Division of Certified Public Accounting

AARP TAX AIDE PROGRAM

AARP Tax Aide program is recruiting volunteers to serve as tax preparation counselors and client greeters. These volunteers will help low- and moderate-income taxpayers of all ages file their personal income tax returns.

Tax preparation counselors receive comprehensive IRS training to help tax payers complete the 1040 tax form and basic schedules. Training will take place from January 3 – January 12, 2012.

More information is available online at http://www.aarp.org/money/taxes/aarp_taxaide/

Florida does not regulate the preparation of tax returns.  Florida does regulate CPAs who prepare tax returns but, if you are a Florida licensed CPA and you prepare tax returns, you are subject to the requirements of the Florida law and rules.

NEW CHANGE FOR CPE REPORTING

Effective with the re-establishment period ending June 30, 2011, CPAs are no longer required to submit their CPE to renew a current active license.  The licensee still must complete required CPE by June 30th of their renewal year.  Documentation evidencing course completion should be retained for at least two years after the current renewal period in the event the licensee is selected for the CPA audit.

CPA LAWS & RULE ELIMINATED

Legislation signed by the Governor on May 27, 2009, eliminates completion of the Florida laws and rules examination as a requirement for CPA licensure renewal. To successfully complete the renewal process of an active license, the CPA must

• Complete 80 hours of CPE to include 4 hours of board approved ethics and 20 hours in accounting/auditing subjects by June 30th of the renewal year*.
• Pay $105.00 renewal fee by December 31st of the renewal year to avoid $50.00 late renewal fee

*If CPE isn’t completed by June 30, 2009 there are automatic extensions which require completion of additional accounting/auditing hours. For more information on the extensions please select the “Renewals & Reactivation” heading on the left of your screen.

After passing all four parts of the CPA examination, you have 36 months to submit all required information to the Board of Accountancy for licensure.