The IRS is collecting $50 million annually in preparer fees to develop a program for licensing and oversight of all tax preparers, and a portion of these funds will be used to educate the public about "registered" tax preparers, which could negatively impact how credentialed preparers like CPAs and EAs are perceived. The author, who is a CPA and EA, recommends that other credentialed preparers take the new Registered Tax Return Preparer (RTRP) exam to protect their position with the public in the long run, as most people do not understand the differences between credentials.

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March 12, 2012
An open letter to the tax preparer community
Why should a CPA or EA take the new RTRP exam?
The IRS is collecting about $50 million dollars each year in PTIN registration fees from all tax
preparers, credentialed or not, in an effort to create and administer a program of national
licensing, quality control, ethics and oversight. By the end of 2012 the total collected will be
approximately $150 million dollars! What is the IRS doing with this money?
The IRS is using the money to develop and administer the licensing, testing, compliance and
continuing certification of currently un-credentialed tax preparers in an effort to protect the general
public. A large portion of this money will be used in an IRS marketing program designed to
educate the public to make sure that their tax return is prepared by a “registered” tax preparer.
Frankly a very small percentage of Americans know what a CPA is, and an even smaller
percentage knows what an EA is. This effort by the IRS to educate the public will clearly have a
long-term negative effect on credentialed tax preparers in the eyes of the general public who will
not perceive a difference between any of the three groups.
I have heard all of the licensed CPA and EA arguments about representation, knowledge, skills,
etc. The arguments fail because of a basic problem-the general public does not currently know,
does not care and will probably never know what the difference between the various credentials
are unless they need a different level of service. As an example-do you know the difference
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between an RPh and a Pharm D pharmacist? (The 2 is a degree without a license).
Pharmacists may know the difference but no one else does! Similarly, tax professionals may
know the difference between credentials, but no one else does.
In December, 2011 I took and passed the RTRP exam, even though I am already both a CPA
and an EA. Although I have many reasons to have taken the RTRP exam, the main reason is that
of caution-I want to protect my position in the eyes of the general public as a long-term tax
preparer and passing the RTRP exam now is a simple step towards that protection. I believe that
a practicing CPA or EA who does not take the test for whatever excuse they want is hiding their
head in the sand and making a poor long-term decision. I feel strongly enough about this that I
have had all of our tax professional employees (and our IT guy!) take the exam as well. Do we
sell a review course-yes. Does that change my answer-no.
Take the exam. Protect your future. Have your staff members take the exam as well. And by the
way, you do need to study for it-take that bit of advice from someone who has already taken it
and the other licensing exams.