EA FEES TO INCREASE UNDER CURRENT PROPOSAL:

The IRS’s proposed hike in enrolled agent (EA) user fees does not take into account the other expenses that individuals incur to obtain a license and could drive qualified individuals from the profession, tax professionals have warned the agency.

At a May 11 IRS public hearing (Federal Register: User Fees Relating to Enrolled Agents and Enrolled Retirement Plan Agents ), speakers expressed their concerns with the proposed regulations (REG-114209-21) that would increase to $140 the fees for new EAs and for those renewing their license every three years — more than double the current $67 fee. That $67 fee level, established in 2019, was itself an increase from when the fee was set at just $30.

The proposed fee increases would be allocated to covering the IRS’s cost of providing oversight and administrative assistance to EAs, according to the proposed regs. The IRS said that its Return Preparer Office (RPO) completed an assessment of the cost of providing its services in 2021 and determined that the full cost had grown to $140 per application, citing, for example, “additional staffing that allows RPO to provide a higher quality of service to individuals seeking to enroll or renew enrollment.” The Return Preparer Office, lead by Carol Campbell, can be reached here.