About these questions
These five questions are original. We wrote them in the style of the Part 3 content outline, with a spread across the four domains. They are not real exam questions, and the real exam will word things differently. They follow the law as amended through December 31, 2025, which is what the July 1, 2026, to February 28, 2027 testing window covers.
How to use these
Try each question without looking at your notes, and pick an answer before you open the explanation. Then read the explanation even when you were right, because the reason the closest wrong option fails is where the learning is. Note any domain where you slipped and revisit it on the domains explained page.
Question 1 (Practices and Procedures)
A client ends an engagement with an enrolled agent and asks for the records she gave the agent to prepare her return. The agent is owed a fee for the prior year’s work and wants to hold the records until it is paid. Which statement best describes the agent’s obligation under Circular 230?
- A. The agent may keep all records until the fee is paid
- B. The agent must promptly return the client’s records needed for her federal tax obligations, and may keep copies; a fee dispute generally does not excuse this
- C. The agent must return only the records created by the agent
- D. The agent must return the records only after receiving a written request from the client’s new preparer
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. Circular 230 requires a practitioner to return, on request, client records the client needs to meet her federal tax obligations, and the practitioner may keep copies. A fee dispute generally does not release the practitioner from that duty. Option A is the closest wrong answer: it describes a narrow exception that depends on state law, and even then the agent would still have to return records that must be attached to the return. Option C reverses the rule, since the duty covers records the client supplied. Option D adds a requirement that the rule does not contain.
Question 2 (Representation before the IRS)
A taxpayer wants her accountant to be able to view her account transcripts and receive copies of IRS notices for two tax years. She does not want the accountant to negotiate with the IRS or sign anything for her. Which form fits?
- A. Form 2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative
- B. Form 8821, Tax Information Authorization
- C. Form 8822, Change of Address
- D. Form 56, Notice Concerning Fiduciary Relationship
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. Form 8821 lets a designated person inspect and receive confidential tax information for the periods listed, and it does not authorize that person to represent the taxpayer. Option A is the closest wrong answer: Form 2848 authorizes a representative to act for the taxpayer, which goes beyond what she wants. Form 8822 only updates an address. Form 56 is for a fiduciary, such as an executor or trustee, telling the IRS about the relationship.
Question 3 (Specific Areas of Representation)
An IRS levy notice is served on a bank where a taxpayer holds a checking account. The bank is holding a balance of the taxpayer’s deposits. When must the bank turn the money over to the IRS?
- A. Immediately, on the day the levy is served
- B. After 7 days
- C. Only after 21 days from service of the levy
- D. After the taxpayer files a written consent
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. For a levy on bank deposits, the bank must wait 21 days from service of the levy before surrendering the funds. The delay gives the taxpayer time to resolve the debt, ask for a release, or raise an ownership dispute. Option A is the closest wrong answer, since levies on some other kinds of property work differently. A 7-day period and a consent requirement are not part of the rule.
Question 4 (Specific Areas of Representation)
A taxpayer received a final notice of intent to levy that offers a collection due process hearing. He did not request a hearing by the deadline printed on the notice. Four months later he asks his representative what is still possible. Which answer is most accurate?
- A. Nothing is possible once the deadline has passed
- B. He can still request a timely collection due process hearing with Tax Court review
- C. He may still request an equivalent hearing, within one year of the notice date, but without the right to Tax Court review
- D. He can request an audit reconsideration of the levy
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. A timely request preserves the right to take Appeals’ decision to Tax Court. A late request can still be considered as an equivalent hearing if it is made within one year of the notice date, but an equivalent hearing does not carry Tax Court review. Option B is the closest wrong answer: the request was not timely, so it does not get a collection due process hearing. Option A ignores the equivalent hearing. Audit reconsideration concerns a tax assessment after an audit, not a levy.
Question 5 (Filing Process)
A preparer subject to the e-file mandate has a client who chooses to file his individual return on paper. What should the preparer attach to the paper return?
- A. Form 8879, IRS e-file Signature Authorization
- B. Form 8453, U.S. Individual Income Tax Transmittal
- C. Form 8948, Preparer Explanation for Not Filing Electronically
- D. Form 8821, Tax Information Authorization
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. Form 8948 is used by a specified tax return preparer to explain why a return is being filed on paper. Option B is the closest wrong answer, because Form 8453 is a transmittal used with an electronically filed return, to send paper attachments and signature documents. Form 8879 authorizes the electronic filing of a return and does not belong on a paper return. Form 8821 has nothing to do with filing.
What to do with your results
If you missed one question, look at the lookalike it was confused with. If you missed two or more in one domain, go back to that domain’s notes before taking longer sets.
More guides for SEE-PART-3
- SEE Part 3 Exam Format, Scoring, Retakes
- Is SEE Part 3 Hard? An Honest Look
- SEE Part 3 Prerequisites and Self-Check
- SEE Part 3 Renewal and Retakes Explained
- Is SEE Part 3 Worth It? An Honest Look
- SEE Part 3 Cheat Sheet: Key Facts to Review
- SEE Part 2 vs Part 3: Which First?
Next step
Build a schedule on the study plan page. For full 100-question sets with explanations on every option, see our SEE Part 3 practice exams.