Tag: IRS Continuing education

Who participates in the IRS Annual Filing Season Program?

The IRS Annual Filing Season Program (AFSP) is a voluntary competency program for professional tax preparers and new tax preparers in the United States. The program consists of 18 credit hours of continuing education.  12 of the IRS continuing education credits are to be from courses taken, and 2 of those are, specifically, required to be from Ethics courses. The remaining 10 can be a mixture of general tax law and tax law updates. 6 continuing education credits are given for the passing of the 100 question Annual Federal Tax Refresher (AFTR) exam.

Anyone can take and pass an IRS-Approved AFSP Course, but obtaining a Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) is required in order to receive your AFSP Record of Completion. This may be unavailable to foreign nationals.

Exempt Preparers are eligible to receive the AFSP Record of Completion without the requirement to take the AFTR exam. They must maintain 15 annual continuing education requirements and renew their PTIN yearly.

 

Author Tina HarveyPosted on Categories IRS AFTR COURSETags , ,

When is my 2024 AFSP Due for the IRS?

In order to get your certificate of completion for the 2024 Annual Filing Season Program (AFSP), you must meet all of the requirements by the last day of the calendar year, December 31st, 2024.  This will enable you to be considered an "AFSP Tax Preparer" for the tax year 2024 (calendar year 2025).

The requirements to participate are:

  1. Renew or Obtain a Preparer Tax Identification Number via irs.gov/ptin.
  2. Complete the Annual Federal Tax Refresher.  This exam counts as 6 credit hours.
  3. Complete 10 credit hours of IRS continuing education from an approved continuing education provider in the General Tax Law category.
  4. Complete 2 credit hours of IRS continuing education from an approved continuing education provider in the Ethics category.

Ensure that all of your credits are reported to the IRS. Once you have met the requirements to participate the Annual Filing Season Program, the IRS will send you a message in your PTIN message box. Agreeing to be regulated under circular 230 is the last step in the process to become an IRS AFSP Tax Preparer.

Author Tina HarveyPosted on Categories IRS AFTR COURSETags , , ,