One Enrolled Agent, working only on US tax for Americans abroad.
I am Jorge I. Rivas, an IRS Enrolled Agent. I have been in practice for 17 years, since 2010, and an Enrolled Agent for 12 of them, since 2014. I prepare and sign every return this practice files. There is no team behind me, and that is the point.
An Enrolled Agent is licensed federally by the Treasury, not by a state board, and holds unrestricted rights to represent taxpayers before the IRS. There are 68,548 Enrolled Agents in the United States, against 208,519 CPAs. It is the rarer credential, and the one built specifically around federal tax.
The work is narrow on purpose: federal and state returns for Americans living abroad, FBAR and FATCA reporting, the foreign housing exclusion, treaty and totalization positions, and Streamlined catch-up filing. I do not do host-country returns, and I refer out renunciation and entity-group work.
Most of my clients find they owe nothing once the return is prepared correctly. Some owe money. Either way you will hear the number before the work starts, not after.
What I will always tell you
When you owe nothing. When an FBAR can be filed free through FinCEN yourself. When software is enough.
What I will not do
Quote a fee after the work. Hand your return to someone else to sign. Use a penalty figure to sell you a package.
How to check me
Search the IRS Return Preparer directory by name and country. The credential and its status are public.
Check the credential yourself, in about a minute.
Nobody else in this category asks you to do this. The directory is the IRS's own, it is free, and it does not require an account.
It is published at irs.treasury.gov/rpo/rpo.jsf. No login, no fee, no intermediary site.
Enter Rivas, and set the country to the United States. The listing shows the credential type and its status.
Credential: Enrolled Agent. That is a federal licence issued by the Treasury, with unrestricted rights of representation before the IRS. There are 68,548 Enrolled Agents against 208,519 CPAs.
The status is live. If it ever lapsed, the directory would say so before I did — which is the point of pointing you at it.
Questions about the credential
Is an Enrolled Agent the same as a CPA?
No, and neither is a subset of the other. An Enrolled Agent is licensed federally by the Treasury specifically for tax, with unrestricted rights of representation before the IRS. A CPA is licensed by a state board across a wider accounting remit. For a US expatriate return the federal tax licence is the relevant one — and it is the rarer credential: 68,548 Enrolled Agents against 208,519 CPAs.
Who actually prepares my return?
I do, and I sign it. There is no team, no offshore preparation desk and no rotation of staff between years. That is the reason the practice is deliberately narrow.
How long have you been doing this?
17 years in practice, since 2010, and 12 of those as an Enrolled Agent, since 2014. The two are stated separately because they are different things.
What do you refuse to take on?
Host-country returns, renunciation and expatriation work, and groups of operating entities with payroll. Those go to people who do them weekly, and I will say so on the call rather than after the invoice.
Can you represent me if the IRS writes to me?
Yes. Unrestricted representation rights before the IRS come with the Enrolled Agent credential, so a notice about a return I prepared does not need a second professional introduced to your file.
Twenty minutes tells you whether I am the right preparer.
No obligation, and no fee for the call. If your return does not need me, you will hear that too.