Types of preparers

Income Tax Preparation services differ greatly in education and training, so taxpayers need to choose carefully in order to ensure they pay for only the services that are needed. There are four basic types of professional income tax preparation services: enrolled agent, certified public accountant (CPA), attorney, and tax preparer. Enrolled agent. Enrolled agents are certified by the IRS after having worked five years or more as IRS auditors or after having passed a government exam. Enrolled agents are authorized to represent taxpayers before the IRS. Certified public accountant. CPAs have passed a professional qualifying exam and are authorized to represent taxpayers before the IRS. Public accountants (PAs) generally have special accounting training but they lack certification and cannot represent taxpayers before the IRS. Attorney. Attorneys who have passed the bar exam are authorized to represent taxpayers before the IRS, but they may or may not have special tax training. Tax preparer. Tax preparers may or may not have special training or experience. Some tax preparation firms require that their tax preparers have extensive training and experience, but others require very little. Although, generally, tax preparers cannot represent taxpayers before the IRS, they can answer questions regarding how returns were prepared and filed.

Let Us Help with your Income Tax Preparation Today!