Professional Ethics of a Tax Professional

This Self-Study course is designed for Tax Professionals, including tax return preparers, Annual Filing Season Program (AFSP) participants, Enrolled Agents (EAs), Certified Public Accountants (CPAs), accountants, bookkeepers, and other professionals who work with business clients and information reporting requirements.

This course does not include video lessons. The course is completed through independent study of the course materials followed by a final exam. After reviewing the course materials and successfully passing the final exam, participants receive IRS CE/CTEC credit in their account.

The course focuses on Professional Ethics for Tax Professionals and the ethical standards that guide everyday professional decisions in tax practice. You will learn the fundamental principles of professional ethics, the responsibilities of a tax professional to clients, the government, the profession, colleagues, employees, and contractors, as well as the importance of maintaining professional competence, integrity, objectivity, and independent professional judgment.

Special attention is given to protecting taxpayer confidentiality, handling clients’ personal and financial information, identifying and managing conflicts of interest, recognizing situations in which a tax professional should seek additional assistance or decline an engagement, and responding appropriately to client pressure or attempts to manipulate tax information.

The course also covers practical ethical issues that arise in day-to-day tax practice, including professional communication with clients, working with dissatisfied or aggressive clients, reviewing client-provided information, identifying Red Flags, asking appropriate follow-up questions, documenting your work, and identifying and correcting errors.

In addition, the course addresses modern ethical challenges for Tax Professionals, including the use of Artificial Intelligence and ChatGPT in tax practice, verification of AI-generated information, confidentiality when using AI tools, cybersecurity, remote work, document templates, social media, professional reputation, online reviews, and ethical advertising of tax services.

The course will help you understand how professional ethics applies to real-world situations and how to make responsible professional decisions while protecting your clients, your practice, and your professional reputation.