Enrolled Agents, CPAs, and Tax Attorneys: Who's Best for Your Tax Problem?

There are three professionals who can represent you in front of the IRS: enrolled agents (EA), Certified Public Accountants (CPAs), and tax attorneys. 

To earn their credentials, CPAs and tax attorneys complete extensive education requirements, and all three of these pros pass a difficult multi-part test to earn their credentials. During their careers, they all must complete continuing education classes to keep their credentials active.

Enrolled agents, CPAs, and tax attorneys have unlimited practice rights in front of the IRS. That means they can represent any person, business, or other entity on any tax matter including audits, payments, and appeals. Your representative can obtain tax records, negotiate with the IRS, and attend meetings on your behalf unless the IRS summons you to be present.

Remember, however, just because a CPA, attorney, or EA can represent you in front of the IRS doesn't necessarily mean they have the experience you need. The tax, accounting, and legal sectors are extremely expansive, and these professionals often have a wide degree of varying experience and specialties. 

To help you narrow in on the best choice for your situation, here is a breakdown of the education, testing, and training these pros complete and a look at how to verify their credentials and experience.

Key Takeaways

• Enrolled Agents, CPAs, and Tax Attorneys Offer Similar Services: All three tax professionals can represent you before the IRS for appeals, audits, and collections.
• Choosing the Right Tax Professional: The best choice often depends on your needs-consider their experience, price, location, and specialization.
• Enrolled Agents Specialize in Tax Resolution: While many do general tax preparation, part of their training is geared towards resolution. Many enrolled agents offer this based on their training.
• CPAs Provide Broad Accounting Expertise: CPAs can handle accounting, audits, and tax services, but not all focus on IRS representation. 
• Tax Attorneys Handle Complex Legal Matters: For legal disputes, Tax Court representation, or criminal cases, a tax attorney is the go-to option. While they do offer other services as well.

Enrolled Agent

An enrolled agent is a credential awarded by the IRS and originally created by Congress in 1884. Their main role is to advocate for taxpayers and negotiate with the IRS on their behalf.

Education

There are no education requirements to become an Enrolled Agent. However, prospective candidates generally spend 220 to 280 hours studying for the EA exams. Once they have their designation, they must earn 72 continuing education credits every three years, but to ensure that EAs stay current with changing tax regulations, the IRS requires them to complete at least 16 continuing education credits every year.

Testing

The three-part Enrolled Agent test covers the following:

• Test One: Individuals - covers all aspects of individual taxation including income, assets, credits, deductions, self-employment tax, deceased taxpayers, property sales, education planning, estate planning, retirement planning, and international information reporting such as FACTA and FBAR. 
• Test Two: Businesses - covers the formation, taxation, sales, and reporting requirements of partnerships, corporations, trusts, exempt organizations, retirement plans, farms, and rental properties. Also, includes questions on advising taxpayers and helping with tax planning.
• Test Three: Practices and Procedures - covers the rules and requirements for representing taxpayers in front of the IRS including obtaining Power of Attorney, completing preliminary casework, and assessing the taxpayer's financial situation for tax relief cases. Also, covers the legal authority and references for revenue procedures, and representing taxpayers in collections, audits, and appeals.

In lieu of passing this test, individuals can become enrolled agents by working for the IRS for at least five years in one of the following roles: appeals officer, special agent, revenue officer, revenue agent, tax specialist, tax law specialist, or settlement officer. 

Training

Enrolled agents do not need to complete any training to earn their credentials. 

However, most EAs work under a more experienced tax professional, often at a tax resolution firm or a law firm, during the first few years of their career. Although the EA test is extremely comprehensive, it does not include all of the information an EA needs to successfully represent taxpayers in front of the IRS. 

Alternatively, many EAs get additional training and mentorship through a professional organization such as the Tax Rep Network or the American Society of Tax Problem Solvers. When hiring a pro, you may want to look for professional certifications that are granted by these types of groups, such as the Certified Tax Resolution Specialist or Certified Tax Representation Consultant.

Enrolled agents who worked for the IRS come into the field with a lot of hands-on experience, and these pros often jump right into running their own resolution firm. The IRS only grants this designation to former IRS employees who worked in areas that involved the interpretation and application of the tax code including the following: 

• Appeals officer
• Special agent
• Revenue officer
• Revenue agent
• Aax specialist
• Tax law specialist
• Settlement officer

To ensure their experience is relevant, former IRS employees can only earn this designation if at least three of their five years of service happened within the last five years. 

How to Validate Credentials

To make sure an EA's credentials are active, you can email the IRS at [email protected] with the EA's first and last name, and you should get a response within about 72 hours. Otherwise, the IRS has a searchable directory that includes all registered tax preparers. You can search by last name or look for all of the enrolled agents within a certain distance of a zip code. 

Note that this directory also includes CPAs and attorneys, but these professionals will only have an active record if they have a Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN). Many CPAs and attorneys actively provide IRS representation, but they do not maintain a PTIN because they have EAs or other professionals to prepare tax returns at their firms. There are other ways to verify their credentials as explained below.

