Annual Filing Season Program CE

Each year, various limits impacting income tax return preparation and tax planning are affected by inflation-related changes. In addition, various new tax laws may be passed. This course will examine many of those changes.

The Annual Federal Tax Refresher course is designed to meet the requirements of the IRS voluntary Annual Filing Season program. It discusses new tax law and recent updates for the upcoming filing season, provides a general tax review, and examines important rules governing tax return preparer ethics, practices and procedures.

The first part of this course discusses virtual currency. Roughly 3 in 10 Americans younger than age 30 indicate they have invested in, traded, or used a virtual currency, such as Bitcoin or Ethereum. As a result, tax preparers are more likely than ever to encounter clients who have engaged in one or more virtual currency transactions during the year and who may have taxable income as a result. We briefly discuss the nature of virtual currency, how transactions in virtual currency occur and are recorded, and the tax treatment to which they are subject.

The second part of this course discusses how CPAs, EAs and tax preparers have a unique responsibility to safeguard their clients’ data because savvy cyber criminals know that they have access to very sensitive data, including social security numbers. This part provides an overview of the problems of identity theft, types of identity theft, and remedies available for its victims. In addition, it will look at suggestions for businesses to use to reduce the risk of such crimes and focus on several rules mandating practices for financial firms to safeguard client information.

The first part of this course discusses virtual currency. Roughly 3 in 10 Americans younger than age 30 indicate they have invested in, traded, or used a virtual currency, such as Bitcoin or Ethereum. As a result, tax preparers are more likely than ever to encounter clients who have engaged in one or more virtual currency transactions during the year and who may have taxable income as a result. We briefly discuss the nature of virtual currency, how transactions in virtual currency occur and are recorded, and the tax treatment to which they are subject.

The second part of this course discusses how CPAs, EAs and tax preparers have a unique responsibility to safeguard their clients’ data because savvy cyber criminals know that they have access to very sensitive data, including social security numbers. This part provides an overview of the problems of identity theft, types of identity theft, and remedies available for its victims. In addition, it will look at suggestions for businesses to use to reduce the risk of such crimes and focus on several rules mandating practices for financial firms to safeguard client information.

Each year, various limits affecting income tax preparation and planning change. Some changes commonly occur each year as a result of inflation indexing, while others occur because of new legislation or the sunsetting of existing law.

This course will examine the tax changes affecting 2024 as a result of passage of the SECURE Act 2.0 and the inflation-changed limits effective for 2024 that are more significant from the perspective of an income tax preparer. Some context will be supplied, as appropriate, to assist readers in understanding the changes.