Fifty Years of the National Association of Enrolled Agents

It is 2022 and a landmark year for the National Association of Enrolled Agents (NAEA) – our association’s 50^th anniversary. We have accomplished much, and we will reflect on those accomplishments as part of our anniversary celebration. This new year is an opportunity not only to look back but also to look ahead.

Januarys are for many of us a time to reassess, to consider where we have been, and where we would like to go; to challenge ourselves to be better partners, parents, children, leaders, and followers; and to make resolutions. January reminds me that I get to start over again, if not from scratch, then from a place of optimism from which I am open to change, in a spirit of evaluation and improvement. I hope, even in the face of the many frustrations and challenges of the past three filing seasons that you, too, are entering 2022 with high hopes and expectations.

For us tax professionals, January is a time to finish preparing for the upcoming filing season and to make sure we are up-to-date on all the new tax rules. The lists we make are related to our clients and to the smooth operation of our businesses. Even professionally, we have opportunities to change, to ask ourselves whether our focus is appropriate, whether we are satisfied with our books of business. We need to set aside our frustrations. I hope we mindfully enter the filing season aware of the necessity to balance work and rest and the importance of both our mental and physical health. Please make taking care of yourself a priority this year.

I make a point of mindfulness and of our mental health because the past few years have taken their toll on the civility of our social interactions as evidenced by the dramatic rise in altercations in restaurants, airplanes, in email messages, on social media, and even on NAEA’s engagement platforms. Our recent member survey indicates many are reluctant to engage with their colleagues, or have even left NAEA, because fellow members treated them poorly. Our nerves are frayed, and I think we occasionally forget to be kind to one another. In our meetings and electronic communication, let us all remember to lift our colleagues in public and offer constructive criticism in private.

I believe when we commit to being good to ourselves, we are more likely to be good to others—our loved ones, our colleagues, our clients. During my leadership time in our association, I have been touched by how good and generous and kind we can be to one another. I value that I have never asked an enrolled agent for help and been turned down.

I hope that as we shake off the old, we think about how we can be kinder, more inclined to grace. As C.S. Lewis once wrote, “There is no excess of goodness. You cannot go too far in the right direction.”

As NAEA enters its 50^th year, let us celebrate this milestone and let us live knowing enrolled agents are better together. Because at the end of the day, we are.