Certified Public Accountant

A Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is an accountant who has met their state's CPA license requirements. They may work in public accounting, business, government, education, or the not-for-profit sector, and within those industries, they may focus on accounting, auditing, tax prep, tax planning, and/or financial consulting. 

A CPA is the only professional who can perform external audits, audits of publicly traded companies, and Service Organizational Control audits. They are the only professionals who have the right to certify audited financial statements of publicly traded companies with the SEC.t

Education

Because CPA licensure is done on the state level, the requirements vary slightly from state to state. In all 50 states, candidates must complete 150 credits of college courses. Generally, this equates to a bachelor's degree and 30 additional credits which often means that CPAs earn a master's degree in accounting, but they are not required to do so. 

Most states require CPAs to earn a bachelor's degree in accounting or a related field, but Hawaii, Maine, Alaska, Massachusetts, and Georgia allow candidates to become CPAs without an accounting degree as long as they have a requisite number of accounting courses. In some states, candidates must complete all of the required education before taking the CPA exam, but in others, they can take the exam while they're still working on their degree.

Once licensed, CPAs must complete continuing education to keep their licenses active. Again, the exact requirements vary between states, but it ranges from 40 credits every three years to 80 credits every two years. Some states require a minimum number of credits every year, while others let you do all of the required courses at any point during the two or three-year period.

Testing 

The CPA exam is a four-part test, and in 2024, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) launched a new testing process designed to better meet the requirements of the current state of accounting. The new structure includes three core exams, and then, candidates may choose from one of three discipline exams. 

Here are the three core exams:

• Auditing and Attestation (AUD) - covers ethics and all procedural elements of the audit process. 
• Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR) -covers financial reporting, balance sheets, and select transactions.
• Taxation and Regulation (REG) - Covers federal tax procedures, business law, and the federal taxation of property transactions, individuals, and entities. 

The three discipline options include:

• Business Analysis and Reporting (BAR) - covers business analysis, technical accounting and reporting, and state and local governments. 
• Information Systems and Controls (ISC) - IT systems, data management, security, privacy, and considerations for Systems and Organization Controls (SOC) engagements.
• Tax Compliance and Planning (TCP) - Covers tax compliance and planning for individuals, entities, and the disposition of assets.

Depending on the licensure rules in their states, some candidates may have to complete additional tests such as an ethics test. 

Training

To become licensed, candidates must log a certain amount of work under an active CPA in good standing. The exact number of hours varies, but it's generally one to two years. By the time someone becomes a CPA, they have passed extensive tests and completed hands-on training. 

How to Validate Credentials

You can verify a CPA's credentials at CPAVerify.org. This site gathers information from State Boards of Accountancy, and every state except for Hawaii, New Mexico, and Vermont participates. 

Alternatively, you can make sure a CPA's license is active by looking at the State Board of Accountancy website for your state. Some states allow you to search for registrations on their Office of Professions website.

Tax Attorney

A tax attorney is simply an attorney who specializes in tax-related matters. Like EAs and CPAs, they can represent anyone in front of the IRS for any matter, but they can also represent clients in Tax Court. CPAs and enrolled agents can only represent you in Tax Court if they pass the Non-Attorney US Tax Court Exam, but that is very rare for these pros to do.

Education

To become an attorney, you must earn an undergraduate degree and a Juris Doctor (J.D.). Traditionally, this process takes seven years (four for the undergraduate degree and three for law school). Tax attorneys may also opt to obtain a Master of Laws (L.L.M.) degree, but this is not a requirement. 

Lawyers must also complete continuing education courses to keep their licenses active. Again requirements vary, but depending on the state, the attorney may need to complete 12 credits per year, 24 credits every two years, 40 credits every three years, or another number of credits. There are often special requirements for the number of ethics courses completed, but other than that, attorneys can generally opt to take courses in their specific areas of concentration.

Testing 

The exam requirements vary from state to state, but generally, applicants sit for a two-day bar exam. On the first day, they take the Multistate Bar Examination which covers constitutional law, contracts, criminal law, evidence, real property, and torts, and on the second day, they take an essay test on a range of subjects. Some jurisdictions also require a professional responsibility exam.

Training

Applicants generally do not need to complete any supervised work experience to become licensed as an attorney. However, due to the difficulty of the bar exam, many candidates work at a law firm before taking the test. 

Additionally, in California, Virginia, Vermont, and Washington, you can sit for the bar exam without earning a law degree, and although this is relatively rare, most people who take this route get an apprenticeship at a law firm before taking the exam. 

How to Validate Credentials

You can check an attorney's credentials by doing a search on the State Bar Association website in your state. Note this will show you if the attorney has an active or inactive license, or if they've been disbarred or censured. Most records will not show you any information about the attorney's area of expertise. 

