Training resources for the tax preparers

You need to follow your state certification or license requirements. I reside and prepare taxes in California and you must be either certified or registered through the California Tax Education Council. If you reside in California or a state that requires licensing, you will have to follow those requirements. Go to ctec.org to find out more information.

If you know how to complete a tax return, proseries is very easy to use. You input the info into the input sheets and they go to the correct spots on the tax return.

The irs penalties are very steep for preparers, so unless you know and understand what you are doing, don't do it.

I'm looking for similar resources.

My state does not require certification for tax preparers, and I'm looking to do the training over the next couple of months. This will enable me to bring my current employees up to speed on taxes and give me an opportunity to screen potential employees for the tax season.

What I would like is something to cover the basics of personal tax prep, much like H&R Block offers. I would prefer to do the training myself, so I'm not looking for a teacher - an ideal solution would provide me with lesson plans, handouts, student books, quizzes, practice problems, etc.

I do not need anything to teach software - we'll learn that as we do practice problems. I just need to teach the basics of federal returns - 1040, Sch A, B, C, SE, EIC, Forms 2441, 3903, 2210, 8880, 8812, 8863, etc.

The best training materials I received in preparing tax returns - believe it or not - was actually through the VITA/TCE programs sponsored by the IRS. Publication 678 is what had been used for the three years I volunteered: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf...

Hope this helps!