The Enrolled Agent Exam: Parts 1-3 Explained and How to Prepare

9/16/2026

The enrolled agent exam, officially the Special Enrollment Examination (SEE), is the IRS test that stands between a tax preparer and unlimited rights to represent taxpayers before the IRS. It is three separate exams, not one, and each part has its own content outline, its own difficulty profile and its own best study approach.

This guide covers what each part actually tests (using the IRS's own domain breakdown), how the exam is delivered and scored, what changed in 2026 when the IRS moved the exam from Prometric to a new vendor, and how to prepare for each part. If you need the week-by-week calendar, our enrolled agent exam study plan covers scheduling. This page covers the exam itself.

The SEE at a Glance

Per the IRS's enrolled agent FAQs, current as of the 2026-2027 testing window:

Item	Current rule
Parts	Part 1 Individuals, Part 2 Businesses, Part 3 Representation, Practices and Procedures
Questions per part	100 (85 scored, 15 unscored experimental)
Testing time	3.5 hours per part (about 4 hours of seat time with tutorial, survey and break)
Scoring	Scaled 200-800; 500 to pass
Fee	$317 per part, paid when you schedule
Vendor	PSI (replaced Prometric from March 1, 2026)
Delivery	PSI test centers or online remote proctoring
Retakes	Each part may be taken up to 4 times per testing window
Carryover	A passed part counts for up to 3 years from the date you passed it
Tax law tested	Calendar year 2025 law for the 2026-2027 window

 

Two things in that table are new enough that older guides get them wrong: the vendor change to PSI and the new 200-800 score scale. Both are covered below.

Before You Register: The PTIN

You need a Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) before you can apply to take the SEE. If you already prepare returns for pay, you have one. If you do not, getting a PTIN is the first step, and it takes minutes online. Keep the PTIN current, because it is also required later when you apply for enrollment.

Part 1: Individuals

What it tests

Part 1 covers individual taxation. The IRS content outline breaks the 85 scored questions into six domains:

Domain	Scored questions
1. Preliminary Work and Taxpayer Data	14
2. Income and Assets	17
3. Deductions and Credits	17
4. Taxation	15
5. Advising the Individual Taxpayer	11
6. Specialized Returns for Individuals	11

 

Preliminary work covers the things a careful preparer does before entering a number: prior-year returns and carryovers, residency and citizenship, filing requirements, filing status and dependents. Income and assets runs from wages, interest and dividends through rental income, cancellation of debt and foreign income, then retirement income and property: basis, capital gains and losses, and real property sales. Deductions and credits includes itemized deductions, the qualified business income deduction and the full set of individual credits. The specialized returns domain covers estate and gift tax, which surprises many preparers who never file a Form 706 or 709.

Where candidates lose points

Part 1 feels familiar to anyone who prepares individual returns, and that is the trap. Candidates lose points on the topics their own client base never brings in: basis adjustments, retirement distribution exceptions, the less common credits, foreign income, and the estate and gift domain. Because the 2026-2027 window tests 2025 law, it also includes the 2025 changes enacted by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-21), which made most of the 2017 individual provisions permanent and added new deductions. Study the law as it stood for 2025, not the version you remember from earlier seasons.

Preparation focus

Start with practice questions, not reading. Your wrong answers will show you which of the six domains your practice never touches. Then spend most of your time there. The EA Review Part 1 - Individual course is the part-specific option for candidates who want to take Part 1 on its own.

Part 2: Businesses

What it tests

Part 2 covers business taxation, and the IRS gives it three broad domains:

Domain	Scored questions
1. Business Entities and Considerations	30
2. Business Tax Preparation	37
3. Specialized Returns and Taxpayers	18

 

Business entities covers choosing and forming an entity, partnerships, corporations in general, forming a corporation and S corporations. Business tax preparation covers business income, expenses, deductions and credits, business assets (depreciation and dispositions), analysis of financial records and advising the business taxpayer. Specialized returns covers trust and estate income tax, exempt organizations, retirement plans, farmers and rental property.

Where candidates lose points

Part 2 is the part most candidates find hardest, and the reason is breadth against experience. A preparer who works mainly with individuals and simple Schedule C businesses may never have computed partnership basis, followed an S corporation shareholder's stock and debt basis through a loss year, handled a corporate liquidation or prepared a Form 1041. All of that is fair game. The specialized domain also reaches into exempt organizations and farm income, which few preparers see in practice.

