The IRS has finalized regulations to set the PTIN fee at $21 plus a $14.95 third-party contractor fee as the agency begins to resume collection of this annual fee from paid tax preparers.[1]  The final regulations retain the same fees as were found in the proposed regulations originally announced on April 15, 2020.

The IRS had ceased collection of the PTIN user fee following an initial loss in the US District Court for the District of Columbia in the case of Steele v. United States, 260 F. Supp. 3d 52 (D.D.C. 2017)[2] that found the IRS did not have the authority to charge such a fee.  However, the Court of Appeals for District of Columbia found that the IRS did have the authority to charge such a fee, reversing that earlier decision of the lower court in Montrois v. United States, 916 F.3d 1056 (D.C. Cir. 2019).[3]

Although litigation continues over the amount of the fee the IRS may charge, the injunction against imposing the fee was lifted and the IRS has decided to begin collection of the fee again for those preparing returns in 2021.[4]

The fee is set at $21 in addition to a fee charged by the contractor.[5]  The contractor fee was announced by the IRS in IR-2020-159 as $14.95.[6]

[1] TD 9903, July 17, 2020, https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2020-15446.pdf (retrieved July 16, 2020)

[2] TD 9903, Summary of Comments, C.

[3] TD 9903, Summary of Comments, C.

[4] TD 9903, Summary of Comments, C.

[5] Reg. §301.13(b)

[6] “IRS announces 2021 PTIN fees for tax return preparers,” IR 2020-159, July 15, 2020, https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-announces-2021-ptin-fees-for-tax-return-preparers (retrieved July 16, 2020)