AICPA Statements on Standards for Tax Services as revised for 2024

In this lesson you will

State when the revised SSTSs took effect and whom they bind
Describe the four-statement structure of the revised SSTSs
Identify the three topics added in the 2024 revision
Compare the SSTSs with the Circular 230 duties covered earlier in this track

What the SSTSs are

The Statements on Standards for Tax Services are the AICPA's enforceable tax standards for its members. Circular 230 governs practice before the IRS; the SSTSs govern the member's tax work as a matter of professional standards, enforced through the AICPA rather than the IRS.

The AICPA Tax Executive Committee adopted a revised set on May 18, 2023, announced it on November 13, 2023, and made it effective January 1, 2024. The prior SSTS No. 1 to 7 applied until December 31, 2023.

The new structure

The revision regrouped the standards by the type of work:

Statement	Sections
SSTS No. 1, general standards	1.1 advising on tax positions, 1.2 knowledge of errors, 1.3 data protection, 1.4 reliance on tools
SSTS No. 2, tax compliance services	2.1 tax return positions, 2.2 tax return questions, 2.3 reliance on information from others, 2.4 use of estimates, 2.5 departure from previous positions
SSTS No. 3, tax consulting services	The existing advisory standard, kept separate
SSTS No. 4, tax representation services	A new standalone standard

The old SSTS No. 1 to 7 were folded into these four. The AICPA publishes a mapping document that traces each old standard to its new section, and updated the Interpretations and FAQs with the new citations.

The three new topics

Data protection. SSTS 1.3 says a member should make reasonable efforts to safeguard taxpayer data, including data transmitted or stored electronically, and should consider applicable privacy laws. It sits in the general standards because it applies to every type of tax work. The IRS and FTC duties in the next lesson sit beside it.
Reliance on tools. The standard defines when a member may reasonably rely on technology and other tools, such as tax software, calculators and research platforms, and when the member must look behind the output.
Representation before taxing authorities. Representation in exams, appeals and collection is now covered by its own standard rather than scattered guidance.

How SSTSs and Circular 230 overlap

The two sets cover similar ground but are not identical:

Topic	Circular 230	SSTSs
Who	Practitioners and paid preparers before the IRS	AICPA members
Return positions	10.34 with 6694 standards	SSTS 1.1 and 2.1
Client errors	10.21 duty to advise	SSTS 1.2
Data security	Not directly addressed	SSTS 1.3
Enforcement	IRS Office of Professional Responsibility	AICPA, through the Compliance With Standards Rule (ET 1.310.001)

Where both apply, meet the stricter rule. Members also remain bound by the Confidential Client Information Rule (ET 1.700.001): a member in public practice does not disclose confidential client information without the client's specific consent. Before sending client data to a third-party service provider, the AICPA interpretation on third-party service providers calls for either a contract requiring confidentiality, with reasonable assurance about the provider's procedures, or the client's specific consent. Section 7216 runs alongside these rules, so meeting one does not settle the others.

What staff should do

Read the current SSTS document and the Interpretations early in your first season. The mapping document shows where a familiar old rule now sits.
Treat software output as a tool, not an answer. Know what the software assumed.
Treat client data protection as a professional standard, not only an IT policy.
When you represent a client in a notice response, the representation standard applies, even for a simple letter.

The AICPA confidentiality and AI tools guide covers how the data protection standard and confidentiality rules interact with new tools.

Worked example

Applying the revised standards: a software flag at Elm Avenue CPAs

In February 2026 Raj, a staff accountant and AICPA member at Elm Avenue CPAs, prepares a 2025 Form 1040. The tax software auto-populates a $7,500 clean vehicle credit from a dealer report imported into the client file. The client's organizer does not mention a car purchase.

Reliance on tools (SSTS 1.4): Raj may rely on the software only when reliance is reasonable. An imported credit with no matching client information is a reason to look behind the output. Raj asks the client, who says she leased the car rather than bought it. The credit is removed.

Data protection (SSTS 1.3): the dealer report arrived as an unencrypted email attachment. Raj moves it into the firm's secure portal, deletes the email copy and notes the event for the data security lead, consistent with the firm's safeguards.

Knowledge of errors (SSTS 1.2): Raj sees that the 2024 return, prepared by the firm, claimed the clean vehicle credit for a different car the client had also leased, not bought. He tells the manager, and the firm advises the client of the error and its consequences, meeting both SSTS 1.2 and Circular 230 section 10.21.

Conclusion: three of the revised standards applied to one return in one afternoon, and each produced a file note.

Self-check

Answer each question before you open the answer.

When did the revised SSTSs become effective?
Show answer
January 1, 2024. The AICPA Tax Executive Committee adopted them on May 18, 2023, announced them on November 13, 2023, and the prior SSTS No. 1 to 7 applied through December 31, 2023.
Which three topics were added in the 2024 revision?
Show answer
Data protection (SSTS 1.3), reliance on tools (SSTS 1.4), and tax representation services (SSTS No. 4). The first two sit in the general standards because they apply to every kind of tax work.
How are the four revised statements organized?
Show answer
By type of work: SSTS No. 1 general standards (including knowledge of errors, data protection and reliance on tools), No. 2 tax compliance services including return positions, No. 3 tax consulting services, and No. 4 tax representation services.

Sources

Back to the syllabus

Standards are paraphrased from the primary sources listed above; read the source before relying on a requirement. This lesson is training material, not professional advice. Report an error