Training for Tax Year
2015
CA-2 State Meeting
Jay Wiedwald, CA-2 TRS
TAX-AIDE
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Sep 2015 Regional Meetings
1
Teachable Qualities of a Counselor?
(Responses from audience)
● Develop Listening Skills
● Learn how to explain
● Ask probing questions
tax law in everyday
English
● Use Resources
● Knowing when to ask
● Learn and use trouble-
shooting techniques
● Tax law knowledge
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for help – and
willingness to actually
do so
Sep 2015 Regional Meetings
2
Habits you’d like to Break!
(Responses from audience)
● Starting a return “too
soon”

Complete interview
before touching the
keyboard
● Trusting that CF or other
reviewed Intake sheet
sufficiently
● Ignoring Intake Sheet
during QR
● Rushing under pressure
of clients waiting
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● Not checking Duck Book
before asking for help
● Incomplete passing of
return info to the QR

Complete grey sections
on Intake Sheet
● Relying too much on pro
forma
● Not using the Comment
section at bottom of
Main Info Sheet
Sep 2015 Regional Meetings
3
THANKS!
● I’ll consider those as I prepare for the
Instructor Workshop
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Sep 2015 Regional Meetings
4
Filing Status
Married, Single, and More
Pub 4012 – Tab B
Pub 4491 – Part 2
Pub 17 – Chapter 2
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[BACKGROUND]
● Objectives:

Recognize factors that determine filing
status options

See how filing status affects tax issues

Focused TWO entry/outcome relationships

Cultivate habit of using resources
● Broadly suitable for all experience levels

Pace and Depth of presentation will depend
on audience experience
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TWO Immersion Training – 2015
6
Filing Status
Married, Single, and More
Pub 4012 – Tab B
Pub 4491 – Part 2
Pub 17 – Chapter 2
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Filing Status
Pub 17 Ch 2
● Two criteria:

Marital status on last day of tax year
 Federal
definition – “married”
● Legal marriage under laws of any state or
country
● Does not include civil unions or registered
domestic partners

Type of dependents, if any
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TWO Immersion Training – 2015
8
Five Choices for Filing Status
Pub 4012 Tab B
● Single
● Married filing jointly (MFJ)
● Married filing separately (MFS)
● Head of household (HH)
● Qualified widow(er) (QW)
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TWO Immersion Training – 2015
9
Form 1040
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TWO Immersion Training – 2015
10
Filing Status Importance
● Many tax items affected by filing status

Necessity to file a return (Page A-1)

Standard deduction (Page F-1)

Tax rate bracket

Eligibility for certain credits (Page I-3
Step 3)
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TWO Immersion Training – 2015
11
MFS Disadvantages
● Highest tax rate/lower standard
deduction
● Cannot claim most tax credits
● Cannot deduct student loan interest
● Capital loss limit $1,500 (not $3,000)
● … and a few more.
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TWO Immersion Training – 2015
12
Head of Household – Unmarried
● Provided home for qualified child

Might not be a dependent
● Provided home for related dependent
● >50% cost of maintaining home for
dependent parents living elsewhere
● Pub 4012 page B-1 Left Side
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TWO Immersion Training – 2015
13
Head of Household – Married
“Considered Unmarried”
● Lived apart all of last 6 months of year
● Provided home for:

Child, stepchild, or eligible foster child
for over six months
● No other relatives qualify
● Pub 4012 page B-1 Right Side
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TWO Immersion Training – 2015
14
Head of Household
● Key advantages

Higher standard deduction than Single or
MFS

Advantageous tax rate structure
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TWO Immersion Training – 2015
15
Qualifying Widow(er)
● Spouse died in one of two past years

