n-11-80.pdf

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Part III - Administrative, Procedural, and Miscellaneous

Guidance Regarding Obtaining and Renewing PTINs and Continuing Education
Requirements for Registered Tax Return Preparers

Notice 2011-80
Purpose
This Notice provides guidance to individuals who have or will obtain a preparer
tax identification number (PTIN), including a provisional PTIN, or who become
registered tax return preparers. Section 1 of this Notice provides guidance regarding
the last date that provisional PTINs may be obtained, provides that provisional PTINs
must be continually maintained, and clarifies that, beginning in 2012, provisional PTIN
holders must complete continuing education requirements. Section 2 of this Notice
provides guidance regarding PTIN (including provisional PTIN) renewal, section 3
provides that certain individuals must be fingerprinted and pass a suitability check prior
to obtaining a PTIN, and section 4 provides guidance regarding continuing education
requirements for registered tax return preparers.
Background
The Treasury Department and the IRS are implementing the recommendations
contained in Publication 4832, “Return Preparer Review.” As part of this
implementation, the Treasury Department and the IRS have published final regulations
(TD 9527, 76 FR 32302) that include registered tax return preparers as practitioners

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under 31 CFR Part 10 (reprinted as Treasury Department Circular 230).
In addition, the Treasury Department and the IRS published final regulations
under section 6109 (TD 9501, 75 FR 60309) providing that after December 31, 2010, all
individuals who prepare all or substantially all of a tax return or claim for refund for
compensation must have a PTIN that was applied for and received at the time and in
the manner prescribed by the IRS and must use that PTIN as their sole identifying
number. The Treasury Department and the IRS also published final regulations (TD
9503, 75 FR 60316) requiring individuals to pay a $50 user fee to the IRS, plus any IRS-
approved fee charged by the third-party vendor, to initially obtain and to annually renew
a PTIN. Under the section 6109 regulations, only attorneys, certified public
accountants, enrolled agents, registered tax return preparers, and individuals authorized
under § 1.6109-2(h) are eligible to receive a PTIN.
In section 1 of Notice 2011-6, 2011-3 IRB 315, the IRS identified two additional
groups of individuals who are eligible under § 1.6109-2(h) to obtain a PTIN: (1) specified
individuals who are supervised by the attorney, certified public accountant, enrolled
agent, enrolled retirement plan agent, or enrolled actuary who signs the tax return or
claim for refund prepared by the individual and (2) individuals who certify they do not
prepare or assist in the preparation of all or substantially all of any tax return or claim for
refund covered by a competency examination (Form 1040 series tax returns and
accompanying schedules until further notice). Section 2 of Notice 2011-6 further
provides that individuals who are not attorneys, certified public accountants, or enrolled
agents may obtain a provisional PTIN before the date that the registered tax return

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preparer competency examination is first offered (initial test offering date).
For purposes of this Notice, individuals who obtain a provisional PTIN under the
terms of section 2 of Notice 2011-6 are “provisional PTIN holders.” Individuals who
obtain a PTIN under section 1 of Notice 2011-6 are not provisional PTIN holders.
Section 1: Provisional PTINs
a. Deadline To Obtain a Provisional PTIN
In Notice 2011-6, the IRS announced that it did not expect to offer the registered
tax return preparer competency examination before mid-2011 and, once the
examination was offered, the IRS would no longer issue provisional PTINs. The IRS
currently does not expect to offer the competency examination before Fall 2011. The
IRS, therefore, will continue to issue provisional PTINs until at least April 18, 2012, to
allow individuals sufficient time to prepare for the competency examination and to
prevent disruption of the 2012 filing season. The IRS will announce the last date it will
issue provisional PTINs in a news release issued at least 30 days before that date. The
IRS will issue provisional PTINs until the designated date regardless of the initial test
offering date.
The provisions of section 2 of Notice 2011-6 will continue to apply to provisional
PTIN holders regardless of the date the provisional PTIN is obtained. Thus, all
provisional PTIN holders must comply with both section 2 of Notice 2011-6 and the
applicable provisions of this Notice.
b. Provisional PTINs Must be Continually Maintained