Preparation focus

Plan more study time for Part 2 than for either other part, and expect it to feel like learning rather than review. Work entity basis problems by hand until the mechanics are automatic, because basis questions show up across domains. The EA Review Part 2 - Business course covers this part on its own. If partnership and S corporation work is new to you, the Certificate in Partnership Taxation and Certificate in S Corp Transactions go deeper than any exam review can.

Part 3: Representation, Practices and Procedures

What it tests

Part 3 is about practice before the IRS rather than computing tax. The IRS outline:

Domain	Scored questions
1. Practices and Procedures	26
2. Representation before the IRS	25
3. Specific Areas of Representation	20
4. Filing Process	14

 

Practices and procedures covers who may practice before the IRS, the requirements for enrolled agents, sanctionable acts, and the rules and penalties that apply to practitioners, largely under Circular 230. Representation covers powers of attorney, building the taxpayer's case, the taxpayer's financial situation, supporting documentation, legal authority and related issues. Specific areas of representation covers collection, penalty and interest abatement, examinations and appeals. The filing process domain covers accuracy, record maintenance and electronic filing.

Where candidates lose points

Experienced preparers routinely underestimate Part 3. Most have prepared thousands of returns but have never worked a collection case, taken a matter to Appeals or read Circular 230 closely. The questions are precise: which form authorizes what, which practitioner act is sanctionable, what a representative may and may not do. Familiarity from practice is not the same as knowing the rule.

Preparation focus

Part 3 rewards rule-level reading more than any other part. Learn the authorization forms and what each permits, the stages of collection and the alternatives at each one, and the conduct standards for practitioners. The EA Review Part 3 - Representation course covers it on its own, and the Tax Resolution Specialist program is useful if you want representation skills you can use with clients as soon as you are enrolled.

How the Exam Is Delivered: From Prometric to PSI

For years, the SEE was scheduled and delivered through Prometric, which is why so many people still search for "enrolled agent exam Prometric." That changed in 2026. Per the IRS, beginning March 1, 2026, the SEE is no longer administered by Prometric; the IRS selected PSI as the new testing vendor. Scheduling, payment, rescheduling and score reports now run through PSI's IRS testing portal.

If you passed a part under Prometric, the IRS FAQs indicate your passing score still counts toward the three-year carryover. Old Prometric study guides and scheduling instructions, however, are out of date. Use the IRS enrolled agent pages and the current PSI candidate materials for logistics.

The testing window

The SEE normally runs from May 1 through the end of February, with an annual blackout in March and April while the IRS updates the exam for the new tax year. The vendor transition stretched that gap in 2026: the IRS lists the current domestic window as July 1, 2026, to February 28, 2027. International scheduling was delayed, and the IRS had not set new start dates at the time of writing, so international candidates should check the IRS FAQs directly.

Test center or remote

Per the IRS, the SEE is available at test centers and through online remote proctoring, where you test from a private room with webcam monitoring. Remote testing has its own rules: a clear desk, a stable connection, and an acceptable ID. The IRS notes that military IDs cannot be used for remote testing, even though test centers accept them. Bring one original, unexpired government-issued photo ID with your name, photo and signature, and make sure the name matches your registration exactly.

How Scoring Works

Each part has 100 questions; 85 count and 15 are unscored experimental questions you cannot identify, so treat every question as live. Your correct answers on the 85 scored questions are converted to a scaled score from 200 to 800, and 500 is the passing score. This replaced the older 40-130 scale with a passing score of 105, which you will still see in older prep material.

If you pass, your score report shows a pass without a number. If you fail, you receive your scaled score and diagnostic information by domain, which is the most useful study document you will ever get for a retake. Read it closely and re-plan around your weakest domains rather than simply re-reading everything.

Retakes and the Three-Year Carryover

You may take each part up to four times per testing window. That is generous, but each attempt costs a fee and a slot in your calendar, so a careless first attempt is still expensive.

Each passed part counts for up to three years from the date you passed it. If you have not passed the other parts within that period, you lose credit for the expired part and must retake it. The IRS extended carryover periods for candidates affected by the 2026 vendor transition, so check the FAQs if a passed part is close to expiring. The planning lesson is simple: finish comfortably inside the window, not at its edge.

After the Exam: Applying for Enrollment

Passing all three parts does not make you an enrolled agent. You then apply for enrollment on Form 23, which carries a $140 fee. The IRS requires you to apply within one year of the date you passed the third part, and it says processing takes about 60 days (longer for former IRS employees).

