Practices and Procedures · Requirements for Enrolled Agents

Rules for employing or accepting assistance from former IRS employees or disbarred/suspended persons

Two sections, two jobs. Circular 230 § 10.24 governs the practitioner in good standing who deals with someone barred from practice. § 10.25 governs the former government employee and, through its firm rule, everyone who works with them.

The rule

A practitioner may not, knowingly and directly or indirectly (Circular 230 § 10.24):

• (a) accept assistance from, or assist, any person who is under disbarment or suspension from practice before the IRS, if the assistance relates to a matter or matters constituting practice before the IRS; or
• (b) accept assistance from any former government employee where the provisions of § 10.25 or any Federal law would be violated.

Paragraph (a) runs in both directions: it bars accepting assistance from and giving assistance to a disbarred or suspended person.

The former-employee rules start with definitions (Circular 230 § 10.25(a)) that do a great deal of work:

• Assist — to act in such a way as to advise, furnish information to, or otherwise aid another person, directly or indirectly.
• Government employee — an officer or employee of the United States or any US agency, including a special Government employee as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 202(a), or of the District of Columbia, or of any State, or a member of Congress or of any State legislature. It is not limited to the IRS.
• Member of a firm — a sole practitioner or an employee or associate of one, or a partner, stockholder, associate, affiliate or employee of a partnership, joint venture, corporation, professional association or other affiliation of two or more practitioners who represent nongovernmental parties.
• Particular matter involving specific parties — as defined at 5 CFR 2637.201(c), or superseding post-employment regulations issued by the Office of Government Ethics.
• Rule — Treasury regulations, whether issued or under preparation as notices of proposed rulemaking or Treasury decisions, plus revenue rulings and revenue procedures published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin.

The general rules in § 10.25(b) are four, and three of them are time-limited:

1. § 10.25(b)(1) — no former government employee may, after government employment, represent anyone in any matter administered by the IRS if the representation would violate 18 U.S.C. § 207 or any other US law. No time limit; it incorporates the criminal post-employment statute by reference.
2. § 10.25(b)(2) — a former employee who personally and substantially participated in a particular matter involving specific parties may never represent or knowingly assist, in that particular matter, any person who is or was a specific party. This is the lifetime bar.
3. § 10.25(b)(3) — a former employee who, within one year prior to termination of government employment, had official responsibility for a particular matter involving specific parties may not, within two years after government employment ends, represent in that particular matter any person who is or was a specific party.
4. § 10.25(b)(4) — no former employee may, within one year after government employment ends, communicate with or appear before, with the intent to influence, any Treasury Department employee in connection with the publication, withdrawal, amendment, modification or interpretation of a rule whose development the former employee participated in, or for which they had official responsibility within one year prior to termination.

Current figures

How it works in practice

Sort the three time bars by what triggers them; the exam distinguishes them on the trigger, not the length.

Personal and substantial participation is hands-on involvement — working the examination, negotiating the settlement, deciding the issue. That produces a permanent bar, but only as to that particular matter involving specific parties. It does not bar the former employee from the taxpayer generally, from the issue generally, or from the industry.

Official responsibility is supervisory: the matter fell within the employee’s authority whether or not they touched it. That produces the two-year bar, and only where the responsibility existed within the year before leaving. Responsibility that ended eighteen months before departure does not engage § 10.25(b)(3).

Rule development is different in kind — it is not about a taxpayer’s case at all. § 10.25(b)(4) bars influencing Treasury on a rule for one year. Note the carve-out written into the paragraph: it does not preclude the former employee from appearing on their own behalf, or from representing a taxpayer before the IRS in a particular matter involving specific parties that involves applying or interpreting the rule — provided the representation is otherwise consistent with the section and the former employee does not use or disclose confidential information acquired in developing the rule.

The firm rule in § 10.25(c) is where a practitioner who has never worked for the government gets caught. Where the lifetime bar of § 10.25(b)(2) applies to a former employee, no member of the firm may represent or knowingly assist a specific party in that particular matter unless the firm isolates the former employee so that they cannot assist in the representation. Isolation is not an informal understanding: § 10.25(c)(2) requires a statement executed under oath by both the former employee and another member of the firm acting on the firm’s behalf, clearly identifying the firm, the former employee, and the particular matter or matters requiring isolation. The firm retains the statement and provides it to the IRS on request.

Read the firm rule’s scope carefully. § 10.25(c)(1) is keyed to matters “with respect to which the restrictions of paragraph (b)(2) of this section apply.” The bars in (b)(3) and (b)(4) are not imputed to the firm.

