The Internal Revenue Service says it had to delay the Special Enrollment Examination (SEE) tests for Enrolled Agents that was slated for May due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Prometric, the company that does SEE testing for the IRS has closed its testing centers in the US and Canada through May 31 because of the pandemic. Those who had tests scheduled in May will be contacted by the company to reschedule.

“If you have a SEE appointment scheduled in May, you should have received an email informing you that your appointment is cancelled,” the IRS website instructs. “A Prometric representative will try to contact you once by telephone to reschedule your appointment. If Prometric can’t reach you by telephone, they will reschedule your appointment and send you an email confirmation with your new appointment information.”

The IRS EA page recommends that testing candidates can call Prometric at 800.306.3926 or 443.751.4193 if the new date and time don’t work for them and to ensure rescheduling fees are waived. Those lines are open Monday - Friday 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern Time.

International testing is also on hold.

The EA web page also shows that the international testing window scheduled for June 15-29 has also been cancelled. International candidates can, however, schedule during the remaining windows, in August and November in 2020, and in February 2021.

The IRS stresses that all information about the examinations is subject to change “in the interest of ensuring the health, safety and well-being of SEE candidates as well as Prometric staff.”

Besides delaying examinations, the IRS has also decided to extend the two-year carryover period for SEE candidates. Generally, those who pass a part of the EA examination can carry over a passing score up to two years from the date they passed that part of the test. To give candidates more flexibility in testing during these uncertain times, the IRS has extended the carryover period from two years to three.

This applies to any examination parts that had not expired as of Feb. 29, 2020. Only those candidates who passed a part of the examination Feb. 29, 2020 or earlier, will now have three years from the date they passed a part of the examination to pass the remaining parts. For example, if a candidate passed Part 1 on Nov. 15, 2019, they now have until Nov. 15, 2022 to pass parts 2 and 3.

The IRS says SEE candidates with additional questions can call 800.306.3926 or 443.751.4193 for additional information.