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ERPA CPE


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I am one of the lucky ones whose Social Security Number ends in 0, 1, 2, or 3. So I must renew my ERPA enrollment by 6/30/2010.

I was enrolled 9/3/2009 and it expires 9/30/2010.

I have read the Circular 230 regarding CPE credits for those enrolled during an enrollment cycle and am confused.

For a regular 3 year cycle it is clear that one must have 72 CPE credit, and one must have at least 16 (including at least 2 ethics) each year.

When one was enrolled during a an enrollment cycle Circular 230 states (page 9 - section 10.6 (e)(2)(iii)):

(iii) Enrollment during enrollment cycle. —

(A) In general. Subject to paragraph (e)(2)(iii)

(B) of this section, an individual who receives initial

enrollment during an enrollment cycle must complete

2 hours of qualifying continuing education credit for

each month enrolled during the enrollment cycle.

Enrollment for any part of a month is considered enrollment

for the entire month.

(B) Ethics. An individual who receives initial

enrollment during an enrollment cycle must complete

2 hours of ethics or professional conduct for

each enrollment year during the enrollment cycle.

Enrollment for any part of an enrollment year is considered

enrollment for the entire year.

I wasn't exactly sure what an enrollment year was for me. For part A, "In general", I figured that I had 10 months from 9/2009 to 6/2010 so that was 20 CPE that I needed. What I could not figure out at all was how many ethics CPE I needed. If the enrollment year was a calendar year (as defined in section 10.6 (e)(1)(i)), and any part of a year was considered a whole year, then I would need 4 ethics CPE. This made no sense to me as I have been enrolled less than one year.

After a couple of attempts I got through to someone at the IRS, and I was not able to clear things up - it only made it worse as I don't think the person I talked to knows what she was talking about.

First of all she said that first paragraph above ("(A) In general . . .") required that someone enrolled during an enrollment cycle had to have 2 CPE IN each month. So even though I was enrolled on 9/3/2009 and received my certificate and card sometime later that month, I had to have 2 CPE in 9/09, and then 2 in Oct 09, 2 in Nov 09, etc. I expressed that this didn't make any sense at all, but she was animate and said we would agree to disagree. That if I was audited, I could be sanctioned if I did not have 2 CPE in each month rather than 20 in the period 9/09 to 6/10. When I asked what I was supposed to about it now as there is no way to go back and get 2 CPE in each month, she said "can't you get them now before you renew?" Which of completely contradicts what she previously said - when I pointed that out, she said that they would accept the renewal, but again if I was audited, I could be sanctioned. I pointed out that the regular 3 year cycle does not require anything similar, that one just had to have 16 per year and 72 total, she referred me back to how the circular is written. She is clearly wrong about this, but it went no where.

When it came to ethics CPE, she first told me I had to have 4 ethics CPE. I’ll spare trying to describe all of this part of the conversation as it was completely bizarre. I explained that I had 1.5 ethics CPE from a recent conference and didn’t know where I could get .5 more to get to 2 total, let alone 2.5 more to get to 4, by 6/30. I asked her if she could define what my “enrollment year” was (calendar or other wise) so I could figure out how many years were in my cycle and then determine how many ethics CPEs I needed. She said some things, but never was able to answer the question - I don’t think she understands it herself. She said “what would I like, would I like it to be 1.5?” I said “sure” and she said “OK”. After picking my jaw off the floor I still don’t know what that means or what I’m supposed to do.

Then she said, “do you want the extension or not?” I didn’t know what she was talking about. She then said something like “well we knew for this first renewal cycle people would have difficulty getting the CPE by 6/30, so we’ve extended until 9/30." I felt like screaming “why didn’t you say this in the beginning?” That also contradicts her contention that we must have 2 CPE in each month.

She then said she wanted to fax me an internal memo. The fax is a Policy and Procedures Memorandum dated 3/8/10 from the Chief of the Case Development & Licensure Branch. It states in part:

ERPA CPE hours for the first renewal cycle of SSN’s ending in 0, 1, 2, and 3, will run from the date the ERPA was enrolled through the end of June 30, 2010.

Renewal applicants will be allowed to earn CPE credits through June 30, 2010.

Although the renewal application window will end June 30, renewal applications will continue to be accepted and processed up to the card expiration date of September 30, 2010.

But I’m lost in figuring this out. She told me on the phone that we had an extension to apply for renewal and get the CPEs, but the memo seems to say that we have an extension to apply for renewal, but he CPEs must be completed by 6/30.

It appears that we have to certify what we have done and retain the records to prove it only if asked. Nothing needs to be submitted with the application to support that we have competed the requirements.

I’m not even sure if I’m posting this to ask a question or just to make others aware of the issue. If any one has anything that can enlighten the situation I would sure appreciate it.

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I had experienced a similar issue on my renewal when I tried to get clarification, but had the good fortune of speaking with an IRS rep that was helpful. She was upfront initially that she didn't know the answers to my questions, but called me back after she discussed the issues I had with a supervisor. I was told that they know they will have issues with the reporting in this first cycle. I was told that (1) the year is the calendar year and (2) the CE requirements should be prorated to reflect the period actually enrolled(inclusive of ethics). She noted that the enforcement on this first renewal would be reasonable, taking into account that there are open questions and that some of us have had a short timeframe to meet the CE, given the narrow scope of their accepted CE vendors.

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Thank you both for your replies.

If the year is truly a calendar year, then since the circular clearly states that one must have 2 ethics CPE for each year, and any partial year counts as a full year, then I should have had 2 ethics CPE in 2009 since I was enrolled in September of 2009, and then 2 ethics CPE in 2010.

I'm beginning to think that the ethics CPE requirement is disconnected with the renewal cycles. So it doesn't mean that I needed 4 by 6/30/2010 when I renew, but that I needed 2 in 2009 (which is too late), and 2 in 2010 through December.

I'm going to make sure I have 20 total CPE by 6/30 as the fax I received stated. The memo did not mention how many ethics I needed, so I'll see if I can get my ethics total to 2 CPE by 6/30. I'll take some more CPEs in 2010 sometime and make sure some of that is ethics so that I have 4 total for 2010 (to make up for not having any in 2009), and not worry about it.

yeah, that sounds like a plan! (who knows)

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