Fees and Solicitation

Categories: Ethics, IRS CE
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About Course

This self-study ethics program provides an in-depth examination of the fee and solicitation standards set forth in Treasury Department Circular 230, Sections 10.27 and 10.30, together with the related duty to return client records addressed in Section 10.28. The course covers the general prohibition on unconscionable fees, the general prohibition on contingent fees and its three specific exceptions, the standards governing advertising and solicitation of business, and the practitioner’s duty to promptly return client records even where a fee dispute exists.

Related Courses

What Will You Learn?

  • Apply the general prohibition on unconscionable fees under Circular 230 §10.27(a)
  • Identify the general prohibition on contingent fees under §10.27(b) and its three specific exceptions
  • Apply the fee exception applicable to IRS examination of, or challenge to, an original or amended return
  • Apply the fee exceptions applicable to certain refund claims and judicial proceedings
  • Apply the standards governing advertising and solicitation of business under §10.30
  • Identify prohibited false, fraudulent, misleading, deceptive, or coercive statements in advertising
  • Apply the duty to promptly return client records under §10.28, including in the context of a fee dispute

Course Content

Module 1 – Understanding Fee Requirements Under Circular 230 §10.27
This course examines the fee and solicitation standards addressed in Circular 230 §§10.27 and 10.30, together with the related duty to return client records under §10.28. This module establishes the foundation: the general prohibition on unconscionable fees and the general prohibition on contingent fees. Module 2 examines the three specific exceptions to the contingent-fee prohibition in depth.

  • Understanding Fee Requirements Under Circular 230 §10.27

Module 2 – Contingent Fees: The General Prohibition and Its Three Exceptions
Module 1 established the general prohibition on contingent fees under §10.27(b)(1) and the policy rationale behind it. Section 10.27(b)(2) identifies three specific, limited circumstances in which a contingent fee is nonetheless permitted. This module examines each exception in depth, since correctly identifying whether a specific engagement falls within one of these three categories is essential to applying the contingent-fee rule accurately in practice. Each exception is narrow and tied to specific, verifiable facts — an existing IRS notice, the precise scope of a claim, or an actual judicial filing — rather than to a general sense that a matter is adversarial or contentious in character.

Module 3 – Advertising and Solicitation Standards Under §10.30
Modules 1 and 2 addressed the fee standards under §10.27. This module turns to §10.30, which governs how a practitioner may advertise services and solicit business, including the treatment of fee information published in advertising and the specific requirements applicable to solicitation by mail and electronic communication. Advertising and solicitation are among the most visible aspects of a practitioner's professional conduct, since a prospective client's first impression of a practitioner is often formed entirely through advertising content rather than through direct professional interaction. The standards addressed in this module accordingly govern not only what a practitioner may say in an advertisement, but how that content is presented, published, and followed through on once a prospective client responds to it.

Module 4 – Client Records in Fee Disputes and Building Compliant Practices
The prior three modules addressed the fee standards under §10.27 and the advertising and solicitation standards under §10.30. This final module addresses the duty to return client records under §10.28, including how that duty interacts with an unresolved fee dispute, and closes with a practical framework for building a compliant fee, advertising, and records-handling practice that draws together the standards addressed across the course. Records handling is often the point at which a practitioner's fee dispute with a client can escalate into a separate compliance problem if the practitioner mistakenly treats the unpaid balance and the records request as a single, linked matter rather than two independent obligations. Understanding this distinction clearly is the central objective of this module.

Final Assessment – Fees and Solicitation
This final assessment consists of 10 multiple-choice questions covering all four modules of this course. A passing score of 70% or better is required.

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