What is EA in IRS?
James Craig
Published Apr 08, 2026
An enrolled agent is a person who has earned the privilege of representing taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service by either passing a three-part comprehensive IRS test covering individual and business tax returns, or through experience as a former IRS employee.
How much does a tax EA make?
How location affects enrolled agent salary
| U.S. State City | Average Enrolled Agent Salary |
|---|---|
| California Los Angeles | $51,282 |
| Texas Houston | $51,282 |
| Colorado Denver | $50,020 |
| Georgia Atlanta | $49,132 |
Which is harder EA or CPA exam?
Most people who have taken both report that the CPA Exam is more difficult to pass than the EA exam. The reason for this is the amount of information both exams cover. EAs must be tax experts, so the SEE goes into great depth on tax matters. However, the CPA Exam covers four different subfields of accountancy.
What is the EA pass rate?
Enrolled Agent Exam Pass Rate: How Hard Is the Enrolled Agent Exam? As the average Enrolled Agent exam pass rate is 71%, many people find the EA exam to be easier than the CPA Exam or CMA exam.
Can an EA sign financial statements?
Enrolled Agents: cannot prepare and sign financial statements.
What type of questions are on the EA exam?
To pass the Enrolled Agent (EA) exam, also known as the Special Enrollment Examination (SEE), you only have to master one type of question: the multiple-choice question (MCQ). Though you’re probably familiar with standard MCQs, the ones you will see on the EA exam can be a little more complicated.
How many questions are in the IRS EA exam?
The EA exam has been designed to test competence relating to tax matters for the purposes of having the privilege of representing taxpayers for the IRS. The exam is broken down into three sections. Each of the three exam parts has 100 multiple-choice questions.
How does Part 1 of the EA exam work?
So, your EA exam score for Part 1 comes primarily from those 85 questions. However, the 15 experimental questions are spread out throughout the test, so you don’t know which ones they are. This means you will want to do your best on ALL of the questions since you don’t know which ones will count towards your score.
How does an Enrolled Agent ( EA ) work for the IRS?
An enrolled agent (EA) represented both a taxpayer and a former business partner of the taxpayer before the IRS with regard to a specific tax matter. Due to a conflict of interest between the two taxpayers in the tax matter, the EA obtained a written consent from each of the clients waiving the conflict of interest and giving informed consent.
Do you need a PTIN to take the IRS EA exam?
The EA exam requirements do not include an education or experience requirement. Rather, to take the SEE exam, you simply must have a Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN). The EA exam has 3 parts: You can take the IRS exams in any order. The IRS exam syllabus reveals which topics the exam addresses.
