How to Become an Enrolled Agent

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Updated March 28, 2025

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Enrolled agents are certified tax experts with the legal authority to represent clients. Explore paths to certification in this important and specialized career.

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Enrolled agents (EAs) are taxation experts with unlimited practice rights to represent clients before the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Notably, EAs join attorneys and certified public accountants (CPAs) as the only three types of professionals with unlimited IRS representation rights.

A 2024 National Association of Enrolled Agents (NAEA) analysis noted favorable labor market demand for EAs. Fewer CPAs are emerging to fill vacancies, and employers are increasingly turning to EAs to address ongoing demand for taxation expertise. EA certification is much easier to earn than a CPA license, creating a low barrier of entry to the career.

Read on to learn how to become an enrolled agent.

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Why Get Certified as an EA?

  • Accessibility

    You do not need a particular degree to become an enrolled agent. Instead, you can qualify by passing an IRS-issued examination or working for the IRS. The EA career path is far more attainable than becoming an attorney or CPA and includes fewer costs and barriers.

  • Prestige and Recognition

    The IRS describes nationally recognized EA certification as the highest professional credential the agency awards. Employers value enrolled agents' taxation expertise, and the credential pairs well with accounting education and other accounting, finance, or tax-related professional certifications.

  • Position Yourself in the Job Market

    The CPA profession continues to see declining numbers, and the NAEA anticipates tax audits to rise sharply as the IRS works through a pandemic-related case backlog. These factors combine to create strong opportunities for credentialed EAs.

How Do You Qualify for the EA Credential?

You can follow two paths to enrolled agent certification. The first involves passing the Special Enrollment Examination (SEE), a three-part test designed by the IRS and issued by Prometric. It tests your comprehensive knowledge of the federal U.S. tax code, covering individual and business taxation, along with professional procedures and practices.

Alternatively, you can accrue the necessary technical tax experience through IRS employment. From there, you can apply to become an enrolled agent and receive your certification by passing a background check with a thorough review of your personal tax filings.

The following sections explain how to become an enrolled agent in complete detail:

Educational Requirements

The IRS does not require EA candidates to hold any particular degree or level of educational attainment. Instead, people can qualify solely based on their taxation knowledge or IRS work experience.

Even so, many EAs are college graduates. An accounting degree or taxation degree can help them develop the detailed and specialized knowledge they need to pass the SEE or obtain an EA-track job with the IRS.

Learn More About Required Education
Bachelor's degree programs in accounting
Master's degree programs in accounting
Master's degree programs in taxation

Professional Requirements

You do not need any particular type or amount of professional experience if you elect to certify by examination. If you choose to become certified through experience, you must meet the standards laid out in Treasury Department Circular 230.

Circular 230 guidelines stipulate that you must have at least five years of continuous employment with the IRS. During that time, your regular duties must involve interpreting and applying the Internal Revenue Code regarding one or more of the following:

  • Income taxes
  • Estate taxes and financial gifts
  • Employment taxes
  • Excise taxes

You must also apply for enrollment within three years of the date your employment with the IRS ended.

What Does the Special Enrollment Exam Cover?

To certify as an EA by examination, you must sit for the closed-book SEE at a Prometric testing center. The SEE covers three parts:

  • Individual taxation
  • Business taxation
  • Representation, practices, and procedures

Each section tests your knowledge of taxation sub-domains, business taxation, and representation rights and procedures.

You can take each section individually, in any order, and/or all in one day. However, you must pass all three sections within three years to qualify for EA certification.

All three sections use multiple-choice questions and allow for 3.5 hours each. If you sit for more than one exam section in a single session, you can take an optional 15-minute break after completing the first part. You can also continue without a break or take unscheduled breaks. However, the exam timer will continue to count down during unscheduled breaks.

Scoring the Exam

Prometric calculates your SEE results based on how many multiple-choice questions you answered correctly in each exam section. A mathematical formula turns the number of questions you answered correctly into a scaled score ranging from 40 (no correct answers) to 130 (100 correct answers). You pass a section by earning a scaled score of at least 105.

You will receive a notification from Prometric when your score report becomes available. The information in your report depends on whether you earned a passing score.

If you pass an exam section, you will not receive a numerical score for that part. Instead, Prometric will evaluate your level of proficiency with the taxation concepts tested in that section.

Passing proficiency levels break down as follows:

  • Level 1: Weak. You passed, but Prometric recommends additional education in this domain.
  • Level 2: Acceptable. You performed well but show room for improvement and may want to review this material.
  • Level 3: Strong. You are ready to practice in this area without further education or review.

If you do not pass a section, you will receive a numerical scaled score ranging from 40-104 to provide some insight into how close you came to passing. You will also receive a proficiency ranking:

  • Level 1: Weak. Focus strongly on this area as you prepare to retake this exam section.
  • Level 2: Marginal. You need further work in this area.
  • Level 3: Strong. Your knowledge of this domain was almost good enough to pass.

How Do You Register for the EA License Exam?

