TaxEar

Federal tax law & IRS procedure · organised by the IRS SEE content outline

Every rule, traced to the section it comes from.

Each page states the rule in plain language first, cites the Code section or regulation behind it, works through realistic scenarios, and flags the traps that catch people off guard. Built to the rigor of the IRS Enrolled Agent exam outline — useful whether you're studying for that exam, representing a client, or just trying to understand your own return.

Release 2026-08-21 · 360 topics · 2488 figures, each dated

The outline

Parts
3
Domains
13
Sections
44
Topics
360

Open any number

Every figure on this site carries the authority it came from and the day that authority was opened. Not a footnote — the number itself. Try it.

The IRS allows one person Verified 2026-08-19 IRS Collection Financial Standards, effective June 29, 2026 (irs.gov national/local standards pages) for living expenses when it decides what they can afford to pay.

That date is the day someone opened the source and read it. It is never carried forward from last year.

Start reading

Part 1

Individuals

Preliminary Work and Taxpayer Data · Income and Assets · Deductions and Credits · Taxation · Advising the Individual Taxpayer · Specialized Returns for Individuals

Part 2

Businesses

Business Entities · Business Tax Preparation · Specialized Returns and Taxpayers

Part 3

Representation, Practices and Procedures

Practices and Procedures · Representation before the IRS · Specific Types of Representation · Completion of the Filing Process

Directory

IRS notices & letters

What each notice means, the deadline it starts, and what to do.

Directory

Forms

Every form the outline references, linked to the topics that use it.

Guide

The Enrolled Agent exam

Format, scoring, scheduling, and how this site maps to it.

Practice

TaxEar Study

Timed exams and recall drills built from the questions on every page here, each linked back to its rule.

Colophon

TaxEar is a reference work, not a blog and not advice. Every rule statement cites the controlling authority — Internal Revenue Code, Treasury Regulations, Circular 230, the Internal Revenue Manual — and that authority was opened and read for the page it appears on. Where a publication only describes procedure, the Code and the regulations still control the substance.

Figures are never written into the prose. Each one lives in a single file with its source and the date it was checked, so a number cannot quietly go stale in one place while being correct in another. Tax year 2026 is the default; where 2025 differs, the page says so.

Maintained by Nnamdi O. Last release 2026-08-21.