Practices and Procedures · Practice before the IRS
Who may practice before the IRS, and how far their rights extend
tax year · reviewed 2026-08-18 · I. Ohu
Eligibility to practice and the extent of what you may do are two different questions, and the second is where most mistakes live. Circular 230 § 10.3 says who may practice. It does not say that everyone on the list may do everything, and it is not the only route to appearing before the IRS — a category of people who are not practitioners at all may represent a taxpayer under § 10.7.
The rule
The practitioner categories. Section 10.3 permits practice by attorneys (Circular 230 § 10.3(a)), certified public accountants (§ 10.3(b)), enrolled agents (§ 10.3(c)), enrolled actuaries (§ 10.3(d)), and enrolled retirement plan agents (§ 10.3(e)), in each case only while not under suspension or disbarment from practice before the IRS. Those individuals are the “practitioners” the rest of Circular 230 governs (§ 10.2(a)(5)).
Attorneys and CPAs practise by filing a written declaration that they are currently qualified and authorised to represent the party. Enrolled agents need no such declaration — enrolment itself is the authority (§ 10.3(c)). Attorneys and CPAs are also excused from filing a declaration before rendering written advice covered by § 10.37, though that advice is still practice.
Two of the categories are subject-matter limited. An enrolled actuary may practise only on issues under an enumerated list of Code provisions concerning employee plans (Circular 230 § 10.3(d)(2)) — §§ 401, 403(a), 404, 405, 412, 413, 414, 419, 419A, 420, 4971, 4972, 4976, 4980, 6057, 6058, 6059, and related penalty and ruling provisions. An enrolled retirement plan agent may practise only on the Employee Plans Determination Letter program, the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System, and the Master and Prototype and Volume Submitter program (§ 10.3(e)(2)). Neither may represent a taxpayer in a general income tax examination.
Unlimited versus limited representation rights. Attorneys, CPAs, and enrolled agents are the only categories with unlimited representation rights: they may represent any client on any matter, including audits, collection, and appeals, whether or not they prepared the return. Annual Filing Season Program participants have limited rights — they may represent only clients whose returns they prepared and signed, and only before revenue agents, customer service representatives, and similar IRS employees including the Taxpayer Advocate Service. They may not represent a client in appeals or on collection matters even for a return they prepared. A preparer who holds only a PTIN, with no credential and no Annual Filing Season Program record of completion, may prepare returns and nothing more; for returns prepared and signed after 31 December 2015 they have no representation rights at all.
Practice without being a practitioner. Section 10.7(c)(1) lets an individual who is not a practitioner represent a taxpayer, even in the taxpayer’s absence, on presenting satisfactory identification and proof of authority, in seven situations (Circular 230 § 10.7(c)(1)): representing an immediate family member; a regular full-time employee representing an individual employer; a general partner or regular full-time employee representing a partnership; a bona fide officer or regular full-time employee representing a corporation, association, or organized group; a regular full-time employee representing a trust, receivership, guardianship, or estate; an officer or regular employee of a governmental unit representing it in official duties; and representing anyone outside the United States before IRS personnel when the representation takes place outside the United States.
That door closes for anyone under suspension or disbarment, and the Commissioner may deny eligibility for limited practice to someone whose conduct would justify a sanction under § 10.50 (§ 10.7(c)(2)(i), (ii)). Anyone representing under § 10.7(c)(1) is subject, to the extent of that authority, to the standards of conduct the IRS prescribes (§ 10.7(c)(2)(iii)).
Two further provisions round it out. The Commissioner may authorise a special appearance by someone not otherwise eligible, for a particular matter and on whatever conditions are thought appropriate (Circular 230 § 10.7(d)). And a fiduciary — a trustee, receiver, guardian, personal representative, administrator, or executor — is treated as the taxpayer, not as a representative (Circular 230 § 10.7(e)).
How it works in practice
The chain of questions is: is this person a practitioner under § 10.3; if so, is their category subject-matter limited; if not a practitioner, does § 10.7 give them a route; and in every case, what is the extent of the rights that route confers.
The extent question decides real matters. An Annual Filing Season Program participant can sit with a client through a correspondence examination of the return they prepared, and can call the Taxpayer Advocate Service. When the case moves to Appeals, or when it turns into a collection matter, they cannot go with it, and the client needs an attorney, a CPA, or an enrolled agent. Planning for that handoff at the start of the engagement is better than discovering it at the 30-day letter.
The fiduciary rule catches people out because it looks like representation. An executor dealing with a decedent’s return is not representing the taxpayer; the executor is the taxpayer for this purpose, and the form that establishes the relationship is a fiduciary notice, not a power of attorney.
The controller who is not an employee
A manufacturing company uses a fractional controller, engaged through her own consultancy for two days a week. The company is examined and asks her to attend the meeting and speak for it. She is not an attorney, CPA, or enrolled agent.
