be required between November 1 and January 31 of every subsequent third year as specified in paragraph (d)(1), (2) or (3) of this section according to the last number of the individual's social security number or tax identification number. Those individuals who receive initial enrollment after November 1 and before April 2 of the applicable renewal period will not be required to renew their enrollment before the first full renewal period following the receipt of their initial enrollment. (5) The Director of Practice will notify the individual of his or her renewal of enrollment and will issue the individual a card evidencing enrollment. (6) A reasonable nonrefundable fee may be charged for each application for renewal of enrollment filed with the Director of Practice. (7) Forms required for renewal may be obtained from the Director of Practice, Internal Revenue Service, 1111 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20224. (e) Condition for renewal: Continuing professional education. In order to qualify for renewal of enrollment, an individual enrolled to practice before the Internal Revenue Service must certify, on the application for renewal form prescribed by the Director of Practice, that he or she has satisfied the following continuing professional education requirements. (1) For renewed enrollment effective after March 31, 2004. (i) A minimum of 16 hours of continuing education credit must be completed during each calendar year in the enrollment term. (2) For renewed enrollment effective after April 1, 2007. (i) A minimum of 72 hours of continuing education credit must be completed during each three year period described in paragraph (d)(4) of this section. Each such three year period is known as an enrollment cycle. (ii) A minimum of 16 hours of continuing education credit, including 2 hours of ethics or professional conduct, must be completed in each year of an enrollment cycle. (iii) An individual who receives initial enrollment during an enrollment cycle must complete two (2) hours of qualifying continuing education credit for each month enrolled during the enrollment cycle. Enrollment for any part of a month is considered enrollment for the entire month. (f) Qualifying continuing education—(1) General. To qualify for continuing education credit, a course of learning must— (i) Be a qualifying program designed to enhance professional knowledge in Federal taxation or Federal tax related matters, i.e., programs comprised of current subject matter in Federal taxation or Federal tax related matters, including accounting, tax preparation software and taxation or ethics; and (ii) Be conducted by a qualifying sponsor. (2) Qualifying programs—(i) Formal programs. A formal program qualifies as continuing education programs if it— (A) Requires attendance. Additionally, the program sponsor must provide each attendee with a certificate of attendance; and (B) Requires that the program be conducted by a qualified instructor, discussion leader, or speaker, i.e., a person whose background, training, education and experience is appropriate for instructing or leading a discussion on the subject matter of the particular program; and (C) Provides or requires a written outline, textbook, or suitable electronic educational materials. (ii) Correspondence or individual study programs (including taped programs). Qualifying continuing education programs include correspondence or individual study programs that are conducted by qualifying sponsors and completed on an individual basis by the enrolled individual. The allowable credit hours for such programs will be measured on a basis comparable to the measurement of a seminar or course for credit in an accredited educational institution. Such programs qualify as continuing education programs if they— (A) Require registration of the participants by the sponsor; (B) Provide a means for measuring completion by the participants (e.g., a written examination), including the issuance of a certificate of completion by the sponsor; and (C) Provide a written outline, textbook, or suitable electronic educational materials. (iii) Serving as an instructor, discussion leader or speaker. (A) One hour of continuing education credit will be awarded for each contact hour completed as an instructor, discussion leader, or speaker at an educational program that meets the continuing education requirements of paragraph (f) of this section. (B) Two hours of continuing education credit will be awarded for actual subject preparation time for each contact hour completed as an instructor, discussion leader, or speaker at such programs. It is the responsibility of the individual claiming such credit to maintain records to verify preparation time. (C) The maximum credit for instruction and preparation may not exceed 50 percent of the continuing education requirement for an enrollment cycle. (D) An instructor, discussion leader, or speaker who makes more than one presentation on the same subject matter during an enrollment cycle, will receive continuing education credit for only one such presentation for the enrollment cycle. (iv) Credit for published articles, books, etc. (A) Continuing education credit will be awarded for publications on Federal taxation or Federal tax related matters, including accounting, financial management, tax preparation software, and taxation, provided the content of such publications is current and designed for the enhancement of the professional knowledge of an individual enrolled to practice before the Internal Revenue Service. (B) The credit allowed will be on the basis of one hour credit for each hour of preparation time for the material. It is the responsibility of the person claiming the credit to maintain