How to Become a Tax Preparer Before the 2027 Season

To become a tax preparer before the 2027 season, get an IRS Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) for $18.75, complete 18 hours of IRS-approved study by 31 December 2026, and either join a chain such as H&R Block for the season or line up your own clients. Four states add their own rules.

The IRS opened the 2026 filing season on 26 January, and it usually announces the next opening date in early January. Everything you do before then decides whether you spend the season earning or still studying. November is the right month to start, because the voluntary IRS programme that gives new preparers a credential closes its study window on 31 December.

This page is for people starting from zero. If you are already a CPA or accountant, the side income guide for accountants is the better fit.

What do you need before you can prepare a return for pay?

One thing is required everywhere in the US: a PTIN. The IRS says anyone who prepares federal returns for pay must have a valid 2027 PTIN before preparing returns, that it is processing 2027 applications and renewals now, and that most first-time applicants get one online in about 15 minutes. The fee is $18.75, non-refundable, for new applications and renewals alike.

A PTIN on its own lets you prepare returns. It gives you no right to speak for a client to the IRS afterwards. That is where the two optional layers come in:

• The Annual Filing Season Program (AFSP). A yearly IRS record of completion for preparers without a credential. It is voluntary, it is free from the IRS, and it gets you listed in the IRS public directory of preparers.
• Enrolled Agent (EA). The full credential, earned by passing a three-part IRS exam. EAs, CPAs and attorneys are the only tax professionals with unlimited representation rights. Treat it as a year-two goal.

How does the Annual Filing Season Program work?

For a newcomer, the AFSP is the credential that fits before January. The IRS asks for 18 hours of continuing education from IRS-approved providers: a 6-hour Annual Federal Tax Refresher (AFTR) course with a test at the end, 10 hours of other federal tax law and 2 hours of ethics. You also renew your PTIN for the coming year and consent to the practice rules in Circular 230.

The details that trip people up, all from the IRS AFSP questions page:

• The AFTR course and the other hours must be finished by 31 December before the season starts.
• The AFTR test is 100 multiple-choice questions with a maximum of 3 hours.
• After you finish, the record of completion can take up to four weeks to arrive.
• The IRS charges nothing. Course providers set their own prices. TaxCE, for example, lists an 18-hour AFSP package at $70.
• Some people are exempt from the AFTR course and need 15 hours instead (10 federal tax law, 3 tax law updates, 2 ethics): active CTEC registrants in California, Oregon and Maryland registrants, anyone who passed Part I of the EA exam in the past three years, and VITA quality reviewers and instructors with active PTINs.

What the record buys you is limited representation. AFSP holders can represent clients whose returns they prepared and signed before revenue agents, customer service representatives and similar IRS employees. A preparer with only a PTIN cannot represent anyone for returns prepared after 2015.

Which states add their own rules?

Most states rely on the federal PTIN. A handful do not, and the four that matter most to newcomers are below.

California's timing needs care. CTEC says the 60-hour course is valid for 18 months after you finish it, the Department of Justice usually takes 2 to 8 weeks to return fingerprints, and CTEC's own review takes another 2 to 8 weeks. Start in November and you can be registered before the season. Start in January and you may not be.

New York opens its 2027 registration and education content in mid-November 2026, according to the same page.

The National Association of Enrolled Agents also lists a permit system in Connecticut and annual CE in Iowa. Texas and Florida were not on its list. If your state is not named here, search your state revenue department's site for "tax preparer registration" before you take a paying client.

Should you work for a chain or find your own clients?

These are two different businesses, and most people should start with the first.

A seasonal job with a chain is the fastest path to real returns with someone checking your work. H&R Block's Income Tax Course charges no tuition. Students buy course materials for $149 in most states ($99 in Minnesota, free in Maine, New York, South Carolina and Tennessee). It is 40 hours of instruction, 70 in California and 81 in Oregon, which lines up with the CTEC and Oregon education rules. Instructor-led classes start in early September, so in November the self-paced version is the one still open; it must be finished by 31 July. You must be 18 and hold a high school diploma or equivalent.

