Tax Pro Collective

10/31/2026

Saturday school, CE provider edition. This one is about self study courses, because that is where good providers get tripped up by rules they never rechecked after approval.

The IRS requirements for self study programs are specific:
- At least 3 multiple choice review questions for every CE credit hour.
- At least 5 multiple choice final exam questions for every CE credit hour.
- A final exam passing score of at least 70 percent.
- A compliant course evaluation offered to every participant.
- Certificates that do NOT display the participant's PTIN. An IRS approved certificate should never carry it.

So a 3 credit hour self study course needs a minimum of 9 review questions and 15 final exam questions, with a 70 percent bar. If your course was built before you knew those numbers, count what you actually have. Providers are often surprised.

Two deadline items ride along with this:
- In the fourth quarter, participant completions must be reported within 10 business days.
- Program numbers issued in 2023 expire December 31, 2026. A course sitting on a 2023 number needs attention before the year closes.

Approval was the beginning. Keeping the course, the testing, the certificates, and the reporting compliant all the way through the year is the ongoing job, and it is exactly what our CE Provider Year-End Compliance Review checks, course by course, before 2027 opens.

10/30/2026

Tax pros, a client conversation is coming this season whether you schedule it or not.

For tax year 2026, a Marketplace client who received too much advance Premium Tax Credit repays the full excess. The repayment caps are gone. So the client who estimated their income a little low in January and earned a little more by fall is not getting a gentle adjustment. They are getting a balance due they never planned for.

You have two versions of this conversation. Version one happens in February, at your desk, with the return on the screen and the client asking why they owe money on the year they had help paying for insurance. Version two happens now, in one short message, while there is still time to prepare them.

Send version two. It sounds like this: "Quick heads up before tax season. The rules changed on Marketplace insurance credits this year. If your income ended up higher than the estimate on your application, some of that credit may have to be repaid on your return. Bring your Form 1095-A when it arrives and we will go through it together."

And add three questions to your intake for every Marketplace client this season:
1. Did your income change during 2026: a raise, a new job, a second job, a spouse starting work?
2. Did your household change: marriage, divorce, a new baby, a dependent aging out?
3. Did you report those changes to the Marketplace when they happened, or only at enrollment?

Those three answers tell you which returns need a warning before you ever open the software. I put the full breakdown in Monday's video, 2026 Marketplace Insurance Tax Changes, on our YouTube channel.

10/28/2026

The cap that used to shrink your client's Marketplace repayment is gone.

Sixty seconds on the change that will surprise your Marketplace clients this season. For tax year 2026, excess advance Premium Tax Credit is repaid in full. The repayment caps are removed. Cut from Monday's full video: 2026 Marketplace Insurance Tax Changes.

10/26/2026

Hey yall! Here’s another way to get CE credits.

Nationwide Tax Forum Online is now available, providing access to 15 new seminars recorded at this year's forum. can earn continuing education credits for a fee or review the courses for free. Learn more: www.irstaxforumonline.com

10/25/2026

Your client did not ghost you. You stopped following up in February and they hired somebody who did not.

Episode 6 of BUT I DO TAXES! is here, and this one is about the clients who quietly never came back.

A new episode of BUT I DO TAXES! is here.

The Experienced Tax Pro asks the New Tax Pro one simple question: "How many times do you follow up when a client goes quiet?"

The New Tax Pro shrugs and says... "I sent the email asking for their documents. If they wanted it done, they would have sent them."

Here is the part nobody wants to hear. Clients are busy, distracted, and buried in their own paperwork problems. Silence usually means life happened, not that they fired you. But the office down the street that checks in, reminds, and makes the next step easy will get that client, and they will get them quietly, one unanswered email at a time.

Doing taxes is the skill. Follow up is the system that decides whether your clients are still your clients next season. Episode 6 is about the gap between the two.

Watch Episode 6, then tell me in the comments: how many follow up touches does a quiet client get from your office before you let them go? And if you missed Episodes 1 through 5, go catch up. The missing systems are stacking up.

10/24/2026

Saturday school, one rule that saves you money.

Preparers studying for the Special Enrollment Examination often buy prep courses partly for the continuing education credit. Here is exactly how that credit works, because it is narrower than the marketing suggests.

If you are an unenrolled preparer, SEE prep can earn you limited CE: up to 5 hours for Part 1, up to 5 hours for Part 2, and up to 2 ethics hours for Part 3. That is a maximum of 12 hours, and only from an approved CE provider.

If you are already an Enrolled Agent, SEE prep earns you nothing. Zero CE credit. The IRS does not award EAs credit for studying to become what they already are.

Neither fact makes SEE prep a bad buy. It makes it a buy you should make with your eyes open. Study because you want the credential or the knowledge. Count the credit only if the rules actually give it to you.

This is the kind of rule we track inside Tax Pro Collective, so members buy the right things for the right reasons.

Share this with one preparer studying for the SEE, and join Tax Pro Collective for rules like this every week.

10/23/2026

Quick question for the tax pros: when a college athlete signs a NIL deal, who explains the taxes?

Because here is what is happening in real life. A brand pays a student athlete for an endorsement, a post, or an appearance. Sometimes it is a check. Sometimes it is merchandise, gift cards, or free services. All of it is income, at fair market value, and all of it is reportable even when no tax form shows up in January.

Some NIL money is wages. Most of it is self employment income, which means self employment tax and quarterly estimates that nobody told an 18 year old about. Royalties are taxed differently again.

Most families have never heard any of this. The first person to explain it in plain English becomes their tax pro for the next four years and beyond. That can be your office, if you learn it now while it is still new.

I recorded a full breakdown for you: NIL Taxes Explained is on our YouTube channel today.

10/21/2026

Form 8867 in 60 seconds.

Most preparers treat this form like paperwork. It is not paperwork. It is the receipt that proves you asked the questions, checked the answers, and wrote it down. When the IRS comes asking how you knew your client qualified, this form and your notes are the whole conversation.

The IRS teaches due diligence free today at 12 PM Eastern, and at 3:00 PM we go live inside Tax Pro Collective to turn it into office practice. Full video is on our YouTube channel.

10/20/2026

Tax pros: NIL income = taxable income.

I keep saying it because your clients are about to learn it the hard way. The endorsement check is income. The sponsorship post is income. The free shoes and gift cards are income too, at what the product is worth, even when no tax form ever shows up.

Ask your clients about NIL income this season before the IRS asks them first.

The full video, NIL Taxes Explained, drops Thursday on the Tax Pro Collective YouTube channel.

10/19/2026

🚨 TAX PROS, IT'S OFFICIAL! 2027 PTIN RENEWAL IS NOW OPEN! 🚨

Tax professionals, it's time to get ahead of the game!

The IRS is officially accepting 2027 Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) applications and renewals, and whether you're a new preparer, a seasoned tax professional, or a tax office owner, this is one deadline you DON'T want to overlook!

📌 HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

✅ 2027 PTIN Renewal Fee: $18.75

✅ Online Renewal: Approximately 15 minutes

✅ Paper Applications: Approximately 6 weeks to process

✅ Current PTIN Expiration: December 31, 2026

✅ Renewal Requirement: PTINs must be renewed annually.

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