People interested in making a career in accounting, law, or tax consulting, or those who have a general interest in income and tax can take income tax courses that are widely available online. Apart from accounting, law, and tax consulting, online income tax courses also teach taxation, corporate tax, and estate planning. There are different websites that offer accredited courses for those who want to study online.
However, before enrolling for an income tax course online, it is important to gather some essential information about the courses that are available online. These programs are open to anyone who is interested in learning how to prepare income taxes, although there are some programs that can only be taken as part of a degree program.
In certain offline tax preparation certificate programs, there are graduate programs in business and law and independent courses in the school’s continuing education division. However, choosing an online course will also teach you many common concepts that are mentioned below.
- Provisions
- Ethics
- Sources and procedures
- Legislative history
- Taxable income and tax research
- Exemption and allowances
- Accounting methods
There are different online income tax courses that will cover these concepts. Some of these courses are mentioned below:
- Income taxation course: This is an introductory course in income tax that covers the fine details needed for decent background knowledge in the complex world of income tax. Some important topics of this course include individual tax law, valuation, accounting methods, the internal revenue code, and deductions and reporting periods. Along with being important, this income tax course is also mandatory.
- Individual tax course: In this course, the important topics are gross income, personal and charitable deductions, benefits, classes of income, the alternative minimum tax, non-statutory principles, and second homes. Some online courses also offer advanced classes in corporate income tax for people who are particularly interested in this subject.
- Tax practice and procedure course: This course teaches administrative details that are required for filing tax paperwork for businesses as well as individuals. The topics discussed are inclusive of regulatory agencies, penalties, responsibilities, assessment, litigation, and tax appeals. This course is usually mandatory and is offered in the first year of an online program.
- Estate and gift planning course: This course covers the laws regarding property transfers before and after death, estate taxation, family regulations, and reporting gift requirements and planning for the elderly or terminally ill individuals. In most programs, this class is an elective and is offered in the second year.
Online income tax programs
There are plenty of places that offer online income tax programs for people. Some of them are mentioned below:
Coursera: Coursera is an online education/learning platform that offers courses from many different fields of study. It also offers a specialization in U.S. Federal Taxation that includes the 5 courses mentioned here:
- Federal taxation I: Individuals, employees, and sole proprietors
- Federal Taxation II: This is with regard to property transactions of business owners and shareholders
- Taxation of business entities I: Corporations
- Taxation of business entities II: Pass-through entities
- U.S. Federals taxation capstone
The Income Tax School: This is an IRS and tax industry acknowledged online platform for learning income tax. The site offers courses to become a tax professional and has advanced education. It also prepares one for CE and exams, builds tax business, and operate one’s own tax school.
The Tax College: This is an online income tax course website that offers income tax courses to students as well as tax preparation professionals. Some courses like the federal income tax course are exclusively for tax preparation professionals and are offered only upon verification. Some online courses offered by The Tax College include the following:
- The federal tax system
- The tax return preparation process
- Taxpayer identification
- Filing statuses and who should file a tax return
- Personal and dependency exemptions