There are no CE requirements to maintain your Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) with the IRS.

For the IRS’s Annual Filing Season Program (AFSP), you must complete 18 hours of CE by December 31st annually, using an IRS Approved Provider (Don’t worry, The Income Tax School is approved!). These 18 hours must be made up of:

• • 10 hours federal tax law
  • 6 hours Annual Federal Tax Refresher (AFTR) course with a comprehension test
  • 2 hours ethics education

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In order for Enrolled Agents to keep their designation from the IRS, they must obtain at least 72 hours of CE credits every three years (based on their renewal cycle). Of these 72 hours, a minimum of 16 hours must be completed each year, and of these 16 hours per year, a minimum of two hours must be on ethics.

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California residents must provide an active PTIN, maintain a $5,000 tax preparer insurance bond, and complete 20 hours of CE by October 31st each year to renew their registration with the California Tax Education Council (CTEC). They must also complete. These 20 hours must be made up of:

• • 10 hours federal tax law
  • 5 hours California state law
  • 3 hours federal tax updates
  • 2 hours ethics education

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Tax preparers who have successfully completed one of the following national or state tests would be exempt from taking the AFTR course with a comprehension test.

• Registered Tax Return Preparers (RTRP)
• California and other state based return preparer testing programs
• Accredited tax preparers through Accreditation Council for Accountancy/Taxation
• Part 1 of the Special Enrollment Exam during 2 year eligibility window
• Successful VITA program reviewers and instructors

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Credentialed tax professionals (CPAs, attorneys, Enrolled Agents, Enrolled Retirement Plan Agents, and Enrolled Actuaries) or the exempt group listed in the section above must have 15 hours of CE from an IRS Approved Provider to qualify for the AFSP annually. No CE credit will be given to Enrolled Agents for completing an AFTR course. The 15 hours of CE must include the following:

• 10 hours federal tax law topics
• 3 hours federal tax updates
• 2 hours ethics education

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Yes. The Income Tax School reports CE credits to the IRS once per quarter for the first 3 quarters of the calendar year.

• CE credits earned from January 1st – March 31st: reported to IRS April 1st.
• CE credits earned from April 1st – June 30th: reported to IRS July 1st.
• CE credits earned from July 1st – September 30th: reported to IRS October 1st.

Beginning October 1st, The Income Tax School reports CE credits to the IRS every 10 days through the end of the calendar year.

For California residents seeking Qualifying Education (QE) and CE credits for CTEC, The Income Tax School reports to CTEC every 10 days throughout the calendar year. Beginning October 1st, The Income Tax School reports CE credits to CTEC daily.

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For business owners operating their own tax school who wish to license our courses for their students: email customercare@theincometaxschool.com or call 1-800-984-1040.

Many customers come to us and are buying a course or seminar for someone else. They could be buying the course for their spouse, or a business owner purchasing for an employee(s), or an employee signing up for a course that their employer is paying for. In those cases, use the following steps:

1. Select your course(s)
2. Proceed to checkout
3. Fill the billing address and payment fields with the information of the person paying for the course.
4. In the Additional Comments section: enter the names and emails of the person(s) taking the course(s)

Example: Jane is a business owner who wants to purchase the Comprehensive Tax Course for Megan and the CTP Program for Jeff. Jane puts both the Comprehensive course and the CTP Program in her cart and proceeds to checkout. Jane enters her information for the Name, Email, Billing Address, and credit card info, then specifies “Megan Smith – Comprehensive course. Email: megan@example.com, Jeff Jones – CTP Program. Email: jeff@example.com” in the Additional Comments section.

Jane will receive a receipt of purchase by email and will be given login credentials of her own by default. Our school administrators will then manually create student accounts for Megan and Jeff and add their respective courses to their accounts. Please allow up to 2 business days for this to take place.

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