EA Part 3: Representation, Practices and Procedures

Part 3: what to distinguish while studying

Use the content outline to check coverage, then allocate extra practice to the errors you can explain. The distinctions below are study guidance, not measured candidate failure rates or an official study-hour prescription.

Exam format and tested tax year

Each part contains 100 multiple-choice questions in 3.5 hours: 85 scored and 15 experimental. The IRS lists 500 as the passing scaled score on a 200-800 scale; it is not a raw percentage. For the 2026 cycle, use law through December 31, 2025 and calendar year 2025 unless the question says otherwise. Verify the active bulletin before booking.

Learn the four domains as different professional tasks

Practices and Procedures concerns authority to practice, professional duties and restrictions. Representation before the IRS concerns preparing and presenting a taxpayer’s case. Specific Areas of Representation applies the process to examinations, collection and other case types. Filing Process concerns moving a return through authorization, submission and the subsequent filing steps. Their allocations are 26, 25, 20 and 14 scored questions.

A question can use the same client facts while asking about a different domain. An unpaid business tax might prompt a collection-alternative question, a personal trust fund liability question or a conflict question involving two owners. Start with the requested action and the actor, rather than deciding the topic solely from a word such as "payroll." The lesson directory below lets you move from each broad domain to the narrower rule you need.

Read every scenario through duty, authority and stage

First identify the practitioner or taxpayer whose action is being evaluated. Next identify authority: who may act, for which client, matter and period? Then locate the case stage and the fact that activates the rule. A known error, a rejected return and a statutory notice of deficiency require different responses, even if each arrives just before a deadline.

Finally test the proposed answer against its limits. Client consent cannot cure every prohibited act. An EA qualification is not a power of attorney for every matter. An information authorization is not advocacy authority. A right to appeal depends on the applicable procedure and timing. This method helps separate a statement that is generally true from the action that fits the specific question.

Memorize conditions together with their triggers

Numbers and form names are easier to misuse when learned in isolation. A three-year recordkeeping period needs the correct starting event. A representation form needs the right taxpayer, matters, periods and eligible representative. An appeal deadline needs the notice and procedure that creates it. Attach each fact to the situation in which it operates.

Make paired cards or short cases that change one fact: a record request with and without a stated lawful basis to withhold, or consent where competent and diligent representation is and is not reasonably possible. Explain why the outcome changes. Use the individual rule lessons for precision and the mixed ethics scenarios for combining rules. This keeps memory work connected to decisions rather than isolated vocabulary.

Combine broad coverage with deeper case practice

Begin with the four-domain map and mark which topics you can explain without notes. Work through the narrow lessons for gaps, then return to mixed cases where the correct route is not named for you. Include filing and representation preparation as well as Circular 230; knowing ethics vocabulary alone does not cover the full part.

When reviewing an incorrect answer, record the fact that made the chosen action impermissible or premature. For example, was authority missing, did the wrong deadline apply, or was a collection remedy used for an examination issue? A correct answer with uncertain reasoning still deserves review. The ten-question online sample is a starting exercise, not a full-domain mock or a pass prediction.