This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams.

In this episode you will learn:

- A conflict of interest exists under Circular 230 section 10.29 when representation is directly adverse to another client or is materially limited by other responsibilities.

- To proceed despite a conflict, the practitioner must have a reasonable belief in their ability to provide competent representation, the representation must not be prohibited by law, and each client must provide written informed consent.

- The client's written consent must be confirmed no later than 30 days after the conflict is known.

- Practitioners must retain copies of the written consents for at least 36 months after the conclusion of the representation.

- Exam questions often use scenarios involving divorcing spouses or feuding business partners to test the application of the three-part waiver rule.

For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams.

In this episode you will learn:

- Your primary duty under Circular 230 section 10.28 is to promptly return all client records necessary for tax compliance upon request.

- A fee dispute does not generally relieve you of the responsibility to return a client's records.

- How to distinguish between client-provided records, which must be returned, and practitioner work product, which may be withheld if unpaid.

- The narrow state-law exception that may permit retaining records, but still requires providing reasonable access for copying.

- That you are always permitted to retain copies of any client records you return, at your own expense.

For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams.

In this episode you will learn:

- The general prohibition under Circular 230 against charging unconscionable and contingent fees.

- The specific exception allowing contingent fees for representing a client during an IRS examination or challenge to an original tax return.

- The critical 120-day rule for charging contingent fees on amended returns or claims for refund in connection with an IRS examination.

- The exception that permits contingent fees for claims related solely to statutory interest and penalties.

- The circumstances under which a contingent fee is allowed for services related to judicial proceedings.

For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams.

In this episode you will learn:

- Practitioners are forbidden from knowingly accepting assistance from or assisting anyone disbarred or suspended from IRS practice.

- The definition of "assistance" is broad, including any act of "practice" such as return preparation or providing tax advice, not just direct representation.

- A disbarred individual can only be employed for purely clerical duties that involve no tax judgment, such as filing or basic data entry.

- A common exam trap is the "review and sign" fallacy; a licensed EA cannot cure a violation by simply reviewing and signing substantive work prepared by a disbarred person.

- Remember the rule: "No Contact, No Counsel, Just Clerical" to define the strict boundaries for employing a suspended or disbarred person.

For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams.

In this episode you will learn:

- A practitioner must not unreasonably delay the prompt disposition of any matter before the IRS.

- Using delay as a strategy, such as hoping an IRS agent will be reassigned, is a clear violation of Circular 230.

- A practitioner is not absolved of responsibility just because a client is causing the delay; they must still act with diligence to move the case forward.

- Filing for an extension is permissible, but using extensions as a tactic to obstruct or without a valid reason constitutes an unreasonable delay.

- The EA exam tests this concept through scenarios that require you to distinguish between reasonable and unreasonable delays.

For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams.

In this episode you will learn:

- That due diligence under Circular 230 is a standard of 'reasonable care,' not a guarantee of correctness on all filings.

- You may rely on client-provided information, but not blindly; you have a duty to make reasonable inquiries if information appears incorrect, incomplete, or inconsistent.

- When relying on the work of another person, you are only presumed to have exercised due diligence if you used reasonable care in hiring, supervising, and training them.

- How the exam tests your responsibility to probe deeper into questionable information rather than accepting it at face value, an act of 'willful blindness'.

- The difference between the general due diligence standard of Section 10.22 and the specific, heightened requirements for certain tax credits.

For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams.

In this episode you will learn:

- Your two primary duties under Circular 230 §10.21 are to promptly inform the client of an error and advise on potential consequences.

- You are strictly prohibited from notifying the IRS about a client's error without their explicit permission.

- Forcing a client to file an amended return is not your responsibility; the decision to correct a past mistake rests solely with the taxpayer.

- Withdrawing from an engagement is not automatically required if a client refuses to correct an error, unless that error impacts the accuracy of current work.

- A helpful mnemonic: "Advise, don't advertise." Your role is to advise the client, not to advertise their mistakes to the IRS.

For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams.

In this episode you will learn:

- Under Circular 230 Section 10.20, you must promptly submit records upon a lawful IRS request.

- If you don't possess requested records, you must notify the IRS and identify who you believe has them.

- An exam trap is choosing an answer that only states you don't have the records, which is an incomplete duty.

- Information may be withheld if you have a good-faith belief it is privileged, but the privilege must be formally asserted.

- Remember the 'PIP' mnemonic: Promptly respond, Inform and Identify, or assert a valid Privilege.

For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams.

In this episode you will learn:

- The Secretary of the Treasury's authority to regulate practitioners comes from 31 U.S.C. section 330, with Circular 230 containing the specific rules of conduct.

- The Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) is the IRS body responsible for interpreting and enforcing the rules of Circular 230.

- Practitioners must promptly return all client-provided records upon request, even if fees are unpaid, though state law may permit withholding practitioner-created work product.

- Contingent fees are generally prohibited but are permitted in three specific circumstances: IRS examinations, claims for refunds of interest and penalties, and judicial proceedings.

- Sanctions for violating Circular 230 range from a public censure to suspension or permanent disbarment from practice before the IRS, and can also include monetary penalties.

For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams.

In this episode you will learn:

- Who is required to obtain a PTIN, including the rules for nonsigning preparers.

- The annual PTIN renewal window and the importance of personal tax compliance in the application process.

- The key distinction between a nonsigning preparer who needs a PTIN and someone providing purely clerical assistance.

- The severe consequences under Circular 230 for using another person's PTIN or allowing yours to be used improperly.

- A simple mnemonic to connect the compensation requirement with the need for a PTIN on the exam.

For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep