Comprehensive Tax Course

2026 Edition Updated for the 2025 tax year, including One Big Beautiful Bill Act provisions.

$497

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Course type:

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Product add-ons:

  • Yes, add the Comprehensive printed book bundle to my order *

  • Yes, add the CA Comprehensive printed book bundle to my order *

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Description

The Surgent Income Tax School Comprehensive Tax Course is a thorough A-to-Z program that gives you the knowledge and practical skills to prepare individual tax returns from start to finish. This is the entry point to the Surgent Income Tax School pathway — designed to take you from no experience to career-ready.

The 2026 edition covers the 2025 tax year in full, including updated IRS guidance and significant legislative changes from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Who this course is for

This course is built for three types of learners:

  • Experienced professionals looking for a flexible second career or additional income stream. Tax preparation offers seasonal work, independent client relationships, and the ability to set your own schedule.
  • Young professionals and entrepreneurs who want a practical, in-demand skill that can generate supplemental income or serve as the foundation for a tax preparation business.
  • College students and recent graduates seeking career-focused credentials with immediate earning potential. Tax preparation experience builds financial literacy and creates part-time, seasonal, or long-term employment opportunities.

How the course works

Our structured, scaffolded approach breaks tax law and tax code concepts into manageable lessons that build on one another. You won’t be dropped into dense material — each module builds on the last, reinforced by assessments that help ensure mastery before you move on.

The course includes a series of video lectures covering more complex tax concepts, including:

  • Filing status
  • Employee compensation
  • Business income
  • Earned Income Credit
  • Retirement income — pensions and annuities
  • Capital assets
  • Rental of vacation homes and other dwelling units
  • Unemployment compensation (Form 1099-G)
  • Who should itemize
  • Preparer responsibilities and avoiding penalties

Hands-on activities use real-world examples and scenarios to prepare you for situations you’ll encounter as a working tax professional. The goal isn’t just to teach you what to do — it’s to help you understand why, so you can apply your skills with confidence from day one.

What’s new in the 2026 edition

This edition covers the 2025 tax year and includes all relevant legislative and IRS updates, with significant new content from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act:

Permanently extended provisions:

  • Lower individual tax rates and widened brackets
  • Increased standard deduction (TCJA)
  • QBI deduction
  • Increased individual AMT exemption amounts
  • 100% bonus depreciation for qualified property
  • Repeal of the Pease limitation

New and temporarily implemented provisions:

  • No tax on qualified tip income
  • No tax on qualified overtime income
  • Enhanced deduction for seniors 65 and older
  • Increased SALT deduction limit
  • No tax on car loan interest
  • Trump Accounts
  • Child and Dependent Care Credit — increased maximum credit rate
  • Form 1099-K reporting requirements repealed

Other 2025 updates:

  • New Form 1040 — now includes 38 lines
  • New Schedule 1A
  • New Form 1099-DA for cryptocurrency sales
  • Updated filing requirements, standard deduction, Social Security wage base, IRA contribution limits, HSA limits, EITC limits, Section 179 limits, and more

Bonus material included

  • Earn a digital badge upon successful completion of the course. Learn more about badges.
  • FREE Tax Law Updates as they become available
  • FREE Annual Tax Refresher Course (AFTR)

2026 Standard Comprehensive Learning Objectives
2026 California Edition Comprehensive Learning Objectives

CE Hours & Provider/Sponsor #s for Comprehensive Tax Course – Standard Edition:

  • Module 1: 15 hours Federal Tax Law (IRS# EEZ75-T-00587-26-S)
  • Module 2: 15 hours Federal Tax Law (IRS# EEZ75-T-00586-26-S)
  • Module 3: 15 hours Federal Tax Law (IRS# EEZ75-T-00588-26-S)
  • Module 4: 13 hours including:
    • 7 hours Federal Tax Law Topics IRS# EEZ75-T-00589-26-S;
    • 4 hours Federal Tax Law Update IRS# EEZ75-U-00591-26-S;
    • 2 hours Ethics IRS# EEZ75-E-00590-26-S

CE Hours for California Tax Education Council (CTEC) approved Comprehensive Tax Course – California Edition:

  • Comprehensive Tax Course: 45 hours Federal Tax Law
  • CA State Supplement: 15 hours California State Tax Law
  • Total hours of CE awarded for CA State Edition: 60 hours
  • CTEC Provider# 1071
  • Program number: 1071-QE-03300

6 Month Completion Time

View the Income Tax School’s Certifications and Credentials

There are no prerequisites or advance preparation needed for this course.

How do I get started?

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

Do I have to buy hard copy books?

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. 

Which edition should I choose: Standard or California?

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.

What grades do I need to pass the course?

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.

I’m buying a course on behalf of someone else, what should I do?

For business owners operating their own tax school who wish to license our courses for their students: email info@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:

  1. Select your course(s)
  2. Proceed to checkout
  3. Fill the billing address and payment fields with the information of the person paying for the course.
  4. In the Additional Comments section: enter the names and emails of the person(s) taking the course(s)

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.

What is the refund policy?

If you are unhappy with your product, we welcome you to reach out to us at info@theincometaxschool.com. We may be able to help you with study strategies, tips on how to best leverage our software or other suggestions that could improve your sturdy experience. If you’re still not sure if we’re the right fit for you, we’ll gladly refund your course fees as follows:

  • Refunds must be requested within 10 days of order placement date. Refunds will not be issued if cancellation is made after 10 days.
  • Textbooks are non-refundable.
  • If cancellation occurs after accessing any graded assignments, you will not be entitled to a refund.
  • To initiate a return, or if you have any questions, please contact Surgent’s Customer Care team at info@theincometaxschoo.com.

Try this course for 3 days free!

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