How to Choose a Tax Preparer in 2026 — What’s Actually Required (and What Isn’t)

Every paid tax return preparer in the U.S. must have a valid Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) for the current filing year — the 2026 PTIN renewal fee is $18.75. More than half of taxpayers use a paid preparer rather than filing themselves, so knowing what actually separates a qualified preparer from a risky one matters.

Here’s what changed since I first wrote about this: back in 2010, the IRS tried to require competency testing and continuing education for all paid preparers, not just attorneys, CPAs, and Enrolled Agents. A 2013 federal court ruling, Loving v. IRS, struck that down — the court found the IRS didn’t have the statutory authority to impose it. The PTIN requirement survived; the mandatory testing didn’t.

What’s Actually Required vs. What Isn’t

Required for everyone who prepares returns for pay: A current PTIN. That’s it at the federal level for most preparers.

Only required for attorneys, CPAs, and Enrolled Agents: State bar admission (attorneys), state CPA licensure, or passing the IRS’s Special Enrollment Examination (EAs). These three credentials are the only ones with unlimited representation rights — meaning they can represent you before the IRS in an audit, appeal, or collections matter, regardless of who prepared the return in question.

Voluntary for everyone else: The IRS’s Annual Filing Season Program (AFSP) lets non-credentialed preparers complete continuing education each year and earn an AFSP Record of Completion. Preparers who do this — along with attorneys, CPAs, and EAs — get listed in the IRS’s public preparer directory, which is worth checking before you hire anyone.

A preparer without any of these credentials can still legally prepare your return for a fee. They just can’t represent you before the IRS afterward if something goes wrong, and they aren’t required to have passed any competency check.

Subscribe or follow us — I’ll update this page if Congress or the IRS revisits preparer regulation, which comes up in tax legislation debates periodically.

Ghost Preparers: A 2026 IRS Warning

The IRS’s 2026 Dirty Dozen list of tax scams specifically calls out “ghost preparers” — people who prepare a return for a fee but refuse to sign it as the paid preparer or include their PTIN on the return. This isn’t a technicality. Every paid preparer is legally required to sign returns they prepare and include their PTIN.

A ghost preparer disappears once the return is filed, leaving you as the only name on record if the IRS has questions. Some ghost preparers also inflate deductions or credits to promise a bigger refund, then vanish before the IRS catches the error — leaving the taxpayer, not the preparer, on the hook for the back taxes, interest, and penalties. A ghost preparer who collects your Social Security number and income documents is also a real identity theft exposure, since you have no way to verify what they do with that information after they disappear.

Red Flags to Watch For

Fees based on a percentage of your refund. A legitimate preparer charges based on the complexity of your return, not a cut of what you get back — the latter creates an incentive to inflate your refund artificially.

Refusing to sign the return or provide a PTIN. This is illegal for a paid preparer and a hallmark of the ghost preparer scam described above.

Promises of a large refund before seeing your documents. No preparer can accurately estimate your refund without reviewing your actual income, withholding, and deduction information first.

No permanent business address or way to reach them after filing season. If you’re audited two years from now, you need someone who’s still findable.

Asking you to sign a blank or incomplete return. Never sign a return with blank fields you haven’t reviewed yourself.

How to Actually Vet a Preparer

Check the IRS Directory of Federal Tax Return Preparers for their credentials and AFSP status. Ask directly whether they’re an attorney, CPA, or EA if you expect your return to be complex enough that you might need representation later — a rental property, self-employment income, or a business, for example.

Get a referral from someone you trust who has used the same preparer for multiple years, and ask what the total fee will be, including state returns, before you commit. If your return is simple — a single W-2, standard deduction, no dependents beyond the basics — tax software like TurboTax or a comparison of the major filing options may cost less and take less time than finding and vetting a preparer.

Whichever route you go, make sure whoever’s handling your return understands your specific situation — the current federal tax brackets, what’s changed under the One Big Beautiful Bill, and how it affects your refund timing once you file.

Common Issues to Watch Out For

Assuming all preparers are equally accountable. Only attorneys, CPAs, and EAs can represent you if the IRS has questions about a return years later — an unenrolled preparer without AFSP status can’t, even if they prepared the return.

Not checking the PTIN is current. PTINs expire annually; ask to see it and note the year, since a preparer using an expired or fabricated PTIN is a serious red flag.

Being talked into deductions or credits you can’t document. If a preparer suggests a deduction and can’t explain the documentation you’d need to support it in an audit, that’s a warning sign, not a bonus.

Not keeping a copy of your own return. You’re required to receive a copy of your prepared return — keep it along with the underlying documents (W-2s, 1099s, receipts) for at least three years.

Confusing “prepared my return” with “can represent me.” A preparer with no credentials beyond a PTIN generally cannot represent you in an audit of a return they prepared, even though they prepared it — this catches people off guard every filing season.