Overview

Each year, various limits affecting income tax return preparation and tax planning are affected by inflation-related changes. In addition, various laws passed to address the financial consequences of the coronavirus pandemic significantly affect tax planning and may also affect taxpayers’ income tax liability. This course will examine many of those changes.

The Annual Tax Filing Season Update course discusses new tax law and recent updates for the 2024 filing season, provides a general tax review, and examines important rules governing tax return preparer ethics, practices and procedures.

Updates include how to:

• Recognize the tax treatment of virtual currency;
• Determine the applicable alternative minimum taxable income exemption;
• Calculate the qualified business income deduction available to pass-through entities;
• Apply the rules for taxing the unearned income of dependent children;
• Describe the tax treatment of §529 Qualified Tuition Plans; and
• Identify the tax treatment given to Achieving a Better Life Experience Act (ABLE) accounts.

Also recent changes to tax law are reviewed so that you can:

• Recognize the rules governing exclusion from income of student loan indebtedness;
• Describe the expanded health insurance premium tax credits;
• Determine the modification of net operating losses imposed under the CARES Act; and
• Identify the tax treatment of employee fringe benefits.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:

• Identify the principal individual income tax changes brought about by recent legislation;
• Apply the inflation-adjusted and other limits to the proper preparation of taxpayers’ income tax returns including adjustments to:

• • The education savings bond program;
  • Qualified long term care premiums and benefits;
  • The Social Security taxable earnings limit;
  • The retirement savings contribution credit;
  • The Health Flexible Spending Arrangement (FSA) contribution limit;
  • Various Affordable Care Act provisions including the –
    • refundable tax credits to assist taxpayers in purchasing qualified health plans,
    • small business health insurance premium tax credit,
    • large employer shared responsibility requirement; and
  • Health Savings Account (HSA) limits.

• Recognize the federal income tax filing statuses and the criteria for their use;
• Describe the current status of tax extenders;
• 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.