AFSP Sponsor CE Reporting to the IRS

How we report the information to the IRS

 

The IRS established several new requirements for CE Sponsors beginning in mid 2012, including reporting CE earned for all PTIN holders.  FunCPE is now required to request the preparer tax identification number (PTIN) for each student.  Our course system has a mandatory field for your PTIN number that you should fill in when you register for your first course.

The entry of a PTIN is optional for CPAs and Attorneys, but if a PTIN is entered, we are required to report the CPE earned.

After we submit our list of credit earned by name and PTIN number, the IRS cross-checks the PTIN number and name to check for validity. We then receive a notice of invalid PTIN numbers/names and have the opportunity to submit corrected information.

If we need to contact you for corrections

We collect your email address and your primary phone number at registration so that we can contact you if there is a discrepancy.   We send one email to your email address in your student profile, if your PTIN and/or name is rejected by the PTIN system.  It is critical that you enter an email address in the student profile that you check frequently.

What we report to the IRS

In accordance with IRS CE Provider requirements, FunCPE will report your courses completed and CE hours earned to the IRS directly.  We upload an electronic file to the IRS, rather than sending in actual certificates of completion.

We do ask for your PTIN number when you first enroll in a course, as required by the CE reporting requirements established in 2012. Although you are not required to provide your PTIN to us, we cannot report your CE without it.

Information submitted to the IRS is:

  • First and last name of student
  • PTIN (Preparer tax ID number)
  • IRS Program number
  • CE hours
  • CE program completion date

Frequency of CE reporting to the IRS

We report your hours every Monday, for the week just ended Sunday.  In December we report daily.  Our reporting schedule far exceeds the IRS requirements.

The following information is from the IRS website CE FAQs for Continuing Education Providers:

How often are CPE Sponsors required to report program completion information to IRS? During the first nine months of the year, program completion information must be reported quarterly at a minimum (by March 31, June 30, and September 30).  During the fourth quarter (October 1 –December 31), program completion information must be reported within ten days of completion of each program.

 

Verification of correct reporting of CE hours

PTIN holders can log into their PTIN account to review CE hours reported to the IRS, so you will can verify that the correct number of CE hours has been posted to your account.  Please contact us if you notice a discrepancy and we will immediately correct any errors.

How to verify prior year’s CE credit

You must use a drop down menu to access the hours for that year.



AFSP Tax Preparers do NOT mail in the CE Certificates with PTIN renewal

You do not mail in your certificates of completion to the IRS, unless specifically requested to do so.  You should keep your certificates in a file, as the IRS does have the right to select you for a CPE audit (AFSPs and EAs), in which case they would request copies of your CPE certificates.

You can always come back to funcpe.com to reprint your certificates, even after your course is completed or expired.



Are the CE hours reported even if I am not planning to participate in the AFSP?

Yes.  If you have a PTIN number entered in your Student Profile in our course system, we will submit your CPE hours to the IRS.

This applies to all EAs, RTRPs and unenrolled tax preparers as well as any other professionals such as CPAs who enter a PTIN in their course registration.