records to verify preparation time. (C) The maximum credit for publications may not exceed 25 percent of the continuing education requirement of any enrollment cycle. (3) Periodic examination. (i) Individuals may establish eligibility for renewal of enrollment for any enrollment cycle by— (A) Achieving a passing score on each part of the Special Enrollment Examination administered under this part during the three year period prior to renewal; and (B) Completing a minimum of 16 hours of qualifying continuing education during the last year of an enrollment cycle. (ii) Courses designed to help an applicant prepare for the examination specified in paragraph (a) of §10.4 are considered basic in nature and are not qualifying continuing education. (g) Sponsors. (1) Sponsors are those responsible for presenting programs. (2) To qualify as a sponsor, a program presenter must— (i) Be an accredited educational institution; (ii) Be recognized for continuing education purposes by the licensing body of any State, territory, or possession of the United States, including a Commonwealth, or the District of Columbia. (iii) Be recognized by the Director of Practice as a professional organization or society whose programs include offering continuing professional education opportunities in subject matters within the scope of paragraph (f)(1)(i) of this section; or (iv) File a sponsor agreement with the Director of Practice and obtain approval of the program as a qualified continuing education program. (3) A qualifying sponsor must ensure the program complies with the following requirements— (i) Programs must be developed by individual(s) qualified in the subject matter; (ii) Program subject matter must be current; (iii) Instructors, discussion leaders, and speakers must be qualified with respect to program content; (iv) Programs must include some means for evaluation of technical content and presentation; (v) Certificates of completion must be provided to the participants who successfully complete the program; and (vi) Records must be maintained by the sponsor to verify the participants who attended and completed the program for a period of three years following completion of the program. In the case of continuous conferences, conventions, and the like, records must be maintained to verify completion of the program and attendance by each participant at each segment of the program. (4) Professional organizations or societies wishing to be considered as qualified sponsors must request this status from the Director of Practice and furnish information in support of the request together with any further information deemed necessary by the Director of Practice. (5) A professional organization or society recognized as a qualified sponsor by the Director of Practice will retain its status for one enrollment cycle. The Director of Practice will publish the names of such sponsors on a periodic basis. (h) Measurement of continuing education coursework. (1) All continuing education programs will be measured in terms of contact hours. The shortest recognized program will be one contact hour. (2) A contact hour is 50 minutes of continuous participation in a program. Credit is granted only for a full contact hour, i.e., 50 minutes or multiples thereof. For example, a program lasting more than 50 minutes but less than 100 minutes will count as one contact hour. (3) Individual segments at continuous conferences, conventions and the like will be considered one total program. For example, two 90-minute segments (180 minutes) at a continuous conference will count as three contact hours. (4) For university or college courses, each semester hour credit will equal 15 contact hours and a quarter hour credit will equal 10 contact hours. (i) Recordkeeping requirements. (1) Each individual applying for renewal must retain for a period of three years following the date of renewal of enrollment the information required with regard to qualifying continuing professional education credit hours. Such information includes— (i) The name of the sponsoring organization; (ii) The location of the program; (iii) The title of the program and description of its content; (iv) Written outlines, course syllibi, textbook, and/or electronic materials provided or required for the course; (v) The dates attended; (vi) The credit hours claimed; (vii) The name(s) of the instructor(s), discussion leader(s), or speaker(s), if appropriate; and (viii) The certificate of completion and/or signed statement of the hours of attendance obtained from the sponsor. (2) To receive continuing education credit for service completed as an instructor, discussion leader, or speaker, the following information must be maintained for a period of three years following the date of renewal of enrollment— (i) The name of the sponsoring organization; (ii) The location of the program; (iii) The title of the program and description of its content; (iv) The dates of the program; and (v) The credit hours claimed. (3) To receive continuing education credit for publications, the following information must be maintained for a period of three years following the date of renewal of enrollment— (i) The publisher; (ii) The title of the publication; (iii) A copy of the publication; (iv) The date of publication; and (v) Records that substantiate the hours worked on the publication. (j) Waivers. (1) Waiver from the continuing education requirements for a given period may be granted by the Director of Practice for the following reasons— (i) Health, which prevented compliance with the continuing education requirements; (ii) Extended active military duty; (iii) Absence from the United States for an extended period of time due to employment or other reasons, provided the