A thorough A-to-Z guide that provides students with the tools and skills they need to prepare individual tax returns – from start to finish. Upon successful completion of the course, individuals are qualified for employment or self-employment as a tax professional and ready to start a career in tax preparation.
Major topics covered in this course include:
After completing this course, students will have the requisite skill set and confidence to prepare individual tax returns.
People often consider learning tax preparation an overwhelming task. At Surgent Income Tax School, we provide a media-rich learning environment with the tools and instruction so even the least-assured student can achieve success.
Our scaffolded approach breaks up tax law and code concepts into smaller, more manageable chunks. Learners are tested as they progress through the program to gain mastery. Hands-on activities using real-world examples and scenarios provide learners with the practical applications needed in this occupation. Our comprehensive curriculum goes beyond what a tax preparer needs to do to prepare tax returns. Learners are also taught the why and how to have learners confidently apply their skills on this new career path in tax preparation.
BONUS Material:
Upon purchasing your course, you will receive login credentials via email to log in to our Learning Management System (LMS) and may begin your course right away. Your login credentials for the LMS and for your ITS account (used to purchase more courses or seminars) will be the same until and unless you change one or both of them.Back To Top
You can access and complete our courses online, 24/7, provided you have internet access. Course completion terms vary depending on the course or bundle you purchase. Typically, you will have 6 months to complete the Comprehensive Tax Course and 3 months for any of the Advanced or Small Business courses. This is based on a schedule of just one chapter per week, with 2 additional weeks to study for tests, though many students are able to complete their courses more quickly.
If you have purchased a bundle or certificate program product that includes multiple courses, you can to add the course terms together to get the completion terms of that product. Specific completion terms for each product are also listed on the corresponding product page.Back To Top
Hard copy books are completely optional. Some students prefer to work through reading materials offline and simply use the online platform to complete assignments, quizzes, and tests. The hard copy books are also a useful tool for tax preparers to use as a reference after they’ve completed the course and are filing tax returns in the field. You do not have to wait for your hard copy book to be shipped to you, but you can if you wish.Back To Top
Bundles and certificate program are products that include multiple courses designed to be taken in order. Depending on when you purchase, you could start your first course and by the time you’re ready to start the next one a new edition could be available. For this reason, we ship books one at a time to make sure you get the most up-to-date version available.Back To Top
The Standard edition of our courses contains information about federal tax law and is applicable to all US tax preparers. A California edition is available for our Comprehensive and Small Business I courses, which includes all the information of our Standard editions but adds a California state tax law supplement. If you’ll be filing returns for California residents and businesses, choose California. Otherwise, choose Standard.Back To Top
A 70% minimum cumulative grade point average is required to pass each course module. This includes all graded assignments, quizzes, and final exams. Certificates of completion are awarded for each course module successfully completed; however, an overall course certificate of completion is awarded only if all related course modules are successfully completed. Certificates of Completion are emailed upon successful completion with a final passing grade of 70% or greater. You must successfully complete each section before you are able to move on to the next one.
If you’re unable to finish any graded assignment in one sitting, you can always save your place and sign off (just be sure NOT to click ‘submit all and finish’). When you sign back in you’ll be able to continue from where you left off. If you’d like, you can download any assignment to complete offline, and then input the answers when you have time.Back To Top
Upon successful completion of the course, our school administrators will review your progress and you will receive a Certificate of Completion by The Income Tax School (ITS). We will also report your credits to the IRS and CTEC (if applicable), provided you have submitted an active Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) to us. Click here for information on how to obtain an active PTIN from the IRS.Back To Top
For business owners operating their own tax school who wish to license our courses for their students: email customercare@theincometaxschool.com or call 1-800-984-1040.
Many customers come to us and are buying a course or seminar for someone else. They could be buying the course for their spouse, or a business owner purchasing for an employee(s), or an employee signing up for a course that their employer is paying for. In those cases, use the following steps:
Example: Jane is a business owner who wants to purchase the Comprehensive Tax Course for Megan and the CTP Program for Jeff. Jane puts both the Comprehensive course and the CTP Program in her cart and proceeds to checkout. Jane enters her information for the Name, Email, Billing Address, and credit card info, then specifies “Megan Smith – Comprehensive course. Email: megan@example.com, Jeff Jones – CTP Program. Email: jeff@example.com” in the Additional Comments section.
Jane will receive a receipt of purchase by email and will be given login credentials of her own by default. Our school administrators will then manually create student accounts for Megan and Jeff and add their respective courses to their accounts. Please allow up to 2 business days for this to take place.
Please Note: Extension requests and name changes on purchases placed on a Friday may not be completed until the next business day.
The Refund Policy below is applicable only for courses students purchase directly from Surgent Income Tax School. Students who purchase any courses through third-party schools or other organizations must address all refund issues with the entity through which they made that purchase.
Please note: Operator’s Starter Kit, License Renewal, Tax Practice Management Manuals (Marketing, Operations), Print/Hard Copy Books for Individual Course Purchase, the Guide to Start and Grow Your Successful Tax Business, and the two Business Start-up Guides are non-refundable.
CE Hours & Provider/Sponsor #s for Comprehensive Tax Course – Standard Edition:
CE Hours for California Tax Education Council (CTEC) approved Comprehensive Tax Course – California Edition:
There are no prerequisites or advance preparation needed for this course.
CE Hours for Standard Edition
CE Hours for California State Qualifying Education Edition
CTEC Provider: #1071
Program Number #1071-QE-3166
How it works:
Upon purchase, you will receive login credentials and may start your course right away. You can work at your own pace and access the course content at any time. You will have 6 months from your purchase date to complete the course, though many students finish much earlier. A course extension may be purchased from our online store, if needed.
