WASHINGTON BUREAU — Retirement plan professional groups are asking the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to stick with the current registration process for continuing education (CE) programs.
The plan professional groups – the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA), Arlington, Va.; the National Institute of Pension Administrators (NIPA), Chicago, and the American Institute of Retirement Education L.L.C., Arlington – made their request in a letter commenting on proposed revisions to U.S. Treasury Department Circular 230, a document that sets standards for practice before the IRS.
The revisions would affect conditions that an educational program would have to meet to qualify to provide continuing education credit.
Under the current Circular 230 CE rules, an approved CE sponsor need not submit individual programs to an approval process, even though the IRS has the discretion to review programs individually.
The Circular 230 changes would establish new standards for certifying the instructor, the subject matter, the teaching materials and the attendance verification system for an individual CE program.