CHAPTER 5: Continuing Education (CE)

The VITA/TCE program is approved to provide IRS Continuing Education (CE) credits for:

Enrolled Agents (EA)
Non-credentialed tax return preparers participating in the IRS Annual Filing Season Program (AFSP)
California Tax Education Council (CTEC) and Registered Tax Preparer (CRTP)

Attorneys and Certified Public Accountants (CPA) may also qualify for CE credits depending upon their state licensing requirements or National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA). Volunteers must retrieve the CE certificate from LLT and submit it to their governing board for CE credit approval. Please note, the VITA/TCE program is not an approved NASBA Sponsor. Certified Financial Planners (CFP) self-report their CE credits on the CFP website.

Volunteers can earn CE credits by completing the required tax law training, passing the certification tests, and serving as an IRS-certified volunteer instructor, tax return preparer, and/or quality reviewer in the VITA/TCE program.

Continuing Education Credit Certificates will be available for volunteers to print from the VITA/TCE Central home page of LLT.

Volunteer Requirements

Volunteers requesting CE credits are required to:

Notify their SPEC partner if interested in earning CE credits.
Read the CE credit requirements available on IRS.gov under Link & Learn Taxes and in Publication 5362, Fact Sheet: Continuing Education Credits for VITA/TCE Partners and Volunteers.
Register in LLT and complete the Professional Status field by indicating one of the following: EA, noncredentialed tax return preparer (must be participating in the AFSP program), CPA, attorney, CTEC/ CRTP, or CFP. If volunteers are already registered in LLT, they can edit their registration by updating their profile and selecting the appropriate Professional Status.
- EAs non-credentialed tax return preparers and CTEC registered tax preparers are required to include a Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) and the first and last name on the PTIN account in their LLT profile. The PTIN is an eight-digit number beginning with the letter “P” and eight numbers for example, P0XXXXXXX.
- CPAs, CFPs, and Attorneys do not require a PTIN but should include it in LLT if requesting CE hours for their PTIN account.
- An incorrect name or PTIN will cause information to reject during the Return Preparer Office validation process.
- California volunteers applying for CTEC CE Credits must also enter their CTEC number (a six-digit number beginning with the letter “A” and six numbers for example, AXXXXXX). The CTEC number auto-populates on Form 13615 from the information the volunteer enters in their profile in LLT.
Complete the following training and pass the certification tests in LLT prior to performing their volunteer duties:
Volunteer Standards of Conduct (VSC) training.
Intake/Interview and Quality Review Training.
Advanced tax law training.
Optional: Complete one or more of the specialty federal tax law training options.
Print, sign and date Form 13615, Volunteer Standards of Conduct Agreement – VITA/TCE Program, from LLT after all training and test modules are completed. The form can be signed electronically in LLT.

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Submit the printed Form 13615 to the coordinator or partner for validation before beginning volunteer hours. The address and email on the form must be correct in case clarification of volunteer information is needed.
Complete the minimum required ten non-paid volunteer hours as a quality reviewer, tax return preparer, and/or instructor.

Additional information for CPAs and other professionals:

It is the responsibility of the CPA or attorney to submit their CE certificate to their state governing board for CE credit approval.
Attorneys, CPAs and CFPs are NOT required to have a PTIN to earn IRS SPEC CE Credits.

All volunteers who provide a valid PTIN will have their information reported to the Return Preparer Office.

Partner or Coordinator Requirements

SPEC partners or coordinators are responsible for completing the Continuing Education (CE) credits section of Form 13615 for all volunteers requesting CE credits.

Partners or coordinators with volunteers requesting CE credits are required to:

Review Form 13615 to make sure all required fields are completed, and the volunteer completed the required certifications.
Complete the SIDN and site or teaching location fields. The number of CE credits the volunteer receive is based on their tax law certification level, as outlined on Form 13615.
Record the number of volunteer hours worked. The volunteer must work a minimum of ten hours to receive CE credits.
Validate the CE credits information on Form 13615 by printing your name, title, and signing and dating the form in the CE Credits section at the bottom of page 2.

