How to become an enrolled agent: SEE Part 3

To become an enrolled agent you get a PTIN, pass all three parts of the Special Enrollment Examination within three years of each other, apply on Form 23 within one year of passing the last part, pay the $140 enrollment fee and pass a suitability check covering your tax compliance and criminal background. The IRS lists no degree or experience requirement to sit the exam. Once enrolled, you renew every three years and complete 72 hours of continuing education per cycle.

The route at a glance

Step 1: PTIN

A Preparer Tax Identification Number is required before PSI will let you schedule the exam. The online application takes about 15 minutes. The PTIN is renewed each year, and you will need it throughout your career as an enrolled agent.

Steps 2 to 4: the three SEE parts

Each part has 100 questions (15 unscored), 3.5 hours of exam time, a scaled pass mark of 500 and a $317 fee. You can take the parts in any order, at a PSI test centre in the US or remotely. You get up to four attempts per part in each testing window. The current window runs from July 1, 2026 to February 28, 2027; there is no testing in March and April.

For how the parts compare and which order suits your background, see Part 3 vs Parts 1 and 2.

The three-year carryover

Each passed part stays valid for three years from the date you passed it. If one of your passes expires before you pass the others, you must retake that part. Map the three exams onto a calendar before you book the first one, allowing for the March–April gap and for the possibility of a retake.

Step 5: Form 23

After passing the third part, you apply for enrollment on Form 23, Application for Enrollment to Practice Before the Internal Revenue Service, online through Pay.gov or by mail. You must apply within one year of passing your third part. The enrollment fee is $140.

Miss the one-year deadline and your passes do not become an enrollment — so do not let the final step slide once the exams are done.

Step 6: the suitability check

The IRS reviews every applicant before granting enrollment. The check looks at:

• Tax compliance — your own returns filed and taxes paid, or covered by an arrangement such as an installment agreement.
• Criminal background — convictions, particularly for tax crimes or dishonesty, can lead to denial.

If you have unfiled returns or an unresolved balance, fix them before you apply. It is the step candidates forget because it has nothing to do with the exams.

Former IRS employees

Certain former IRS employees can be enrolled without taking the SEE, on the basis of technical experience gained in their IRS work. If that applies to you, the IRS’s rules for that route replace steps 2 to 4.

After enrollment: renewal and continuing education

If you are enrolled partway through a cycle, the CE requirement is prorated: two hours for each month enrolled, and two hours of ethics for each year. CE must come from IRS-approved providers.

Renewal is on Form 8554. Your enrollment is also conditional on continued compliance with Circular 230 — the rules tested on Part 3 are the rules you will practise under.

How long does it take?

Most candidates spread the three parts over several months, studying one at a time. At six weeks or so per part plus scheduling gaps, finishing within a single testing window is realistic for someone studying consistently; the three-year carryover gives room if life intervenes. Form 23 processing and the suitability check come on top.

What it costs

Retakes cost the full $317 again. See is the EA credential worth it for whether the investment pays back, and the six-week study plan for Part 3 itself.