How to Become a Tax Preparer: PTIN, Credentials and Where to Start

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This guide summarizes the IRS’s own tax professional pages, reviewed on 26 October 2026. Rules change, so confirm each step on the IRS pages before you act. It covers federal IRS requirements only; check whether your state has its own rules for preparers. Cloud Innovics is not affiliated with the IRS.

The IRS says that anyone can be a paid tax return preparer once they hold a Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN). What changes with extra credentials is what you are allowed to do for a client when the IRS writes back. This guide lays out the path in order, from the first step to the highest level of authority.

Step 1: Get a PTIN

Everyone who prepares or helps prepare federal returns for compensation needs a valid PTIN before preparing a return. You apply online in the IRS Tax Pro PTIN system, and you renew it every year. The IRS fee for 2027 is $18.75, and PTINs expire on December 31. Our step-by-step PTIN renewal checklist covers the details.

A PTIN-only preparer has preparation authority and nothing more. Under IRS rules, a preparer with only a PTIN cannot represent a client before the IRS for returns prepared after December 31, 2015. That is the main reason many preparers go on to the next step.

Step 2: Choose Your Level

The IRS describes three tiers of authority. The right one depends on how far you want to go.

  • PTIN only. You can prepare returns. You cannot represent clients before the IRS.
  • Annual Filing Season Program (AFSP). A voluntary IRS program for preparers who are not attorneys, CPAs or enrolled agents. You earn a Record of Completion and limited representation rights.
  • Enrolled agent, CPA or attorney. The IRS says these three have unlimited representation rights before the IRS.

The Annual Filing Season Program

For a non-credentialed preparer, the IRS lists these requirements:

  • 18 hours of continuing education, including a six-hour federal tax law refresher course with a test.
  • Renew your PTIN for the upcoming year.
  • Consent to the Circular 230 obligations (Subpart B and section 10.51).

Preparers who are exempt from the refresher course, because they passed certain recognized tests, need 15 hours of continuing education each year and the same consent. When you finish, the IRS issues an Annual Filing Season Program Record of Completion, and you appear in the IRS Directory of Federal Tax Return Preparers with Credentials and Select Qualifications.

AFSP representation is limited. You may represent only clients whose returns you prepared and signed, and only before revenue agents, customer service representatives and similar IRS employees. That does not extend to appeals or collection matters.

Becoming an Enrolled Agent

An enrolled agent (EA) is a federally authorized tax practitioner. The IRS lists these steps:

  1. Get a PTIN, the first step on the IRS page.
  2. Pass the Special Enrollment Examination. It has three parts, and you must pass all three within three years. The IRS says PSI Services administers it, replacing Prometric from 1 March 2026.
  3. Apply with Form 23, Application for Enrollment to Practice Before the Internal Revenue Service.
  4. Pass the suitability check, which includes a tax compliance review (required returns filed, no outstanding liabilities) and a criminal background check.

After you are enrolled, you renew your PTIN every year. The IRS page notes that certain former IRS employees are exempt from the exam. The page we reviewed does not list the fee amounts, so check it for current costs.

CPAs and Attorneys

Both have unlimited representation rights before the IRS, but the licensing routes are set by your state and sit outside this guide. They still need a PTIN to prepare returns for pay.

Step 3: Get an EFIN If You Will E-File

If you plan to file returns electronically for clients, your firm applies to the IRS to become an authorized e-file provider and receives an Electronic Filing Identification Number (EFIN). The IRS says approval can take up to 45 days, so start early. See our EFIN application guide.

Step 4: Set Up Your Software and Your Workspace

Once you have a PTIN, and an EFIN if you e-file, you need tax software and a secure place to run it. Many small firms choose cloud-hosted tax software so their preparers can work from any location and the client files stay on a protected server instead of a laptop. Cloud Innovics hosts Drake, Lacerte, ProSeries and ATX, and you keep your own software license.

Common Mistakes for New Preparers

  • Preparing a return before the PTIN is valid. The PTIN comes first, every year.
  • Assuming a PTIN lets you represent a client in an audit. It does not. Know your authority before you promise anything.
  • Waiting until January for the EFIN. Up to 45 days is a long time.
  • Skipping the credential check. Clients can look up preparers in the IRS directory, so keep your AFSP record or credential current.
  • Treating state rules as optional. This guide covers federal requirements only.

Sources: IRS pages “Choosing a tax professional” (reviewed 21 Aug 2026), “Understanding tax return preparer credentials and qualifications” and “Annual Filing Season Program” (both reviewed 29 Jan 2026), and “Become an enrolled agent” (reviewed 5 May 2026). Check these pages for the latest details.