Individuals who obtain a provisional PTIN may retain the provisional PTIN until

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December 31, 2013. Individuals who have a provisional PTIN during this period,
however, must annually renew and continually maintain the provisional PTIN to retain
the ability to prepare tax returns or claims for refund for compensation until December
31, 2013. If an individual allows the provisional PTIN to expire, the individual must
become a registered tax return preparer or other authorized individual under § 1.6109-2
to be eligible to obtain a PTIN and to prepare all or substantially all of a tax return or
claim for refund for compensation. See section 2 of this Notice for the requirement to
renew provisional PTINs on a calendar year basis.
c. Continuing Education Requirements for Provisional PTIN Holders

Section 10.6(d)(4) of Circular 230 requires registered tax return preparers to
renew their status as a registered tax return preparer as prescribed by the IRS in forms,
instructions, or other appropriate guidance. As a condition of renewal, section 10.6(e)
provides that registered tax return preparers must complete minimum continuing
education requirements. Section 2.04 of Notice 2011-6 provides that tax return
preparers who obtain a provisional PTIN before October 1, 2011 are not required to
complete continuing education requirements during 2011.
Individuals who obtain a provisional PTIN in accordance with Notice 2011-6 or
this Notice are not registered tax return preparers and may not represent that they are
registered tax return preparers or have passed the competency examination. Notice
2011-45, 2011-25 IRB 886. Nevertheless, the IRS has decided that these individuals
must satisfy the same minimum continuing education requirements that registered tax
return preparers are required to complete. Details regarding these requirements are

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more fully discussed in section 4 of this Notice.
Provisional PTIN holders who do not satisfy the minimum continuing education
requirements will not be allowed to renew their provisional PTIN. Individuals whose
provisional PTINs are not renewed will be required to pass the registered tax return
preparer competency examination or otherwise become eligible to obtain a PTIN before
preparing all or substantially all of a tax return or claim for refund for compensation.
Section 2: PTIN Renewed Annually on a Calendar Year Basis
Section 1.6109-2(e) provides that the IRS may designate an expiration date for
any PTIN or other prescribed identifying number. The regulation further provides that
the IRS may prescribe the time and manner for renewing a PTIN or other prescribed
identifying number in forms, instructions, or other appropriate guidance.
The IRS has decided that all PTINs (including provisional PTINs) must be
renewed on a calendar year basis using the IRS’s online PTIN application available at
www.irs.gov
or paper application, Form W-12, IRS Paid Preparer Tax Identification
Number (PTIN) Application. Individuals who hold valid PTINs must renew their PTIN
and pay the required fee (currently $64.25, $50.00 IRS user fee plus $14.25 vendor fee)
after October 15th and before January 1st each year. PTINs renewed during this period
will be valid from January 1st through December 31st of the following calendar year.
PTINs obtained or renewed during a calendar year will expire on December 31st of that
year.
Individuals obtaining a new PTIN after October 15th will have the option of
receiving a PTIN for the current calendar year or the following calendar year.

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Individuals who choose to receive a PTIN for the current calendar year will be required
to renew their PTIN before January 1st to prepare returns during the following calendar
year. Individuals who choose to receive a PTIN for the following calendar year may not
prepare tax returns for compensation during the remainder of the current calendar year.
Instead, the PTINs issued to these individuals will be valid for the following calendar
year.
To assist with the transition to a calendar year renewal period, the IRS has
determined that PTINs issued after September 27, 2010 and before October 16, 2011
will expire on December 31, 2011.
Section 3. Certain PTIN Holders Required to be Fingerprinted
Section 6109(c) provides that “the Secretary is authorized to require such
information as may be necessary to assign an identifying number to any person.”
Section 1.6109-2(d) provides that a PTIN must be applied for and received in the time
and manner as may be prescribed by the IRS in forms, instructions, or other appropriate
guidance. The IRS has previously stated that it intends to conduct a suitability check on
all applicants prior to issuing a PTIN. As part of the suitability check, certain PTIN
applicants will be required to be fingerprinted for purposes of performing a background
check. Collected fingerprints will be processed through the Federal Bureau of
Investigation’s (FBI) identification records database. Information obtained through this
process will enable the IRS to better determine if the applicant should receive a PTIN or
have an existing provisional PTIN revoked. The IRS is not requiring attorneys, certified
public accountants, enrolled agents, enrolled retirement plan agents, and enrolled