Back to § 10.24, the practitioner-facing rule. Three elements limit it. The practitioner must act knowingly — an unwitting engagement is not a § 10.24 violation, though § 10.22 diligence and the § 10.36 supervisory duty may still be in play. The prohibition reaches conduct directly or indirectly, so routing the work through an intermediary does not help. And under (a) the assistance must relate to a matter constituting practice before the IRS; a disbarred person may still be engaged for work that is not.

How this has changed

Section 10.25 in its current form comes from T.D. 9359, 72 FR 54548 (Sept. 26, 2007), as amended by T.D. 9527, 76 FR 32307 (June 3, 2011), and is applicable beginning August 2, 2011 (§ 10.25(e)). The 2011 amendment is the source of the structure above — the four general rules in (b) with their distinct triggers, and the firm-isolation mechanism in (c) with its sworn-statement requirement.

Section 10.25(d) is transitional: the regulation governs practice by former government employees, their partners and associates in particular matters involving specific parties even where actual representation commenced before the effective date. It is spent in practice but explains why no grandfathering exists.

Two features of § 10.25 look outward, and both matter for currency. § 10.25(b)(1) incorporates 18 U.S.C. § 207 and “any other laws of the United States,” so a change in the criminal post-employment statute changes the Circular 230 obligation without amending Part 10. And § 10.25(a)(4) defines “particular matter involving specific parties” by reference to 5 CFR 2637.201(c) “or superseding post-employment regulations issued by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics” — an express forward reference, so the operative definition tracks OGE’s current rules.

Violations of §§ 10.24 and 10.25 are sanctionable under § 10.52(a)(1) on a showing of wilfulness; neither section appears in the reckless-or-gross-incompetence limb of § 10.52(a)(2).

Exam focus

Expect a question that gives you a fact pattern and asks which bar applies. The discriminator is always the trigger: personally and substantially participated → lifetime, that matter only (b)(2); official responsibility in the last year of service → two years (b)(3); helped develop a rule → one year, and only against influencing Treasury on that rule (b)(4).

Second, know that the firm consequence attaches only to (b)(2), and that curing it requires the sworn isolation statement of § 10.25(c)(2) rather than an informal screen.

Third, know that “government employee” extends beyond the IRS to any federal agency, the District of Columbia, any State, and legislators.

Finally, on § 10.24, the three limits are knowingly, directly or indirectly, and — for the disbarred/suspended limb — assistance relating to a matter constituting practice before the IRS.

Check yourself

1. A former revenue officer had official responsibility for a collection matter during her final six months at the IRS but never worked it personally. She left in June 2026. When may she represent that taxpayer in that matter? (A) Immediately (B) After June 2027 (C) After June 2028 (D) Never Answer: C. Section 10.25(b)(3) imposes a two-year bar where the former employee had official responsibility within one year prior to termination.

2. A former IRS attorney personally and substantially participated in a particular matter involving specific parties. His new firm wishes to represent one of those parties in that matter. What must the firm do? (A) Nothing; the bar is personal to the attorney (B) Isolate him and execute a sworn statement under § 10.25(c)(2) (C) Obtain the client’s written consent (D) Wait two years from his departure Answer: B. Section 10.25(c)(1) bars firm members unless the firm isolates the former employee, and § 10.25(c)(2) requires a statement under oath by him and another member of the firm, retained and produced to the IRS on request.

3. Which of the following is not a “government employee” for purposes of Circular 230 § 10.25? (A) A member of a State legislature (B) An employee of the District of Columbia (C) A special Government employee under 18 U.S.C. § 202(a) (D) An employee of a foreign tax administration Answer: D. Section 10.25(a)(2) covers officers and employees of the United States and its agencies, special Government employees, the District of Columbia, any State, and members of Congress or of a State legislature.

4. An enrolled agent unknowingly engages a research contractor who is under suspension from practice before the IRS. Has the enrolled agent violated § 10.24? (A) Yes, the section imposes strict liability (B) Yes, because the assistance was indirect (C) No, because § 10.24 requires the practitioner to act knowingly (D) No, because research is never practice before the IRS Answer: C. Section 10.24 opens “A practitioner may not, knowingly and directly or indirectly.” Diligence questions under §§ 10.22 and 10.36 may still arise.

5. For how long is a former government employee barred from communicating with Treasury with intent to influence the interpretation of a rule they helped develop? (A) Six months (B) One year after government employment ends (C) Two years after government employment ends (D) Permanently Answer: B. Section 10.25(b)(4), which does not preclude appearing on one’s own behalf or representing a taxpayer in a particular matter involving specific parties applying that rule, provided no confidential information from the rule’s development is used or disclosed.