**This course is now expired and no longer qualifies for IRS CE Credit. To avoid study material confusion, the course materials and final exam have been removed from this course.
Important: This course provides 10-Hrs of continuing education credits in the IRS Federal Tax Law category. If you wish to obtain the Annual Filing Season Program Record of Completion, do not take this course. The name of this course can be easily mixed up with another course offered on this website, please note the differences in the names to be sure you are enrolled in the correct course:
- “2021 Annual Tax Season Update“ – Provides 10 CE credits in the Federal Tax Law category (Designed for EA’s)
- “2021 Annual Federal Tax Refresher“ – Provides 6 CE credits in the AFTR category (Not for EA’s)
Course Syllabus
Course Description
Each year, income tax return preparation must take into account inflation-related changes to various limits and new tax laws. This course will look at those changes and new laws. The 2021 Annual Tax Season Update course is designed to provide valuable information to persons preparing individual 1040 income tax returns reflecting clients’ 2020 income. The Annual Tax Filing Season Update course discusses new tax law and recent updates for the 2021 filing season, provides a general tax review, and examines important rules governing tax return preparer ethics, practices and procedures. This course is a basic tax level course with no prerequisites, and qualifies for 10 CE credits in IRS Federal Tax Law.
Learning Objectives
- Identify the changes made to various requirements by the SECURE Act, including –
- Traditional IRA contribution eligibility,
- Traditional IRA and qualified plan lifetime required minimum distributions,
- Qualified birth and adoption distributions,
- Inherited IRA distribution requirements,
- Taxation of a child’s unearned income,
- Qualified Tuition Plan distributions, and
- Deductions for unreimbursed medical expenses;
- Recognize the status of various tax extenders, including –
- Reinstatement of the credit for nonbusiness energy property;
- Tuition and fees deduction;
- Itemized deduction for mortgage insurance premiums; and
- Exclusion of cancellation of debt income from qualified principal residence indebtedness;
- Apply the inflation-adjusted and other limits to the proper preparation of taxpayers’ income tax returns;
- Recognize the federal income tax filing statuses and the criteria for their use;
- Identify the types of income that must be recognized;
- Apply the tax rules to the various credits and adjustments to income that are available to taxpayers;
- Recognize the penalties that may be imposed on a preparer for failing to meet ethical and practice standards in preparing tax returns; and
- Identify the duties and restrictions imposed on tax preparers under Circular 230.
Course Assignments
- Study each Chapter
- Answer review questions at the end of each chapter
- Pass the Final Exam with a score of 70 percent or better
Final Exam and Certification
The final exam consists of 50 multiple-choice questions on the information covered in the course materials. To receive credit for this course, you must click on the Exam below to initiate the exam. A passing score of 70 percent or better will receive course credit and a Certificate of Completion.
Course Materials:
- <Course Materials Removed (Out-dated)>