You can register and schedule a time to sit for the SEE by creating an online Prometric account or by calling 800-306-3926 (toll free) or 443-751-4193 (tolls may apply). The IRS also allows candidates to register for the examination by completing IRS Form 2587.

When you register for the examination online or by phone, you will receive a list of available testing times, dates, and locations. You can then select a time and place to sit for one or more exam sections. If you register using Form 2587, you will receive scheduling instructions by telephone or mail.

International candidates are welcome to take the exam, but available testing locations are limited and may vary. Check with Prometric for the latest available information.

You may take each section up to four times per testing window, which opens annually on May 1 and closes on the last day of the following February. However, you must wait at least 24 hours before scheduling a retake of any exam section you did not pass.

On the day of your exam, bring an original piece of valid government-issued identification to the testing center. Proctors will ensure it aligns with the personal information you supplied when you registered for the exam.

Paying for the Exam

Prometric collects payment when you schedule your exam section(s). You must pay using a Visa, Mastercard, or American Express credit card, and a fee of $267 per section applies as of March 2025.

Apart from rare and exceptional circumstances, testing fees are neither transferable to later dates nor refundable. If you encounter such a circumstance, notify Prometric as soon as possible. The company makes decisions on a case-by-case basis.

How Can You Prepare for the EA Exam?

If you plan to certify as an EA by examination, preparation is essential. Accounting experts stress that you cannot fast-track your way to passing the exam with tricks or shortcuts. Instead, you must build a comprehensive understanding of the Internal Revenue Code.

The following list covers some tips to prepare for the EA exam.

Top Tips

  1. 1

    Create a Prep Plan

    Start early and build a structured and disciplined study plan. The National Society of Accountants recommends that you plan to spend a minimum of 50 hours studying for each exam section and commit at least 10-15 hours to exam prep each week.
  2. 2

    Study Using IRS Materials

    The IRS offers free online resources to help guide your exam prep, including sample questions and answers broken down by section. As the SEE tests your knowledge of the Internal Revenue Code, you can use the official text of the code as a study aid.
  3. 3

    Consider a Prep Course

    Many reputable providers, including the NAEA and private education companies, offer SEE prep courses that review the material you need to know to pass the examination. Some postsecondary institutions also offer standalone courses designed to prepare participants to sit for the SEE.
  4. 4

    Take Practice Tests

    You can acquire SEE practice tests through online vendors. As you build your knowledge, proceed from untimed practice tests to full 100-question simulations using the 210-minute time limit.
  5. 5

    Target Areas for Improvement

    Prometric provides detailed breakdowns of the sub-domains tested in Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of the SEE. You can use this information to zero in on specific content areas.

Practice Exams and Study Resources

  • NAEA Self-Study EA Exam Prep Course: The NAEA offers this resource through a partnership with Surgent EA Review. The course uses proprietary technology and predictive artificial intelligence to personalize your prep experience. NAEA members can access the Part 1 prep materials free of additional charge.
  • IRS-Issued Sample Questions and Answers: This free resource covers 20 questions for each exam section. The samples include questions similar to those appearing on the real test, a full set of answer choices, the correct answer, and references to the specific Internal Revenue Code sections.
  • Internal Revenue Code: Since the SEE is based entirely on the Internal Revenue Code, you can use the code itself as a free study aid. Before you proceed, double-check to ensure that you use the most recently updated version of the text to ensure its full validity and accuracy.

What Is Needed to Maintain the Certification?

EA certifications operate on three-year renewal cycles. Your renewal date depends on the final digit of your Social Security number. Refer to Section 10.6(d) of Circular 230 for additional details.

Continuing education (CE) requirements apply and must meet the following guidelines:

  • 72 total CE hours per three-year renewal cycle, including 66 hours of taxation education and six hours of ethics
  • At least 16 CE hours, including two hours of ethics, each calendar year
  • Education obtained before initial certification does not qualify

You must complete all CE through an IRS-approved provider.

Should You Get Multiple Certifications?

Some sources recommend pairing EA certification with CPA licensure. However, CPAs inherently have the same unlimited IRS representation rights as EAs, which creates a redundancy.

Instead, you may consider combining your EA certification with another accounting, finance, or taxation credential. Examples include:

Questions on How to Become an Enrolled Agent

What do I need to become an EA?

The core requirements include passing scores on all three sections of the Special Enrollment Examination or five years of IRS employment drawing on your detailed knowledge of the Internal Revenue Code.

The time it takes to become an enrolled agent depends on which certification pathway you choose. If you follow the examination track, you can earn EA certification as soon as you pass all three sections of the SEE, which could take months with proper preparation. The experience pathway requires at least five years of IRS employment.

Becoming an EA is generally considered quite challenging. You must command comprehensive knowledge of the technical tax laws codified in the Internal Revenue Code to become an IRS-certified EA.

The IRS may disqualify you if your tax history includes fraud incidents, unpaid liabilities, or unfiled annual returns. Felony convictions related to financial fraud, breaches of trust, or other forms of financial dishonesty may also disqualify you if they are less than 10 years old.

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