Examworthyexamworthy.comIRS Enrolled Agent - SEE Part 3: Representation, Practices and Procedures cheat sheet
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At a glance
Format: Multiple choice, closed book
Domain weight map
Heaviest first - spend your time hereHow this exam thinks
Part 3 tests whether you know the exact boundary of a rule of practice or procedure, not whether you can compute a tax.
Spot the trap
Tempting wrong answers, and why they failTempting but wrong
Any service for which a person charges a fee in federal taxation, such as bookkeeping or payroll, is practice before the IRS.
Why it fails
Tying the definition to charging a fee feels intuitive, but Circular 230 defines practice by the nature of the dealing with the Service rather than by whether a fee was charged. This wrongly sweeps in unrelated paid services that involve no presentation about a taxpayer's rights or liabilities.
Practices and Procedures
Tempting but wrong
Form 2848 lets a person only inspect confidential information, while Form 8821 lets that person argue the taxpayer's position and sign agreements.
Why it fails
This reverses the two instruments, which is tempting because both grant third-party access. In fact Form 2848 confers representation and Form 8821 confers disclosure only, so the roles are swapped and the statement is wrong.
Representation before the IRS
Tempting but wrong
The IRS must grant a guaranteed agreement to any taxpayer owing 50,000 dollars or less who pays over up to seventy-two months.
Why it fails
The 50,000 dollar figure and the seventy-two month term describe the streamlined agreement, not the guaranteed one. Borrowing those parameters confuses the two categories and misstates the guaranteed rule, which is capped at 10,000 dollars and a three-year payoff.
Specific Areas of Representation
Tempting but wrong
Does Form 8867 due diligence apply to the earned income credit alone, leaving the child tax credit and American opportunity credit with no recorded duty?
Why it fails
The earned income credit was the original focus, which makes this tempting, but the duty now extends well beyond it, so limiting Form 8867 to that one credit understates the rule and is wrong.
Filing Process
Tempting but wrong
Practice before the IRS means only formal appearances at an Appeals conference or examination interview, so letters and phone calls fall outside it.
Why it fails
Limiting practice to in-person appearances seems orderly, but Section 10.2 expressly includes corresponding and communicating with the Service. Excluding written and telephone contact made on a client's behalf understates the definition.
Practices and Procedures
Tempting but wrong
Naming the firm on Form 2848 is the only way the IRS will release transcripts and copies of notices to a third party.
Why it fails
Form 2848 would indeed allow the firm to receive information, but it also grants representation the taxpayer expressly does not want, and it is not the only route to disclosure, so it overshoots the stated need.
Representation before the IRS
Tempting but wrong
A partial-payment installment agreement extends the collection statute for an extra ten years so the IRS keeps collecting beyond the deadline.
Why it fails
An extended collection period seems to follow from smaller payments, but a partial-payment agreement does not lengthen the statute by ten years. The unpaid balance is generally written off when the period ends, so this misdescribes the mechanism.
Specific Areas of Representation
Tempting but wrong
Does due diligence reach every refundable credit, including the premium tax credit and recovery rebate amounts?
Why it fails
Refund risk does run across many credits, but the due diligence rule is limited to a named set and does not reach the premium tax credit or rebate amounts, so casting it over all refundable credits is incorrect.
Filing Process
Key terms
Exam-day rules
- Read the last line of the question first. Part 3 questions test a specific boundary or procedure, so finding what is actually asked lets you read the scenario for the answer rather than memorising detail.
- Match the instrument to the purpose. Form 2848 to act, Form 8821 to inform; a 30-day letter to Appeals, a 90-day notice to the Tax Court. The trap is the right tool offered for the wrong job.
- Keep the two penalty regimes separate. If the question asks what the Office of Professional Responsibility can do, a Code dollar penalty is the wrong family; if it asks about a preparer penalty, an ethics sanction is wrong.
- Watch the deadlines. Collection Due Process is 30 days on Form 12153; the statutory notice of deficiency is 90 days to the Tax Court. Many distractors swap the timeline onto the wrong notice.
- Remember what cannot be abated. Penalties can fall to reasonable cause or first-time abatement, but interest is generally not abatable except for an unreasonable IRS error or delay.
Revision schedule
- Day 1Map the blueprint and book a date
- Week 1Lock Circular 230 and who may practise
- Week 1-2Master authorisation and case build
- Week 2-3Drill collection, abatement, and appeals
- Week 3Cover the filing process