Tax season officially opened January 23rd and I happened to catch an ad on television of Humpty Dumpty doing his taxes sitting on the wall using an over-the-counter tax software bundle on his phone! Well, no surprise there but yes, Humpty Dumpty did have a great fall and yes, he did crack up! I guess there is a moral to this story…my take on that is NOT to do your taxes on the phone in the first place but then again if you are Humpty, you are not going to listen to me, are you?

Unlike Humpty here, I hope you have started gathering your papers and made an appointment with your tax professional. Speaking of tax professionals, there are only three kinds of tax professionals who have unlimited practice rights. What this means is that they are unrestricted as to which taxpayers they can represent, what types of tax matters they can handle, and which IRS offices they can represent clients before.

An Enrolled Agent is the only federally-licensed tax practitioner who both specializes in taxation and have unlimited rights to represent taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service.

This is a tax professional who has earned the privilege of representing taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service by either passing a three-part comprehensive IRS test covering individual and business tax returns, or through experience as a former IRS employee. Enrolled agent status is the highest credential the IRS awards.

Individuals who obtain this elite status must adhere to ethical standards and complete 72 hours of continuing education courses every three years. The Enrolled Agent is governed by the rules set forth in the Treasury Department Circular No. 230 and is subject to a rigorous background check by the IRS before they are conferred a license.

The National Association of Enrolled Agents (NAEA) is one of the premium organizations for Enrolled Agents. Members of the NAEA have to complete 90 hours of continuing education credits every three years in order to maintain their NAEA membership status.

Navigating through tax rules and regulations is not for the faint of heart, hire an Enrolled Agent today to help guide you.