Switched Keys

In many cases claiming the education credit for clients is relatively easy. If there are only taxpayer expenses, you only need to determine the amount of qualifying expenses (QE). In many cases that is reported on the 1098T. Add required expenses paid… more »

Everyone is talking about the challenges of ACA for tax preparers. Now that the season is well under way, the challenges may not seem that formidable. My experience is that most people have coverage or have exemptions based on filing threshold. … more »

Wednesday was our first day of VITA locally. Taxpayers came in at a steady, but not fractic, pace. The slightly earlier opening of the program will help smooth out the demand for the first three weeks. As always there were a few unusual or new issues.… more »

I’ve been talking and writing about education credits intermittently for a year. I’ve written articles, notified accountants, designed flyers, prepared tools for tax professionals, and am readying for making presentations. My latest contribution… more »

Over the past year I've written long articles and prepared materials for an Education Credit Toolkit. Some of it may be intimidating since it gets into the tax code and regulations. This is a brief set of instructions for reporting education credits in… more »

Discussion of the Affordable Care Act calls for a different format from previous O&U posts since ACA is essentially a new filing requirement. While there has been a considerable amount of change (updates) during the evolution of the law, understanding what the current requirements is the most important thing. That more »

The focal point in tax preparation of returns with education expenses has traditionally been on the tax-free nature of scholarships and grants. However, when practitioners are preparing returns for students, or parents of students, they… more »