Form 13615 needs to be validated by signing in both the certification section and the CE credit section.

Submit the completed Form 13615 to the local SPEC territory office no later than April 30th if the site closes on or before April 15th. For sites that are open after April 15th, submit Forms 13615 monthly as volunteers meet the CE requirements (certification and hours worked).

For California EAs and non-credentialed tax return preparers: Form 13615 must contain the California Tax Education Council (CTEC)/Registered Tax Return Preparer (CRTP) registration number. The CTEC ID number should be entered in LLT when the volunteer registers. It will print on the LLT generated Form 13615 when the volunteer prints the form. California professionals must include their CTEC number to earn CE credits through the VITA/TCE program.

Tax-Aide Responsibilities

Tax-Aide coordinators will complete the CE Credits section of Form 13615 in the same manner as described above, for all volunteers. Tax-Aide supervisors or local coordinators will electronically forward completed Forms 13615 to their assigned SPEC territory office contact for processing. Tax-Aide volunteers are required to certify via LLT to receive CE Credits.

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Overseas Military Responsibilities

The overseas military coordinators will send Form 13615 (original or scanned) for volunteers applying for CE credits to the headquarters relationship manager for overseas military.

Available Continuing Education Credits

Volunteers can receive up to 14 hours of CE credits for completing VSC training, certifying in tax law at the Advanced level and volunteering as a quality reviewer, tax return preparer, or tax law instructor for a minimum of ten hours. An additional four hours of CE credits can be earned by certifying in a specialty course. The maximum allowable CE credits are 18 hours.

Tax Law Certifications	CE Credit hours
VSC	1
Federal Tax Law Updates (Advanced)	3
Federal Tax Law (Advanced)	10
Specialty Federal Tax Law Course	4
Total Allowable CE Credits	18

Specialty Federal Tax Law Courses include International, Military, Puerto Rico I or II, and Foreign Student.

Volunteers who are participating in the VITA/TCE program as an IRS-certified volunteer cannot receive compensation for any activities to be eligible for CE credits.

CE credit processing for the current filing season is not completed until late July. Volunteers needing CE credits prior to August should consider other avenues to earn them.

How Volunteers Receive CE Credits

CE certificates will be available via LLT for each volunteer that has met all program requirements.
In addition, for all volunteers providing a valid PTIN, CE credits will posted to their PTIN account.
To view your continuing education credits in your PTIN account, go to the PTIN system login page . Keep in mind you are required to have a valid PTIN prior to certifying. PTINs must be renewed each.
Certified Financial Planners must self-report their CE credits to the CFP Board. Guidance is available at www.cfp.net .
Attorneys and CPAs must present their CE certificates to their governing board for approval.

Volunteers with PTINs will be notified if their information was rejected. Most common errors are invalid PTIN and PTIN/name mismatch.

Annual Filing Season Program (AFSP) The Annual Filing Season Program launched by the Return Preparer Office (RPO) is intended to recognize the efforts of non-credentialed tax return preparers who voluntarily increase their knowledge and improve their filing season competency through continuing education. A non-credentialed tax return preparer is a tax return preparer without professional credentials. This program allows them to obtain an AFSP Record of Completion for participation in an annual continuing education program. Annual Filing Season Program participants are also included in a public database of return preparers on the IRS website. There are also reduced requirements for exempt individuals. IRS VITA/TCE volunteers are considered exempt if they meet all the above requirements to obtain at least 14 hours of continuing education credit through the VITA/TCE program and obtain an additional one hour of ethics training from an IRS Approved Provider .

AFSP Record of Completion Once a volunteer has completed their CE requirements and renewed their PTIN for the upcoming year, they will receive an email from TaxPros@ptin.irs.gov with instructions on how to consent to the Circular 230 practice requirements and receive their certificate in their online secure mailbox.

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