What is an Enrolled Agent?

An Enrolled Agent (EA) is a tax advisor who is a federally-licensed tax practitioner who may represent taxpayers before the IRS when it comes to collections, audits and appeals. As authorized by the Department of Treasury, EAs are granted unlimited practice rights to represent taxpayers before IRS and are authorized to advise, represent, and prepare tax returns for individuals, partnerships, corporations, estates, trusts, and any entities with tax-reporting requirements.

Enrolled agents are the only federally-licensed tax practitioners who specialize in taxation and have unlimited rights to represent taxpayers before the IRS.

The differences between Enrolled Agents and other tax professionals are that only EAs are required to demonstrate to the IRS their competence in matters of taxation before they may represent a taxpayer before the IRS. Unlike attorneys and CPAs, who may or may not choose to specialize in taxes, all EAs specialize in taxation. EAs are the only taxpayer representatives who receive their right to practice from the U.S. government (CPAs and attorneys are licensed by the states).

EAs also prepare tax returns and do bookkeeping for those individuals and businesses that need extra help with their financial statements.