Webcast
How to Lose Your License
A practical tour of Circular 230 and OPR enforcement—what triggers discipline, how cases proceed, and how to avoid the missteps that can get you suspended or disbarred from practice before the IRS.
$98.00
Webcasts are available for viewing Monday – Friday, 8am – 8pm ET,
and Saturday & Sunday, 10am – 6pm ET.
Without FlexCast, you must start with enough time to finish. (1 Hr/Credit)
Secure Transaction CPE Credits
2 Credits: Regulatory Ethics
Course Level
Overview
Format
Webcast
Course Description
Circular 230 isn’t “ethics theory”—it’s the rulebook that determines who can practice before the IRS, what conduct is prohibited, and what happens when the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) decides a practitioner has crossed the line. In this webcast, Mark Seid walks through who’s covered, when your work becomes Circular 230 “practice” (including the practical line between compliance work and advocacy/representation), and the core duties that create risk in real engagements—responding to IRS information requests, handling privilege/possession issues, and navigating written advice standards without relying on the “audit lottery.”
You’ll also get a clear, procedural view of how OPR enforcement actually works—from investigations and complaints through administrative law judge (ALJ) proceedings, standards of proof, and outcomes like censure, suspension, or disbarment—plus when the IRS can use expedited suspension. Along the way, the course highlights the specific behaviors that most often trigger discipline (including practitioner noncompliance on their own returns, misleading statements, due diligence failures, and other “incompetent or disreputable” conduct) so you can spot—and prevent—license-threatening risk before it becomes a case file.
Learning Objectives
After completing this course, participants will be able to:
- Identify which practitioners and activities are governed under Circular 230 and when work is treated as IRS “practice” versus general compliance.
- Explain OPR’s disciplinary authority, available sanctions, and the key standards used to determine sanction outcomes.
- Apply Circular 230 duty rules to common risk situations, including IRS requests for information and practitioner obligations when a client error or omission is discovered.
- Describe Circular 230 written-advice requirements, including the prohibition on relying on the possibility of no audit (the “audit lottery” concept).
- Recognize conduct identified as “incompetent or disreputable” (e.g., misleading information, advertising violations, and tax noncompliance) that can jeopardize the right to practice before the IRS.
- Summarize the disciplinary process timeline and mechanics, including expedited suspension triggers and the publication of final agency decisions.
Course Specifics
WC1426466661
February 9, 2026
None
None
Compliance Information
IRS Provider Number: 0MYXB
IRS Course Number: 0MYXB-E-02777-26-O
IRS Ethics Credits: 2
CTEC Course Number: 2071-CE-02220
CTEC Ethics Credits: 2
CFP Notice: Not all courses that qualify for CFP® credit are registered by Western CPE. If a course does not have a CFP registration number in the compliance section, the continuing education will need to be individually reported with the CFP Board. For more information on the reporting process, required documentation, processing fee, etc., contact the CFP Board. CFP Professionals must take each course in it’s entirety, the CFP Board DOES NOT accept partial credits for courses.
CTEC Notice: California Tax Education Council DOES NOT allow partial credit, course must be taken in entirety. Western CPE has been approved by the California Tax Education Council to offer continuing education courses that count as credit towards the annual “continuing education” requirement imposed by the State of California for CTEC Registered Tax Preparers. A listing of additional requirements to register as a tax preparer may be obtained by contacting CTEC at P.O. Box 2890, Sacramento, CA, 95812-2890, by phone toll-free at (877) 850-2832, or on the Internet at www.ctec.org.
Meet The Experts
Mark Seid, EA, CPA has over 25 years of experience in field of taxation focused on tax controversy. A National Tax Practice Institute graduate, Mark is admitted to practice before the U.S. Tax Court. He has served as an Internal Revenue Agent with the IRS in San Jose and San Luis Obispo, California, a state director for the California Society of Enrolled Agents, and the chair for the society’s Finance and Budget committee. He regularly presents courses to tax professionals on issues affecting small businesses.
Webcast
