EA Exam Part 1: Individuals

Part 1 at a glance

Part 1, Individuals, is one of three independently scheduled parts of the Special Enrollment Examination. Each form has 100 multiple-choice questions: 85 scored and 15 experimental items that are not identified and do not count toward the score. Testing time is 3.5 hours. You may take Part 1 first, last, or in between, because the IRS does not require an order. PSI Services, LLC administers the exam, effective March 1, 2026. Prometric is the prior vendor only, so treat any Prometric instructions as historical. For U.S. domestic candidates the current window runs July 1, 2026 through February 28, 2027, and the fee is $317 per part, paid to PSI at scheduling. Retake limits, the reschedule deadline, and the March and April blackout live on the dates-and-fees page. Read it before you book rather than relying on this summary. Passing is a scaled score of 500, explained on the scoring page.

Part 1 domain map

The current PSI Candidate Information Bulletin is the controlling scope for Part 1. It groups the content into six domains, each with a set number of scored questions per form. The counts below total 85 and follow the bulletin for this window. If the bulletin changes, the bulletin wins. Each domain links to PassFast topic lessons organized to that outline. Those lessons are study aids, not official SEE content. Use the counts to set proportion, not to skip a domain: an 11-question domain can still decide a close result.

• Preliminary Work and Taxpayer Data, 14 scored questions: filing requirements and due dates, filing status, dependents, residency, information reporting, and prior-return review.
• Income and Assets, 17 scored questions: wages and investment income, rental and pass-through income, IRAs and retirement distributions, basis, capital gains, and adjustments to income.
• Deductions and Credits, 17 scored questions: standard versus itemized deductions, medical, tax, interest, and charitable deductions, and the child, education, and earned income credits.
• Taxation, 15 scored questions: alternative minimum tax, self-employment and household employment taxes, estimated tax, net investment income tax, and income in respect of a decedent.
• Advising the Individual Taxpayer, 11 scored questions: withholding advice, marriage and divorce decisions, spouse relief, amended returns, planning, carryovers, and return positions.
• Specialized Returns for Individuals, 11 scored questions: estate and gift tax, trust and estate income tax, FBAR and Form 8938, foreign transfers, and nonresident and dual-status returns.

What to study

Build study around the outline, not around a list of thresholds. For this window, questions reference the Internal Revenue Code, forms, and publications as amended through December 31, 2025, and “current year” means calendar year 2025. Do not study post-2025 legislation as if it were on this form of the test, and do not use a 2023 or older guide as your primary source. Start with the domain that governs everything downstream: filing status, dependents, and what must be reported. Then move through income, basis, property sales, and retirement items, followed by adjustments, deductions, and credits. Finish with tax computation, advising, and specialized returns, which reuse the earlier rules in new settings. The IRS points candidates to the Code, publications, forms, and its own sample questions, and it does not recommend a specific commercial provider.

Common practice mistake

Memorizing thresholds and phaseouts without the rule behind them. Part 1 questions often turn on one fact: a dependent’s age or residency, the holding period on a sale, whether income is earned, or which year a payment belongs to. Practice naming the governing rule, the taxpayer facts that trigger it, and the form or schedule that implements it. When you miss a question, write down which fact you misread, not just the correct letter. A second mistake is studying only the largest domains. Income and Assets and Deductions and Credits carry the most scored questions, but the two 11-question domains still carry 22 scored questions between them, about a quarter of the form.

Practice method for Part 1

Start with the free Part 1 sample. It uses questions the IRS published for the current exam law period, each followed by a source reference and a concise explanation. Work each item closed-book, commit to an answer, then read why every option is right or wrong. Next, apply the practice-exam method: short domain sets while a topic is new, then mixed timed sets that rehearse pace across all six domains. Track misses by domain so the next session follows evidence, not habit. A practice percentage is a training signal. It is not a scaled score, and no percentage converts to the official passing mark of 500. Neither the free sample nor any PassFast set is an official SEE form, and none predicts or guarantees a result.

A Part 1 study path

First, take the free diagnostic to see whether Part 1 should be your first part. Email is required to start, and the result is a part-priority signal, not a pass prediction. Second, put Part 1 on a calendar with the 10-week study plan. Ten weeks is an example pace for one part, not a promise. Third, work the domain map in order, using the topic lessons to learn each rule and the free Part 1 sample to check retrieval. Fourth, when mixed timed sets show stable results in every domain, schedule through PSI at least 24 hours ahead and keep the exam fee in a separate budget line. Step-by-step booking, remote-proctor rules, and test-day ID requirements live on the PSI testing page.

Choosing Part 1 materials

Whatever you use for Part 1 should match the current PSI outline and the law period through December 31, 2025, and it should report results by domain so you know what to study next. The study-materials guide is the checklist for what a system must include. The courses guide compares formats such as self-paced courses, live classes, question banks, and complete review systems. When Part 1 is stable, the Part 2 and Part 3 hubs cover the next appointment.