Jackson Hewitt describes its Fundamentals of Tax Preparation course as roughly 30 hours. Corporate offices do not charge for it; most locations are run by independent franchisees whose cost varies. Both companies state that finishing the course is not a job offer.

Your own clients means you set the fee, keep it, and carry the risk. You need three things the chain would otherwise supply:

1. An EFIN. A preparer who reasonably expects to file 11 or more individual, trust or estate returns in a year is a specified tax return preparer and must e-file. E-filing for clients needs an Electronic Filing Identification Number. The IRS application runs through e-Services, includes a suitability check (credit, tax compliance and criminal background), requires fingerprints for anyone without a professional licence such as CPA or EA, and can take up to 45 days. Apply in November, not January.
2. Professional tax software. It is a separate cost, priced by the vendor per season or per return. Get quotes before you set your own fees.
3. Clients. Your warm network is the realistic first source: family, coworkers, the small business owners you already buy from. Returns with more schedules take longer, so price them higher than a single W-2 filer.

What do own-client preparers charge? The most recent published national survey is old. A 2021 National Society of Accountants survey, reproduced by TaxSlayer Pro, averaged $306 for a non-itemised 1040 with a state return and $409 for an itemised one. Prices have risen since. Use it as a ceiling for a new preparer with no credential, and price below your local enrolled agents.

How much do tax preparers make?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics put the median tax preparer wage at $26.40 an hour in May 2025, with a mean of $29.30, across 76,480 jobs. The annual median, $54,920, assumes a full year of work. A seasonal preparer works roughly the 12 weeks from late January to mid-April, often with more hours per week than usual.

To check whether a per-return fee beats a chain wage once you count your evenings, run your expected hours and returns through the hourly rate calculator. If you go independent, your own preparer income is self-employment income; the side hustle tax guide covers what to set aside.

Can you learn tax preparation for free?

Yes, through the IRS's own volunteer programme. Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites prepare free returns for low-to-moderate income households, and the IRS trains volunteers at no charge through its self-paced Link and Learn Taxes courses. The Basic certification covers the returns most working families file.

Volunteering pays nothing, but it gets you real returns under quality review. It also feeds the AFSP: VITA quality reviewers and instructors with active PTINs are exempt from the AFTR course. A season at a VITA site followed by a paid season is a sound order.

Who should skip this?

• People with a busy spring at their main job. The season runs late January to mid-April, with evenings and weekends at the peak. If your employer also peaks then, the two will collide.
• Anyone who wants passive income. Every return is your work, signed with your PTIN, and paid preparers carry a due diligence duty on returns claiming head of household status and certain credits.
• People who dislike detail. The work is forms, cross-checks and documents, return after return, under a deadline.
• Anyone hoping to skip the training. Tax law changes yearly. The AFSP exists because the IRS wants preparers refreshed every year.

If tax season does not fit your year, the AI bookkeeping route uses some of the same skills with monthly clients instead.

A dated plan from now to opening day

Week of 2 November 2026. Apply for or renew your 2027 PTIN ($18.75). Decide: chain job, own clients, or a VITA season first. If you are in California, Oregon, Maryland or New York, open your state board's page and note its deadlines.

By 16 November. If you want a chain job, contact your local H&R Block or Jackson Hewitt office and ask what the course and hiring timeline is this late in the year. If you are going independent, start the EFIN application in e-Services and book fingerprints if you need them.

November to mid-December. Work through an 18-hour AFSP package. Take the AFTR test with time to spare; it is 100 questions in 3 hours. California applicants: finish the 60-hour course, buy the bond and get Live Scan done now.

By 31 December. All AFSP hours complete. Consent to Circular 230 when the IRS emails you. The record of completion can take four weeks.

January 2027. Software set up and tested. Fee list written down. Tell your warm network you are taking returns, with a date you will start filing: the IRS opening day, once it is announced.

Late January to 15 April. The season. Keep a copy of every return and every engagement letter.

For other credentials you can earn without a degree and what they pay, see the certifications guide. This page is general information, not tax or legal advice; the IRS and your state board are the authorities on what applies to you.