Practices and Procedures · Requirements for Enrolled Agents

Rules for restrictions on advertising, solicitation and fee information

Circular 230 § 10.30 is titled “Solicitation,” but it does four jobs: it polices the content of what a practitioner says publicly, the manner of uninvited approaches, what may be said about fees and for how long that binds, and who a practitioner may associate with. The examinable content clusters around three rules — the forbidden word, the 30 days, and the 36 months.

The rule

Advertising and solicitation content (Circular 230 § 10.30(a)(1)). A practitioner may not, with respect to any IRS matter, in any way use or participate in the use of any form of public communication or private solicitation containing a false, fraudulent, or coercive statement or claim, or a misleading or deceptive statement or claim.

The same paragraph adds a designation rule specific to enrolled practitioners. Enrolled agents, enrolled retirement plan agents and registered tax return preparers, in describing their professional designation, may not use the term “certified” or imply an employer/employee relationship with the IRS. The regulation then supplies its own safe-harbour examples for enrolled agents: “enrolled to represent taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service,” “enrolled to practice before the Internal Revenue Service,” and “admitted to practice before the Internal Revenue Service.”

Uninvited solicitation (§ 10.30(a)(2)). A practitioner may not make, directly or indirectly, an uninvited written or oral solicitation of employment in IRS matters if the solicitation violates Federal or State law or other applicable rule — the regulation’s example being that attorneys are precluded from solicitations prohibited by the conduct rules of their State of licensure. Any lawful solicitation must nevertheless clearly identify the solicitation as such and, if applicable, identify the source of the information used in choosing the recipient.

Fee information (§ 10.30(b)). A practitioner may publish the availability of a written fee schedule and disseminate four categories of fee information: fixed fees for specific routine services, hourly rates, the range of fees for particular services, and the fee charged for an initial consultation (§ 10.30(b)(1)(i)(A)–(D)). Any fee statement concerning matters in which costs may be incurred must disclose whether clients will be responsible for those costs (§ 10.30(b)(1)(ii)). And a practitioner may charge no more than the published rates for at least 30 calendar days after the last date on which the schedule was published (§ 10.30(b)(2)).

Communication and retention (§ 10.30(c)). Fee information may be communicated in professional lists, telephone directories, print media, mailings, electronic mail, facsimile, hand-delivered flyers, radio, television, “and any other method” — but the method must not make the communication untruthful, deceptive or otherwise in violation of Part 10. A practitioner may not persist in attempting to contact a prospective client who has made it known that they do not wish to be solicited. Radio and television broadcasts must be recorded, and the practitioner must retain a recording of the actual transmission. Direct mail and e-commerce communications require a copy of the actual communication plus a list or other description of the persons to whom it was sent, all kept at least 36 months from the date of the last transmission or use.

Improper associations (§ 10.30(d)). A practitioner may not, in IRS matters, assist or accept assistance from any person or entity who, to the practitioner’s knowledge, obtains clients or otherwise practises in a manner forbidden under § 10.30.

Current figures

How it works in practice

The designation rule is the most concrete thing in the section and the most often tested. An enrolled agent may not describe themselves as “certified” — not “certified enrolled agent,” not “IRS-certified,” not “certified tax specialist” where the claim describes the Circular 230 designation. The second half is broader in effect: nothing in the description may imply an employer/employee relationship with the IRS. “Authorized by the IRS” and “IRS-approved representative” invite that reading. The regulation’s three examples are safe because they describe what the designation is — an enrolment to represent or practise before the agency — not a relationship with it.

Note the scope of that sentence: it governs how the practitioner describes their professional designation. It does not prevent an enrolled agent who is also a CPA from describing that separate credential accurately.

The content rule in § 10.30(a)(1) uses two tiers — “false, fraudulent, or coercive” and “misleading or deceptive” — and both are prohibited, so nothing turns on which tier a claim falls in. The standard is objective: a statement that is technically true but creates a false impression is misleading, and that is enough. It reaches any form of public communication or private solicitation, so the section is not limited to paid advertising.

The uninvited-solicitation rule is conditional. § 10.30(a)(2) bars uninvited solicitation only where it violates Federal or State law or other applicable rule; Circular 230 does not itself outlaw cold approaches but incorporates whatever restriction otherwise binds the practitioner. That is why the same conduct can be permissible for an enrolled agent and impermissible for an attorney in a State with strict solicitation rules. The two labelling duties in the second sentence, though, apply to any lawful solicitation: identify it as a solicitation, and identify the source of the information used to choose the recipient. A mailing generated from a purchased list of taxpayers with recorded liens must say where the names came from.

