AFTR Course for Minnesota Tax Preparers: What the 2027 Season Requires
- Non-exempt Minnesota preparers need 18 hours of CE, including the 6-hour AFTR course, for the 2027 Record of Completion.
- Minnesota has no state preparer license, but state law fines a preparer $500 for lacking a required PTIN and $50 per return for omitting it.
- Minnesota Statute 289A.60, subdivision 28 governs these preparer-identification penalties.
- All CE, including the AFTR, is due by December 31, 2026 for the 2027 filing season.
§1 What Is the AFTR — and Who in Minnesota Needs It?
The Annual Federal Tax Refresher (AFTR) is a 6-hour IRS course that ends with a timed comprehension test, aimed at preparers who hold no CPA license, EA credential, or law license. For that group — a substantial share of Minnesota’s paid preparer population — it’s the main federal competency step available, since Minnesota has never built a state-level licensing exam of its own.
Completing the AFTR as part of the broader Annual Filing Season Program (AFSP) earns a Record of Completion, which does two things worth having: it adds a preparer’s name to the IRS’s public Tax Pro Directory, and it grants limited representation rights — the ability to speak to the IRS on behalf of a client whose return the preparer personally signed, during an exam, a collections matter, or an appeal. Without it, a non-credentialed preparer can sit in the room with that client but can’t field the agent’s questions for them.
§2 Minnesota’s Preparer Rules: No License, But a Real PTIN Penalty
Minnesota doesn’t license, register, or test paid tax preparers — there’s no state board and no exam to sit. But Minnesota is unusually specific about one thing other no-license states leave alone: making sure your federal PTIN actually shows up on the Minnesota return. Under Minnesota Statute 289A.60, subdivision 28, a preparer who is required to have a PTIN but doesn’t have one can be fined $500 for each such failure, and a preparer who has a PTIN but leaves it off a Minnesota return can be fined $50 for each return that’s missing it.
This isn’t a competency requirement in the way Oregon’s OBTP license or California’s CTEC registration are — Minnesota isn’t testing your tax knowledge. It’s an identification mandate: the Department of Revenue wants to know who prepared every return that crosses its desk, and it backs that up with a per-return penalty rather than a one-time registration fee. For a preparer handling volume during the season, a handful of missed PTIN fields can add up faster than many realize.
§3 Exempt vs. Non-Exempt
Exempt preparers hold an active credential from one of three IRS-recognized state programs — the Oregon Board of Tax Practitioners, CTEC in California, or the Maryland State Board of Individual Tax Preparers — or passed Part 1 of the Special Enrollment Exam in the last three years, or passed the old RTRP test between November 2011 and January 2013. Minnesota isn’t one of the three recognized state programs, so a Minnesota-only preparer generally reaches exempt status through the SEE or legacy RTRP routes, or by carrying over a credential from one of those three states. Everyone else — most of Minnesota’s non-credentialed preparers — is non-exempt and completes the full 18-hour track, AFTR included.
§4 The 18-Hour Breakdown
SCHEDULE A — NON-EXEMPT PREPARER CE REQUIREMENTS (2027 FILING SEASON)
| Course Category | Required Hours |
|---|---|
| Annual Federal Tax Refresher (AFTR) — includes comprehension test | 6 |
| Federal Tax Law Topics | 10 |
| Ethics | 2 |
| Total | 18 |
The 10 hours of federal tax law topics can be drawn from whatever subject areas fit your client base. The 2 ethics hours must be IRS-approved ethics content specifically — a general professional-ethics course won’t satisfy this category, no matter how relevant it is to Minnesota’s own PTIN rule above.
§5 Inside the AFTR Course
The AFTR runs exactly 6 hours and is only offered by IRS-approved providers between June 1 and December 31 of the year before the season it covers. It’s exam-based — you work through the material, then sit a timed comprehension test, and you need a passing score for the hours to count. Minnesota preparers juggling the PTIN-penalty rule in §2 have extra reason to get organized early: the same season that demands careful PTIN entry on every return also has an AFTR deadline that doesn’t move for anyone.
§6 Deadlines and the Record of Completion
December 31, 2026. All CE hours, including the AFTR for non-exempt preparers, must be completed and reported to the IRS by this date to receive the 2027 Record of Completion.
Your CE provider reports completed hours directly to the IRS CE system. Confirm they landed correctly by checking your IRS Tax Pro Account transcript against what your provider told you, leaving enough time in December to fix a gap if one turns up.
Circular 230 Consent. PTIN renewal requires a separate consent to Circular 230 obligations. Completed CE hours without that consent will not produce a Record of Completion.
§7 FAQs
Does Minnesota license tax preparers?
No. Minnesota has no state preparer license, exam, or registration program. It does, however, fine preparers for PTIN omissions under Minn. Stat. 289A.60, subd. 28 — $500 for lacking a required PTIN, $50 per return for leaving it off.
Does the Minnesota PTIN penalty have anything to do with the AFSP?
No. Minnesota’s PTIN-on-return penalty is a state identification rule enforced by the Department of Revenue. The AFSP is a separate, voluntary IRS continuing-education program. Complying with one doesn’t satisfy the other.
I’m CTEC-registered in California but now prepare returns for Minnesota clients. Which track am I on?
You keep your California-based AFSP exemption regardless of your clients’ location — exemption travels with an active credential, not with the state where the work happens. You’d complete the 15-hour exempt track rather than Minnesota’s default 18-hour non-exempt one.
What’s the practical risk of a missing PTIN on a Minnesota return?
A $50 penalty per return under state law, separate from anything the IRS does. For a preparer filing in volume during the season, a recurring data-entry gap on that field can turn into a meaningful total before anyone notices the pattern.
For the full federal picture, see the 2027 AFSP Requirements Guide and what to expect on the AFTR test. Enroll in TIQA’s 2026 AFTR Course, browse the full AFSP & AFTR hub, or see Minnesota’s full AFSP requirements, including the exempt track and PTIN renewal steps.
Tax IQ Academy is an IRS and CTEC approved provider of continuing education for tax professionals, offering AFSP, AFTR, and EA exam prep courses covering federal tax law, ethics, and practice management.