The Special Enrollment Examination (SEE) is the three-part test that qualifies you to become an enrolled agent, the only tax credential issued directly by the IRS. Each part is scored separately, and the two questions everyone asks, how many questions and what score you need, both have clear published answers.
How many questions are on each part of the enrolled agent exam?
Each part has 100 multiple-choice questions, with four answer choices and one best answer. Of those 100, 85 are scored and 15 are experimental questions the IRS is trialling for future exams. The experimental questions are mixed in and not identified on screen, so every question has to be treated as if it counts. The exam is administered by PSI Services at PSI test centers.
What is the pass mark for the enrolled agent exam?
The pass mark is a scaled score of 500, on a scale that runs from 200 to 800. This is not a raw percentage of questions answered correctly: the IRS scales each part’s results, so there is no fixed number of correct answers that is guaranteed to pass. Because a scaled score cannot be reverse-engineered into a simple “answer X out of 100” target, any specific percentage you see quoted elsewhere is an estimate, not an official IRS figure. This app’s own mock exams score you against an internal 70-out-of-100 practice bar, chosen as a study benchmark, not a claimed official conversion.
How long do you have to finish each part?
You get 3.5 hours (210 minutes) per part. Your total appointment runs about four hours, which also allows time for the introductory tutorial and a survey at the end. Each of the three parts, Individuals, Businesses, and Representation, Practices and Procedures, is scheduled and timed separately, and you can take the three parts in any order.
How much does it cost, and how many attempts do you get?
The exam fee is $317 per part, paid to PSI Services when you schedule, and it is non-refundable. You can attempt each part up to four times within a testing window. Once you pass a part, that pass carries over for 3 years from the date you passed it, so you do not have to retake a part you already cleared while you work through the rest.
Which tax year does the current exam test?
The testing window that opened 1 July 2026 and runs through 28 February 2027 tests federal tax law as amended through 31 December 2025. Every reference on the exam, the Internal Revenue Code, Treasury Regulations, IRS forms and publications, reflects that December 2025 cut-off, and candidates are told not to apply any later legislation, court decision, or penalty amount.
What is the format at a glance?
| Administered by | PSI Services, for the IRS |
| Format | Multiple choice, four choices, one best answer |
| Questions | 100 per part (85 scored, 15 experimental) |
| Time limit | 3.5 hours (210 minutes) per part |
| Pass mark | Scaled score of 500 on a 200 to 800 scale |
| Fee | $317 per part, non-refundable |
| Attempts | Up to 4 per part per testing window |
| Carryover | A passed part stays valid 3 years |
Every figure above comes from the current SEE Candidate Information Bulletin, published by PSI Services for the IRS. Practicing against the real topic weights the IRS publishes for each part, rather than chasing an unofficial percentage target, is the more reliable way to prepare for a scaled-score exam like this one. An app built from IRS publications, the Internal Revenue Code, Treasury Regulations, and Circular 230, with every question citing its source passage, is one way to drill those weights directly.