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Treasury Department Circular Number 230 contains the regulations governing practice before the IRS by attorneys, certified public accountants, enrolled agents and enrolled actuaries. Section 10.30 of Circular 230 addresses advertising and solicitation by tax practitioners.
ADVERTISING
Under Circular 230, practitioners, with respect to any IRS matter, are prohibited from using or participating in the use of any form of public communication containing a false, fraudulent, unduly influencing, coercive or unfair statement or claim. In addition, a misleading or deceptive statement or claim is prohibited.
With respect to enrolled agents, utilization of the term of art "certified or indicating an employer/employee relationship with the IRS are not permitted by Circular 230. Examples of available references to enrollment set forth in the regulations include "enrolled to represent taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service," "enrolled to practice before the Internal Revenue Service," and "admitted to practice before the Internal Revenue Service." Enrollment may be abbreviated to "EA" or "E.A."
The advertising prohibition is consistent with that generally accepted both by practitioners and the courts. It accords practitioners the opportunity to engage in almost any form of truthful advertising and through any medium. Consequently, traditional newspaper advertisements can be run as well as non-traditional ones, such as those on hot air balloons. Conservatism and/or "taste" do not seem to be requisites for placing ads.
A more substantive issue concerns the manner in which an enrolled agent is able to describe his or her status. Since the issuance of the regulations on the subject (recited above), the former Director of Practice has interpreted the permitted legends to include references such as "licensed to practice before the Internal Revenue Service" and "licensed to represent taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service." It appears that any phrase honestly describing one's enrollment status but that does not otherwise violate the regulations would, in general, be permitted.
The use of the word "certified" continues to be unacceptable under Circular 230. This prohibition has been questioned in the light of two recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions. Both deal with commercial free speech, which previous Supreme Court decisions held are protected under the First Amendment of the Constitution.
One such decision, Peel v. Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Comm. of Illinois, concerned an attorney who referred to...