importance of tax preparer credentials - IRS listing

An oft heard phrase during my Revenue Officer career was "My CPA is..." when a taxpayer was identifying what turned out to be his/her unenrolled tax preparer. So many folks skilled in their own trade or profession have no concept of the various service providers in the tax accounting field. I doubt that a list on the IRS web site will have much effect.

perhaps the list should be like restaurant reviews:

Tax Attorney $$$$ CPA $$$ EA $$ AFSP $

perhaps the list should be like restaurant reviews:

Tax Attorney $$$$ CPA $$$ EA $$ AFSP $ ================= Why rate CPAs above EAs? A CPA can practice accounting and never touch tax issues. An EA only deals with tax issues. For a tax practitioner list, I'd reverse these. However, truly nothing can be said on an individual basis as there are always good/competent people and those not so....

This makes me feel good about my decision to eventually wrap things up and get out of this business in about 5 years while I'm still sane.

I agree. I've known EA's who were much more knowledgeable about doing returns than some CPA's.

In terms of compliance I would put most attorneys closer to (or at) the bottom of the list, too.

did you not notice the dollar signs?

Pico Rico was rating cost, not competence or compliance. He is merely saying that CPAs charge more than EAs. That's the meaning of using dollar signs for the ratings.

Bob Sandler

I noticed the dollar signs, and I get your point -- but just as with skill levels, the prices charged vary a lot. Probably has less to do with credential (note the AFSP is NOT a credential, although some customers may mistakenly think it is), and more to do with experience, customer demographics, and the type of practice the practitioner wants.

For example, I seek out clients who are comfortable doing the entire return without an in-office appointment and who don't want to pay for me to send them a fancy presentation folder with bulky printouts at the end of the process - so my fees tend to reflect lower overhead.

did you not notice the dollar signs? ===========Yes, and you gave CPA's 3 while giving EA's only 2. That's what I object to.

I think he means they indicate cost, not quality.

Hey, I don't like it either, but it's a sad fact of life, that CPA's can generally charge more than EA's, even when it comes to preparing the simplest of tax forms. Regardless of the quality of their work, a CPA in the same town as an EA is usually going to charge more. C'est la vie. Quality of the work is another issue.

Chris Johnson, EA