SEE Part 2 format: questions, score and cost
SEE Part 2 is a 100-question multiple-choice exam on business taxation, of which 85 questions are scored and 15 are unscored experimental items. You get 3.5 hours of exam time, the appointment is booked for 4 hours, the fee is $317, and you pass with a scaled score of 500 on a 200–800 scale. Everything below comes from the PSI Candidate Information Bulletin for the July 1, 2026 – February 28, 2027 testing window and the IRS enrolled agent pages.
| Exam | Special Enrollment Examination, Part 2: Businesses |
| Questions | 100 (85 scored, 15 unscored experimental) |
| Answer options | Four per question, one best answer |
| Exam time | 3.5 hours (appointment booked for 4 hours) |
| Structure | Three sections: questions 1–34, 35–67, 68–100 |
| Passing score | 500 on a 200–800 scaled score |
| Fee | $317 per part, paid when you schedule |
| Delivery | PSI test centre in the US, or remote proctoring |
| Tax law tested | Law as amended through December 31, 2025 (tax year 2025) |
| Attempts | Up to four per part per testing window |
Domains and question counts
The bulletin lists the number of scored questions per domain. Percentages are our own arithmetic against the 85 scored items.
| Domain | Scored questions | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Business Entities and Considerations | 30 | ~35% |
| Business Tax Preparation | 37 | ~44% |
| Specialized Returns and Taxpayers | 18 | ~21% |
Business Tax Preparation is the largest block by some distance: income, cost of goods sold, deductions, depreciation, basis, financial records, book-to-tax reconciliation and advising the business client. Specialized Returns is the smallest but the most varied — trusts and estates, exempt organisations, retirement plans, farmers and rental property all share its 18 questions.
The 15 experimental questions
Fifteen questions are being trialled for future exams. They are spread throughout the paper and not marked, so you cannot tell which ones they are. Answer every question as if it counts. A question that seems oddly worded or out of scope may be experimental, but spending extra time on it is never worth it.
Three sections you cannot go back to
This is the structural feature that most affects your strategy. The exam is split into three sections:
| Section | Questions |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1–34 |
| 2 | 35–67 |
| 3 | 68–100 |
Once you finish a section, review it and confirm, you cannot return to it. Flagging a question to revisit at the end of the exam only works within the section you are in.
Between sections you are offered an optional scheduled 10-minute break, and the exam clock stops during it. If you are not back and have not started the next section within 10 minutes, the clock restarts. At a test centre you may also take unscheduled breaks, but the clock keeps running. Remote candidates get no unscheduled breaks at all.
The pacing implication is covered in the exam tips: 3.5 hours over 100 questions is about 2 minutes 6 seconds per question, and each section needs roughly a third of your time.
Question formats
All questions are multiple choice with four options. The bulletin describes three formats:
- Direct question — a question with one best answer.
- Incomplete sentence — a stem you complete with the best option.
- All of the following EXCEPT — three options are true and you pick the one that is not. These are easy to misread under time pressure.
What you may use
It is closed book. You get an on-screen calculator; personal calculators are not allowed. At a test centre, scratch paper and a pencil are provided and collected at the end. Remote candidates have no paper, only an electronic whiteboard.
Tax year tested
For the current window, questions are based on the Internal Revenue Code, regulations, forms, instructions and publications as amended through December 31, 2025. Unless a question says otherwise it relates to calendar year 2025, and “current tax year” means 2025. That matters for Part 2 because the 2025 legislation changed several business rules — depreciation among them — so study from 2025 editions of IRS forms and publications, not older ones.
Scoring
Your raw result on the 85 scored questions is converted to a scaled score between 200 and 800. The IRS set the pass mark at 500.
- Pass: the report says you passed. It does not show a score.
- Fail: you see your scaled score and diagnostic information by area.
You see pass or fail on screen at the end and receive an emailed score report. Because the score is scaled, there is no published “number of questions you can miss”.
Cost, scheduling and retakes
| Fee per part | $317, paid at scheduling |
| PTIN | Required before you can schedule |
| Cancel or reschedule | At least 48 hours ahead |
| Arriving 30+ minutes late | Fee forfeited |
| Retakes | Up to four attempts per part per window |
| No testing | March and April, while the exam is updated |
The fee is generally not refundable. PSI took over delivery from Prometric effective March 1, 2026; candidates outside the US test remotely.
How long a pass lasts
A passed part stays valid for three years from the date you passed it. You need all three parts — Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 — inside overlapping validity windows. After passing the last part, you apply for enrollment on Form 23 within one year, pay the $140 enrollment fee and go through a suitability check covering tax compliance and criminal background.
The parts can be taken in any order. See is SEE Part 2 hard? for how Part 2 compares to the other two, and the study plan for how to prepare.