The 30-day fee rule is a floor, and it runs from the last date on which the schedule was published — not from first publication, and not from the engagement. A schedule left up on a website is published continuously, so the 30 days runs from the day it comes down or changes. The practitioner may charge no more than the published rate; charging less is unaffected.

The retention rules in § 10.30(c) are format-specific. Broadcast requires a recording of the actual transmission — a script does not satisfy it. Direct mail and e-commerce require the actual communication plus the distribution list or a description of it, the harder half to produce after the fact. The 36 months runs from the last transmission or use, so a campaign re-run in a later year restarts the clock.

How this has changed

Section 10.30 was issued by T.D. 9011 (2002), amended by T.D. 9359, 72 FR 54549 (2007) and T.D. 9527, 76 FR 32307 (2011), and is applicable beginning August 2, 2011 (§ 10.30(e)).

The 2011 amendment brought the section into line with the registered tax return preparer regime introduced that year: the designation rules in § 10.30(a)(1) and the improper-association rule in (d) were written to cover enrolled retirement plan agents and registered tax return preparers alongside enrolled agents. The RTRP designation did not survive judicial challenge and the IRS no longer issues it, but § 10.30(a)(1) still names registered tax return preparers and supplies their safe-harbour description. The enrolled-agent rules in the same sentence are unaffected.

The retention provisions in § 10.30(c) show their drafting history in listing “facsimile” and “professional lists” alongside electronic mail. The concluding words — “and any other method” — carry the section onto platforms that did not exist when it was written, on the same condition that the method must not render the communication untruthful or deceptive.

A violation of § 10.30 is sanctionable under Circular 230 § 10.52(a)(1) on a showing of wilfulness. Section 10.30 does not appear in the reckless-or-gross-incompetence limb of § 10.52(a)(2).

Exam focus

Three numbers and one word carry most of the questions. The word is “certified” — prohibited for enrolled agents describing their designation, along with anything implying IRS employment, with three safe descriptions supplied in the regulation itself. The numbers are 30 calendar days (published fees bind, measured from last publication), 36 months (retention of advertising records from last transmission or use), and the four permitted categories of fee information: fixed fees for routine services, hourly rates, ranges of fees, and the initial consultation fee. A statement about matters where costs may be incurred must disclose whether the client bears those costs.

Also note that uninvited solicitation is barred only where some other law or rule bars it — but the duty to label a solicitation and identify the source of the recipient’s name always applies. And distinguish § 10.30 from § 10.27: § 10.30 governs what may be said about fees; § 10.27 governs what may be charged. A percentage-of-refund arrangement is a § 10.27 question even where it appears in an advertisement.

Check yourself

1. Which description may an enrolled agent use? (A) “Certified enrolled agent” (B) “Enrolled to practice before the Internal Revenue Service” (C) “IRS-authorized tax representative” (D) “Certified by the Internal Revenue Service” Answer: B. Section 10.30(a)(1) supplies this as an acceptable description, bars the term “certified,” and bars any description implying an employer/employee relationship with the IRS.

2. A practitioner publishes a fee schedule continuously on his website from 4 January until he removes it on 30 September. Through what date must he honour the published rates? (A) 3 February, 30 days after first publication (B) At least 30 October, 30 days after the last date of publication (C) Only while the schedule is displayed (D) For 36 months from first publication Answer: B. Section 10.30(b)(2) measures at least 30 calendar days from the last date on which the schedule was published.

3. Which is not a category of fee information a practitioner may disseminate under § 10.30(b)(1)(i)? (A) Hourly rates (B) Fixed fees for specific routine services (C) A percentage of the tax savings obtained (D) The fee charged for an initial consultation Answer: C. The four listed categories are fixed fees for specific routine services, hourly rates, range of fees for particular services, and the initial consultation fee. A percentage of savings would also engage the contingent-fee prohibition of § 10.27.

4. A practitioner runs television advertisements. What must be retained, and for how long? (A) The script, for 12 months (B) A recording of the actual transmission, for at least 36 months from the last transmission (C) The media invoice, for 3 years from first broadcast (D) Nothing, retention applies only to direct mail Answer: B. Section 10.30(c) requires the broadcast to be recorded and the recording of the actual transmission retained for at least 36 months from the date of the last transmission or use.

5. Is an uninvited written solicitation of employment in an IRS matter prohibited by Circular 230? (A) Yes, in all cases (B) Yes, unless the recipient is an existing client (C) Only where it violates Federal or State law or another applicable rule (D) Only where it discloses fee information Answer: C. Section 10.30(a)(2) is conditional. Any lawful solicitation must still clearly identify itself as a solicitation and, if applicable, identify the source of the information used in choosing the recipient.