The application triggers a suitability check, which includes a review of your own tax compliance and a criminal background check. Unfiled personal returns or an unresolved balance can hold up enrollment, so sort out your own filings before you start studying, not after you pass. Our post comparing the enrolled agent and CPA credentials explains what the enrollment then lets you do.

Which Part to Take First

The IRS allows the parts in any order. Three sensible approaches:

• Part 1 first if you prepare individual returns. It overlaps most with your work, it gives you a fast pass and the momentum carries into the harder parts.
• Part 3 second for most working preparers, because it is the shortest body of material and immediately useful in practice.
• Part 2 first only if you work mainly with business returns, or if you want to tackle the hardest part while motivation is highest.

Whatever order you choose, avoid scheduling an exam date in the middle of filing season. A plan that has you learning partnership basis in March rarely survives contact with your client list.

A Preparation Approach That Works for Each Part

1. Diagnose before you read. Take a timed set of practice questions for the part. Sort your misses by IRS domain.
2. Weight your time by domain size and weakness. Business Tax Preparation carries 37 scored questions in Part 2; a weak spot there costs more than a weak spot in a 14-question domain.
3. Study the rule, then the question. Read the rule for each missed topic, then do fresh questions on it until you can explain why each wrong answer is wrong.
4. Practice at exam length. At least once per part, do a full 100-question set in 3.5 hours. Pacing failures cost passes that knowledge would have earned.
5. Use your client work. When a real return touches an exam topic, look up the rule properly instead of repeating what you did last year.
6. Book the date early. A scheduled date turns a vague plan into a real one, and seats near the end of the window can be harder to get.

A structured review course keeps all of this in one place. The EA Review Course covers all three parts for candidates who want one program from first diagnostic to final part, and the part-specific courses linked above suit candidates who are retaking a single part or want to pay as they go. Our enrolled agent training courses catalog lists them together.

Frequently Asked Questions

How hard is the enrolled agent exam?

It is demanding but very passable for a prepared candidate. Most people find Part 2 (Businesses) the hardest because it covers partnerships, S corporations, corporations, trusts and estates, exempt organizations and farm income, much of which preparers rarely see. Part 1 feels familiar to individual-return preparers, and Part 3 is shorter but precise about Circular 230 and representation rules. The best predictor of difficulty is how far the content outline reaches beyond the work you already do.

How many questions are on the EA exam?

Each of the three parts has 100 multiple-choice questions. Eighty-five are scored and 15 are experimental questions that do not count toward your score but are not identified, so you should answer every question as if it counts. You have 3.5 hours of testing time per part, and the IRS says total seat time is about four hours once you include the tutorial, survey and break.

Is the enrolled agent exam still given at Prometric?

No. The IRS moved the Special Enrollment Examination from Prometric to PSI beginning March 1, 2026. Scheduling, payment and score reports now run through PSI's IRS testing portal, and you can test at a PSI center or through online remote proctoring. Parts you passed under Prometric still count toward the three-year carryover. Older guides that describe Prometric scheduling are out of date, so use the IRS enrolled agent pages for current logistics.

What score do you need to pass the EA exam?

You need a scaled score of 500 on a scale of 200 to 800. The scaled score is calculated from your correct answers on the 85 scored questions. This replaced the older scale of 40 to 130, where 105 was passing, so older study material may quote the wrong number. If you pass, the score report shows only that you passed; if you fail, you receive your scaled score and diagnostic feedback by domain.

How much does the enrolled agent exam cost?

The IRS lists the fee as $317 per part, paid when you schedule each appointment, so all three parts cost $951 if you pass each on the first attempt. Retakes cost the same fee again. After passing, the Form 23 enrollment application carries a separate $140 fee. You also need a current PTIN, which has its own annual fee. Budget for at least one retake so a failed attempt does not stall your plan.

When can I take the EA exam?

The SEE normally runs from May 1 through the end of February, with March and April closed while the IRS updates the exam. Because of the 2026 vendor change, the IRS lists the current domestic window as July 1, 2026, to February 28, 2027. You can take the three parts in any order and up to four times each per window. International testing was delayed at the time of writing, so check the IRS FAQs for current dates.

Start Your EA Review

The enrolled agent exam rewards candidates who study the IRS content outline rather than the parts of tax they already know. The EA Review Course covers all three parts in one program, and the individual Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 courses let you focus on the part in front of you.