Requirements: New Exams, CPE credits, fingerprints,

[Pacun]

On another posting we are discussing how the IRS will require exams, CPE credits, fingerprints and more. It is becoming expensive to prepare taxes and whoever has less than 50 clients, I think, will be driven out of business.

I am an EA and this fall, I will send letters to some of my clients stating that their fees have double. That will give them a chance to look somewhere else and if they come back, they will pay the extra fee. These are clients that I have been charging too little or PITAs. I am also going to increase my fees a little bit to cover for the extra expenses I am incurring.

Up to tax season 2009, the IRS fees for tax preparer were much less. Within a short period of time our fees to be a tax preparer have been raised significantly. If we are going to raised our fees, this coming season is the perfect time to do so. What are you planning to do this coming year?

[Jack from Ohio]

On another posting we are discussing how the IRS will require exams, CPE credits, fingerprints and more. It is becoming expensive to prepare taxes and whoever has less than 50 clients, I think, will be driven out of business.

I am an EA and this fall, I will send letters to some of my clients stating that their fees have double. That will give them a chance to look somewhere else and if they come back, they will pay the extra fee. These are clients that I have been charging too little or PITAs. I am also going to increase my fees a little bit to cover for the extra expenses I am incurring.

Up to tax season 2009, the IRS fees for tax preparer were much less. Within a short period of time our fees to be a tax preparer have been raised significantly. If we are going to raised our fees, this coming season is the perfect time to do so. What are you planning to do this coming year?

Yes, raise my fees.

I also have the address of the local big box preparers to give the complainers. I expect to loose ZERO customers.

[SaraEA]

Pacun, as an EA you aren't subject to additional requirements like fingerprinting and testing. You are already regulated by the Office of Professional Responsibility and just have to do what you've always done for CPEs. In fact, the fee for your EA renewal has gone down to only $30 for the three-year cycle. Of course, now you have to pay for the PTIN every single year, so you won't come out ahead. But the added cost each year is maybe $40, so no justification for doubling fees when that amount is spread over many clients. Of course, the new regulations are a great excuse to give to clients you don't want anyway, especially since they won't know these don't apply to you. I have found, though, that raising fees for PITAs doesn't make them go away. At least you get paid more for the aggravation they cause.

[Pacun]

Pacun, as an EA you aren't subject to additional requirements like fingerprinting and testing. You are already regulated by the Office of Professional Responsibility and just have to do what you've always done for CPEs. In fact, the fee for your EA renewal has gone down to only $30 for the three-year cycle. Of course, now you have to pay for the PTIN every single year, so you won't come out ahead. But the added cost each year is maybe $40, so no justification for doubling fees when that amount is spread over many clients. Of course, the new regulations are a great excuse to give to clients you don't want anyway, especially since they won't know these don't apply to you. I have found, though, that raising fees for PITAs doesn't make them go away. At least you get paid more for the aggravation they cause.

I became EA On June 7th 2011. That event cost me more than $1,000 without considering opportunity cost. I had to pay for conference to review the EA exams, other materials, $100+ for each exam, $30 for the IRS, $64+ for the PTIN, etc). Now I have to pay for another conference to get my CPE credits for this year.

To be honest with you, I learn more here in this forum than on any conference I attend, but that's another subject.

[ILLMAS]

Speaking of cost, just wait to you start paying for CPE hours, and hopefully do don't need to fly to another state for CPE hours. This will be the killer and worst of all your CPE hours have to be tax related.

[Lion EA]

I take lots of free credits from the IRS in teleforums and inexpensive credits from Tax Talk Today and my local chapter meetings of NY/CT-ATP, NAEA (CtSEA), and NATP. Sometimes my software company offers free credits. At the national level but conveniently on my computer, NAEA and NATP offer inexpensive credits. I was paying for those both before and after earning my EA, so that cost has not changed.

[joanmcq]

The cost of getting your EA isn't anything that any of us that have already been licensed in one form or another have not paid. You could have studied on your own, but chose to go to a conference for your review. You also chose to go to a conference for the rest of your CPE. As Lion said, there are a lot of lower cost CPE credits available than conferences. Conferences are fun, but are a luxury.

And my gripe on the other thread is that CPE is something you should have been doing all along IMHO, whether required or not.

I have over 80 hours of CPE already, and I'm not even a year into my two year CPA cycle. And I haven't been able to afford a conference in two years.

[jainen]

>>I learn more here in this forum than on any conference I attend<<

I recommend a conference on study habits. The ATX Community is a great resource, but much of it is at least incomplete if not erroneous. And there is little guidance about what is trivial or important here. A good conference should give you a solid reference manual and the tools to use it much more eficiently than surfing on the Internet.

[mcb39]

I believe that the US Master Tax Guide (which is the same manual used by our local IRS office) and the 1040 Express Answers are both excellent manuals for research and reference. They reside on my floor along with Quickfinders (3) and the Tax Insight workbook from the class that I take every year. Of course, only the Tax Insight classes count toward CPE, but I am more concerned in the quality of what I learn than in "how" I learn it.

I do agree that the ATX Community is a great resource. I also agree that sometimes the answers are incomplete which indicates to me that we cannot rely on just one source of research and study.

[Pacun]

I recommend a conference on study habits. The ATX Community is a great resource, but much of it is at least incomplete if not erroneous. And there is little guidance about what is trivial or important here. A good conference should give you a solid reference manual and the tools to use it much more eficiently than surfing on the Internet.

As usually, you are right. My point is that when I go to a 3 day conference, my brain can only absorb so much in those 3 days. The conference is gone after those 3 days. This forum is here all year and little by little my brain absorbs much more.

I think eveybody should have a SOLID conference materials. For Example, I went to a conference for the EA exam review. I got that solid material last year. Ever since, I have been watching what has changed and I keep my self up to date. If I have doubts, I go back to my materials.