Analysis. Section 10.7(c)(1)(iv) covers a bona fide officer or a regular full-time employee of a corporation. A contracted consultant is neither, however embedded she is. She may attend, furnish information at the IRS's request, and appear as a witness (§ 10.8(b)), but she may not represent the company. The company needs an officer, a full-time employee, or a practitioner holding a Form 2848.
Limited rights meeting a collection notice
Devin holds an Annual Filing Season Program record of completion and prepared and signed a client's return. A revenue agent examines it, and Devin represents the client through the examination. The examination closes with a balance due, and the account moves to collection, where the client wants to request an installment agreement.
Analysis. Devin's representation was proper up to that point: the return was one he prepared and signed, and a revenue agent is within his limited rights. Collection is not. He cannot represent the client on the installment agreement, and cannot take the matter to Appeals if the request is denied. The client needs a representative with unlimited rights, and a new Form 2848.
The actuary asked the wrong question
An enrolled actuary advises a company's defined benefit plan. During an examination of the plan's funding, the revenue agent also raises the deductibility of the company's officer compensation.
Analysis. Funding under § 412 is squarely within § 10.3(d)(2). Officer compensation is not on that list, so the actuary's authority stops at the boundary of the enumerated provisions. Practising past it is practice by someone not eligible for that matter, and it exposes the actuary under Circular 230 rather than merely being ineffective.
Traps
"Prepared" is not enough for limited rights — the preparer must also have signed. An Annual Filing Season Program participant who ghost-prepared a return without signing it has no representation rights on it.
A PTIN is not a credential. It authorises preparation. Since returns prepared and signed after 2015, it confers no representation rights whatsoever.
Family means immediate family. Section 10.7(c)(1)(i) covers an immediate family member, not a cousin, an in-law at large, or a close friend of the family.
Enrolled actuaries and enrolled retirement plan agents are practitioners with narrow doors. They appear on the § 10.3 list, which makes them subject to Circular 230's duties in full, while their practice rights reach only the enumerated provisions and programs.
A fiduciary is the taxpayer. Section 10.7(e) puts trustees, executors, and administrators on the taxpayer's side of the line, so the authorisation is a fiduciary notice rather than a Form 2848.
How this has changed
The list in § 10.3 still includes registered tax return preparers at paragraph (f), a designation created by the 2011 rewrite of Circular 230 as part of a mandatory testing and continuing education regime for unenrolled preparers. That regime was invalidated in litigation and the IRS stopped issuing the designation; the voluntary Annual Filing Season Program replaced it, and since returns filed after 31 December 2015 only its participants hold limited practice rights. The regulation text was not conformed afterwards, so it still names a category that no longer exists in practice. Guidance written before 2014 describing unenrolled preparers as able to represent taxpayers on returns they prepared is describing a rule that has since narrowed considerably.
Exam focus
Two things get tested. First, sorting the categories: attorneys, CPAs, and enrolled agents have unlimited rights; enrolled actuaries and enrolled retirement plan agents are practitioners with subject-matter limits; Annual Filing Season Program participants have limited rights tied to returns they prepared and signed; PTIN-only preparers have none. Second, the § 10.7(c)(1) list of who may represent without being a practitioner — expect fact patterns testing the employee, officer, partner, and family categories, and the “regular full-time” qualifier in particular. The fiduciary rule in § 10.7(e) is a favourite because it inverts the intuition.
Check yourself
1. Which of these has unlimited representation rights before the IRS? (A) An Annual Filing Season Program participant (B) An enrolled retirement plan agent (C) An enrolled agent (D) A PTIN holder with no credential Answer: C. Only attorneys, CPAs, and enrolled agents may represent any client on any matter.
2. An Annual Filing Season Program participant prepared and signed a client’s return. The case is going to Appeals. May she represent the client there? (A) Yes, because she prepared and signed the return (B) No — her rights stop at revenue agents, customer service, and similar employees (C) Yes, if she obtains a Form 2848 (D) Yes, if the client also attends Answer: B. Limited rights exclude appeals and collection even for a return she prepared and signed.
3. Which individual may NOT represent the taxpayer under § 10.7(c)(1)? (A) A regular full-time employee representing her corporate employer (B) A general partner representing the partnership (C) A part-time contractor representing the company that engaged him (D) An individual representing his spouse Answer: C. The category requires a bona fide officer or a regular full-time employee; a contractor is neither.
4. An executor is handling a decedent’s final return. What authorises him to deal with the IRS? (A) Form 2848, because he represents the estate (B) Nothing — an executor may not deal with the IRS (C) He is treated as the taxpayer under § 10.7(e), so a fiduciary notice applies rather than a power of attorney (D) Form 8821 Answer: C. Section 10.7(e) treats a fiduciary as the taxpayer, not as a representative.
Change log
- Initial publication from 31 CFR Part 10 and the IRS's current statement of representation rights.