To find the right State Bar Association website, you can search on Google or another search engine using the term ‘[your state] attorney lookup.’ This will generally yield the results of the state bar association search page. From here, you can search for the attorney by name. Be sure the site looks official, they site generally ends in .gov domains. On a side note, if you do a search on TaxCure, we validate all listed attorneys using various methodologies, so you can be assured they are in good standing when doing a search on TaxCure for a tax attorney.

Bottom Line - EAs Vs. CPAs Vs. Tax Attorneys

CPAs and attorneys complete more education and pass longer tests than enrolled agents, but their education and tests go far beyond tax resolution. EAs, in contrast, focus specifically on tax resolution.

In all cases, you need a professional who has experience dealing with your concern. If you're facing an IRS audit, you need a tax pro who's experienced with audits. Similarly, if you're dealing with a tax lien or a wage garnishment, you need a pro who has handled those matters in the past. 

Simply because someone has a lot of experience in the legal or accounting field does not mean they have the experience you need. For example, an estate attorney may have completed seven years of school, passed the bar, and done continuing education every year, but if they've never dealt with an offer in compromise, they are not the person you want representing you in front of the IRS if you're trying to settle your tax bill. 

In that same vein, a CPA who is highly educated and has spent their life working in public accounting may be the ideal choice if you need to audit accounting records for your company before you issue stocks, but they are not the person you should call if you want help appealing an IRS wage garnishment. 

Ultimately, you need a pro who focuses on IRS representation and tax resolution services.

If you have a tax problem, you will end up working with one of these tax professionals. There are some situations that clearly require the accounting expertise of a CPA or the legal knowledge of an attorney, but ultimately, the most important point to consider is whether or not the pro has experience dealing with your specific tax concern. 

FAQs

Should I hire a CPA or an EA? 

Both CPAs and EAs have the right to represent you in front of the IRS for tax payments, collections, audits, and appeals. CPAs have more education in accounting principles than EAs, but EAs focus more specifically on tax resolution. When hiring either of these pros, you need to look for someone with experience. 

What is the best option for tax relief?

As outlined in our post on the best tax relief options, the best option is generally not a big tax relief firm that you see advertised on TV. In most cases, you can access the most effective tax resolution servies by contacting an experienced local CPA, tax attorney, or EA. 

Is CPA higher than EA?

CPAs and EAs have the same representation rights in front of the IRS. However, these pros take different paths to their careers. CPAs must complete a four-year degree plus 30 credits, pass the CPA exam, and work under an experienced CPA for one to two years. EAs, in contrast, only need to pass a test to get their designation. However, the EA test focuses specifically on tax and tax resolution, while CPA tests and educational prerequisites focus on accounting as well as tax. 

What can an EA do that a CPA Can't?

An EA does not have any extra privileges over a CPA. However, CPAs have a broad range of specialties, while EAs, in contrast, always focus on tax prep and tax resolution services.

What can a CPA do that an EA can't?

In terms of IRS representation, a CPA has the same privileges as an EA. Outside of the tax resolution field, however, a CPA has additional authorizations. A CPA is the only professional who can perform external audits and create audited financial statements of publicly traded companies.

How hard is it to pass the EA exam?

The pass rate for the EA exams is 67% to 75%. That means that only two-thirds to three-quarters of people who take the test pass it. Each of the three tests has 100 questions, and EA candidates must understand a wide variety of tax laws to pass the test.

What is the difference between a tax preparer and an enrolled agent?

A tax preparer is anyone who prepares tax returns professionally. That may include unlicensed accountants (aka people with accounting degrees who have not become CPAs) or anyone else who offers professional tax prep services. 

The IRS's only requirement for tax preparers is that they obtain a Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN). The IRS offers an Annual Filing Season Program (AFSP) for unlicensed tax preparers—to qualify, they must take 18 credits of continuing tax education every year. AFSP participants can represent taxpayers in front of the IRS in relation to tax returns they have prepared. 

In contrast, an EA has full representation rights in front of the IRS. Like a CPA or tax attorney, an EA can represent taxpayers who need help dealing with unpaid taxes, IRS payment plans/settlements, audits, collections, and appeals. An EA may prepare taxes, but they can do much more.

Why might you seek the help of a tax attorney over a CPA?

The main reason to hire a tax attorney over a CPA is if you need representation in a criminal court of law or in Tax Court. Over than that, you should simply choose the pro with the most experience, who offers the best value, and who makes you feel confident that they can solve your tax problem.

Is a tax advisor the same as a CPA?

A tax advisor refers to anyone who provides tax planning, prep, or consultancy services. This is a general term that is not tied to any professional license, and theoretically, a CPA, EA, tax attorney, or an unlicensed professional may refer to themselves as a tax advisor. A CPA, in contrast, is a licensed role, and to use that title, you must meet the requirements of the Board of Accountancy in your state.

How to Find a CPA, Tax Attorney, or Enrolled Agent

To find a professional to help with your tax problem, start by searching the TaxCure directory. TaxCure features a curated collection of qualified tax pros from around the country. You can narrow down your search based on your area, the type of tax problem you have, or the type of pro you want to hire.