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actuaries to be fingerprinted at this time.
The Treasury Department and the IRS are currently establishing procedures to
facilitate the collection and processing of fingerprints. The IRS is working with third-
party vendors to establish these procedures. In addition, the Treasury Department and
the IRS intend to publish regulations proposing to establish a user fee to be
fingerprinted. It is anticipated that the third-party vendor will also charge a reasonable,
IRS-approved fee for its fingerprinting services.
Additionally, under the current proposed regulations any participant in the PTIN,
acceptance agent, or authorized e-file provider programs who resides and is employed
outside of the United States will not have to be fingerprinted to participate in these
programs. Such persons, however, must comply with all other elements of the
suitability check. In addition, the Treasury Department and the IRS continue to study
what additional requirements should apply to such persons. Any additional
requirements would be set forth in future guidance.
The IRS will not require individuals to be fingerprinted prior to obtaining a PTIN
until at least April 18, 2012. The IRS will announce the last date that an individual may
receive a PTIN (or provisional PTIN) without first being fingerprinted in a news release
issued at least 30 days before that date. After this date, individuals not exempted from
the fingerprint requirement must be fingerprinted and pass the background check prior
to obtaining a PTIN (provisional PTINs will no longer be available after the date
provided in the news release).
In addition, individuals who obtain a PTIN (or a provisional PTIN) prior to the date

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provided in the news release and who continually maintain their PTIN will not be
required to be fingerprinted until December 31, 2013. After December 31, 2013, these
individuals must be fingerprinted and pass the background check before renewing their
PTIN unless they were already fingerprinted or are not required to be fingerprinted.
Section 4. Continuing Education Requirements for Registered Tax Return
Preparers

Section 10.6(d)(4) of Circular 230 requires registered tax return preparers to
renew their status as a registered tax return preparer as prescribed by the IRS in forms,
instructions, or other appropriate guidance. As a condition of renewal, section
10.6(e)(3) of Circular 230 provides that registered tax return preparers must complete a
minimum of fifteen hours of continuing education credits, including two hours of ethics
or professional conduct, three hours of federal tax law updates, and ten hours of federal
tax law topics during each registration year.
a. Continuing Education Requirements to be Completed on a Calendar Year
Basis

The IRS has determined that registered tax return preparers must complete their
continuing education requirements on a calendar year basis. The IRS will require
registered tax return preparers (and provisional PTIN holders) to satisfy continuing
education requirements beginning in 2012. Therefore, except as set forth in section 4b
of this Notice, registered tax return preparers must complete continuing education
requirements as prescribed in section 10.6(e)(3) of Circular 230 between January 1st
and December 31st of each year beginning in 2012.
b. Continuing Education Requirements Prorated for Individuals Who

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Initially Become a Registered Tax Return Preparer During the
Registration Year

Continuing education requirements for individuals who initially become a
registered tax return preparer after January 31st will be prorated for the initial
registration year. These individuals will be required to complete one hour of continuing
education credit regarding federal tax law updates or federal tax law topics for each
month or portion of a month that the individual is a registered tax return preparer. In
addition, these individuals will be required to complete two hours of ethics credits
regardless of when the individual becomes a registered tax return preparer. For
example, an individual who initially becomes a registered tax return preparer on April
20th is required to complete two hours of ethics credits plus 9 hours of credits regarding
federal tax law or federal tax law updates. Except in the case of a waiver under section
10.6(i) of Circular 230, continuing education requirements will not be prorated after the
initial application year. Individuals who do not timely renew their PTIN before December
31st ordinarily will not qualify for a waiver and must complete all of the continuing
education hours required in section10.6(e)(3) of Circular 230.
Contact Information
The principal author of this notice is Emily M. Lesniak of the Office of Associate
Chief Counsel (Procedure and Administration). For further information regarding this
Notice contact Emily M. Lesniak on (202) 622-4570 (not a toll-free call).