IRS Examination Planning 2026

2 IRS CE/CTEC/NASBA CPE*

A practitioner's first decisions on an exam happen before the first IDR is answered — often before the client has finished reading the notice. Type of contact (correspondence, office, or field), what triggered selection, the return's exposure points, and the client's recordkeeping posture all shape what representation should look like. With 2025 enforcement priorities continuing to shift — staffing realignments after the IRA funding pullback, sustained correspondence-exam volume on Schedule C and refundable-credit returns, renewed focus on high-income individuals and large partnerships under BBA — practitioners need a current read on how cases actually get worked.

The program covers how returns are selected, the differences between correspondence, office, and field exams and what each implies for engagement strategy, taxpayer rights under §7521 and the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, recordkeeping standards examiners actually enforce, and industry-specific exposure factors. The frame is practical: how to set client expectations at intake, scope the engagement honestly, and make the early procedural choices that set up a defensible position rather than a reactive one.

For experienced EAs, CPAs, and attorneys who take exam representation work, regardless of how often it crosses the desk.

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*Self-Study recording not available for NASBA CPE credit.

IRS Program #: 7Q3WU-T-00902-26
CTEC Course #: 6248-CE-00246