Enrolled Agent CE Requirements 2026: 72 Hours Every 3 Years

Enrolled agents (EAs) are federally authorised tax practitioners, and the IRS requires them to complete 72 hours of continuing education every three years, with a minimum of 16 hours earned each year, two of which must be on ethics. The courses must come from an IRS-approved continuing education provider. This guide sets out the rules from the IRS pages and from Circular 230 section 10.6, the regulation that governs them. Our page on what an enrolled agent is covers the credential itself.

At a glance

72 hours over three years, with an annual floor

The IRS says enrolled agents must obtain 72 hours of continuing education every three years, and a minimum of 16 hours must be earned each year. That means you cannot leave everything to the last year. Under section 10.6, the 72 hours are made up of 66 hours of qualifying education and 6 hours of ethics or professional conduct. The IRS adds that excess ethics hours cannot be applied to your federal tax or federal tax law update requirement, so extra ethics does not fill a gap elsewhere.

Your renewal cycle

The IRS assigns a three-year renewal cycle by the last digit of your Social Security number. Its current page lists the October 1, 2026 to January 31, 2027 renewal window for SSNs ending in 7, 8 or 9, or with no SSN. We could not verify the current years for the other digit groups from the IRS pages we read, so check your own cycle with the IRS. Renewal is filed through Pay.gov using Form 8554, or on paper, and the fee is $140 under 26 CFR 300.6. Your PTIN renewal is separate and falls between mid-October and December 31 each year.

IRS-approved providers only

Enrolled agents must use an IRS-approved continuing education provider. Providers get a provider number from the IRS, and certificates should carry a program number. Not every accounting course qualifies: test-preparation courses for the Special Enrollment Examination earn no credit. A contact hour is 50 minutes and only whole contact hours count. Teaching earns credit too, but instructor credit is capped at six hours a year.

New enrollees

If you became an enrolled agent partway through a cycle, you owe 2 qualifying hours for each month you were enrolled, where any part of a month counts as a full month, plus 2 ethics hours for each year, with part of a year counting as a full year. The IRS is clear that courses taken before the month you enrolled do not count. The full 72 hours starts with the next cycle.

Keeping records

The IRS says you must retain your continuing education records for four years. Section 10.6 sets the same period, running from the renewal date. Keep the sponsor name, course title, dates, hours, instructor and certificate. You do not send certificates to the IRS unless you are audited.

Missing the requirement

If you do not meet the CE and fee requirements, the regulation says the IRS sends a notice and you have 60 days to respond in writing. If you miss the deadline or do not respond, you go on the inactive roster and may not practise before the IRS or use the enrolled agent title. You can be reinstated by applying for renewal with proof of the required CE within three years of becoming inactive. After that your status ends and you must re-establish eligibility. These consequences come from the eCFR text, not from the IRS CE FAQ page.

Waivers and retirement

You can ask the IRS for a waiver for health reasons, extended military duty, extended absence from the United States, or other compelling reasons. The request must be filed by the last day of your renewal period. You can also request inactive retirement status at any time, unless you face a pending disciplinary matter. Reinstatement from retirement needs a renewal application and proof of the required CE.

Proposed changes

In December 2024 the Treasury proposed changes to Circular 230 in the Federal Register. The proposal would allow a future IRS user fee for approving CE providers and programmes and would make minor wording changes to enrolled agent renewal, and the comment period closed in February 2025. We did not find a final rule, and we found no 2025 or 2026 change to the CE hours.

What we could not confirm

The IRS page says the renewal window opens on October 1, but the eCFR text and the Internal Revenue Manual both give November 1 to January 31. We have used the IRS page for the current cycle, so confirm the dates with the IRS Office of Professional Responsibility. We read only part of the long Federal Register document, so we cannot rule out other CE-related proposals in it.

Frequently asked questions

How many CE hours does an enrolled agent need?

Seventy-two hours every three years, with at least 16 earned each year and 2 of those in ethics.

How much does enrolled agent renewal cost?

The fee for renewal of enrollment is $140 under 26 CFR 300.6. Your PTIN renewal is a separate annual step.

Do I need an IRS-approved CE provider?

Yes. Enrolled agents must use an IRS-approved provider, and the certificate should carry a program number.

How long do I keep my CE records?

Four years.

What if I become an enrolled agent in the middle of a cycle?

You owe 2 qualifying hours per month enrolled and 2 ethics hours per year in that cycle, and courses from before the month you enrolled do not count.

Finding courses that count

Learnsignal publishes accounting, tax, audit, ethics and finance courses in its CPD and CPE library. Before you pay for any course, check the awarding body's own rules on what it accepts, and keep the certificate and the course details. If you are still weighing the credential, our enrolled agent exam guide covers the exam, and CPE versus CPD explains the terms.

Source: IRS Enrolled agent continuing education FAQ (updated September 2026), IRS Maintain your enrolled agent status page, IRS Enrolled agents FAQ, 31 CFR 10.6 and 26 CFR 300.6 (irs.gov, ecfr.gov), and Federal Register notice of December 26, 2024, checked October 2026.