individual does not practice before the Internal Revenue Service during such absence; and (iv) Other compelling reasons, which will be considered on a case-by-case basis. (2) A request for waiver must be accompanied by appropriate documentation. The individual is required to furnish any additional documentation or explanation deemed necessary by the Director of Practice. Examples of appropriate documentation could be a medical certificate or military orders. (3) A request for waiver must be filed no later than the last day of the renewal application period. (4) If a request for waiver is not approved, the individual will be placed in inactive status, so notified by the Director of Practice, and placed on a roster of inactive enrolled individuals. (5) If a request for waiver is approved, the individual will be notified and issued a card evidencing renewal. (6) Those who are granted waivers are required to file timely applications for renewal of enrollment. (k) Failure to comply. (1) Compliance by an individual with the requirements of this part is determined by the Director of Practice. An individual who fails to meet the requirements of eligibility for renewal of enrollment will be notified by the Director of Practice at his or her enrollment address by first class mail. The notice will state the basis for the determination of noncompliance and will provide the individual an opportunity to furnish information in writing relating to the matter within 60 days of the date of the notice. Such information will be considered by the Director of Practice in making a final determination as to eligibility for renewal of enrollment. (2) The Director of Practice may require any individual, by notice sent by first class mail to his or her enrollment address, to provide copies of any records required to be maintained under this part. The Director of Practice may disallow any continuing professional education hours claimed if the individual fails to comply with this requirement. (3) An individual who has not filed a timely application for renewal of enrollment, who has not made a timely response to the notice of noncompliance with the renewal requirements, or who has not satisfied the requirements of eligibility for renewal will be placed on a roster of inactive enrolled individuals. During this time, the individual will be ineligible to practice before the Internal Revenue Service. (4) Individuals placed in inactive enrollment status and individuals ineligible to practice before the Internal Revenue Service may not state or imply that they are enrolled to practice before the Internal Revenue Service, or use the term enrolled agent, the designation “E. A.,” or other form of reference to eligibility to practice before the Internal Revenue Service. (5) An individual placed in an inactive status may be reinstated to an active enrollment status by filing an application for renewal of enrollment and providing evidence of the completion of all required continuing professional education hours for the enrollment cycle. Continuing education credit under this paragraph (k)(5) may not be used to satisfy the requirements of the enrollment cycle in which the individual has been placed back on the active roster. (6) An individual placed in an inactive status must file an application for renewal of enrollment and satisfy the requirements for renewal as set forth in this section within three years of being placed in an inactive status. The name of such individual otherwise will be removed from the inactive enrollment roster and his or her enrollment will terminate. Eligibility for enrollment must then be reestablished by the individual as provided in this section. (7) Inactive enrollment status is not available to an individual who is the subject of a disciplinary matter in the Office of Director of Practice. (l) Inactive retirement status. An individual who no longer practices before the Internal Revenue Service may request being placed in an inactive status at any time and such individual will be placed in an inactive retirement status. The individual will be ineligible to practice before the Internal Revenue Service. Such individual must file a timely application for renewal of enrollment at each applicable renewal or enrollment period as provided in this section. An individual who is placed in an inactive retirement status may be reinstated to an active enrollment status by filing an application for renewal of enrollment and providing evidence of the completion of the required continuing professional education hours for the enrollment cycle. Inactive retirement status is not available to an individual who is subject of a disciplinary matter in the Office of Director of Practice. (m) Renewal while under suspension or disbarment. An individual who is ineligible to practice before the Internal Revenue Service by virtue of disciplinary action is required to be in conformance with the requirements for renewal of enrollment before his or her eligibility is restored. (n) Verification. The Director of Practice may review the continuing education records of an enrolled individual and/or qualified sponsor in a manner deemed appropriate to determine compliance with the requirements and standards for renewal of enrollment as provided in paragraph (f) of this section. (o) Enrolled actuaries. The enrollment and the renewal of enrollment of actuaries authorized to practice under paragraph (d) of §10.3 are governed by the regulations of the Joint Board for the Enrollment of Actuaries at 20 CFR 901.1 through 901.71.
Title 31: Money and Finance: Treasury
PART 10—PRACTICE BEFORE THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
Subpart A—Rules Governing Authority to Practice
§ 10.6 Enrollment.