Has dependent child or stepchild in
home all year

Grandchild not eligible
● Maintained home for child

>50% of cost
● Can file QW for two years only
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TWO Immersion Training – 2015
16
Use the Decision Tree
Turn to
Pub 4012
Page B-1
Don’t miss
the
footnotes
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TWO Immersion Training – 2015
17
TaxWise – Main Information Sheet
Enter name and
SSN only if child
not also
dependent
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TWO Immersion Training – 2015
18
Quality Review
● QR is more than just making sure the
box is checked!
● Must conduct the same probing
interview to make sure that it is the
correct (and best) Filing Status
● HoH is the biggest source of errors
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TWO Immersion Training – 2015
19
Let’s Explore
TWO Immersion Lesson
on Filing Status
Fred Silva
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TWO Immersion Training – 2015
20
● NOW…Fire up your laptops and log into:
https://twonline.taxwise.com/training
Client ID:
1144583
User Name: USERxx
Password:
USERxx
(Unless you’ve already logged in)
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Sep 2015 Regional Meetings
21
Immersion Lesson Worksheet
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TWO Immersion Training – 2015
22
Immersion Lesson Worksheet
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TWO Immersion Training – 2015
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This Demo available online
● NTTC Webinar August 7th. Link available on
OneSupport (or below):

https://aarptaxaide.webex.com/aarptaxaide/ldr.php
?RCID=0895e16d9eb616aa7c7b7ab078f22d4b
(Not compatible with Windows10)
● Starts at 16:42 mark, 17 minutes long
● Followed by “Donald Duck” demo (11 minutes)

Great for new counselors, and even those with a little
experience
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TWO Immersion Training – 2015
24
Demo Questions ???
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Sep 2015 Regional Meetings
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Training for Tax Year
2015
CA-2 State Meeting
Jay Wiedwald, CA-2 TRS
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Sep 2015 Regional Meetings
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Topics
● Training and Certification
● ACA
● Scope
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Sep 2015 Regional Meetings
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Training and
Certification
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Sep 2015 Regional Meetings
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AARP Training Materials
● NTTC Workbook for Tax Year 2015

15 practice returns – replaces Pub 4491-W

Quizzes and exercises

Printed – available through fulfillment
One copy being mailed to each Instructor
Each district must determine how to
obtain/distribute copies to trainees
● NTTC Training Slides –
first release was October 15th
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Sep 2015 Regional Meetings
29
IRS & FTB Training Materials
● Have been ordered for all Counselors

Instructors need them early to certify
before the December Workshop

Some variation by district regarding:
 1040
Instructions
 Pub. 17
 540 Instructions

Getting accustomed to electronic
documents is wise, but paper still useful
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Sep 2015 Regional Meetings
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Instructor Workshop
● Two days in December –
 Instructors
 DCs
 SMT members
 IRS (Patrick Brown) and FTB (Mark Callahan)
● Two “identical” workshops for flexibility and
a manageable group size
● Train the trainers – help Instructors improve
their knowledge and teaching skills
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Sep 2015 Regional Meetings
31
Training Principles
● Retention is enhanced when multiple parts
of the brain are involved


Integrate tax law with TW data entry
Student “contemplates” issues
● Adults learn differently


Not fully engaged unless they see a good reason
May need to accommodate diminished senses
● Develop good habits


Use of resources
Follow a process
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Sep 2015 Regional Meetings
32
New/Expanded Training Tools
● NTTC Workbook

Eight updated and seven new practice
returns

Targeted ACA, Filing Status and
Exemption exercises

Quizzes
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Sep 2015 Regional Meetings
33
New/Expanded Training Tools
● NTTC Lesson Plans

Series I – Updated from last year

Series II – New this year, targeted at returning
counselor training
● TWO Templates supporting these

National and CA-2
● Schedules for new and returning counselors
● NTTC Power-Point Training Slides

Select as appropriate to audience
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Sep 2015 Regional Meetings
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OneSupport/Tax Training/TWO Immersion Training




“Read me first” in Series I package
Schedule and direction files in Series II package
Look over a typical lesson
See Lesson Notes (Series II)
 Resources
 Read-aheads
 Templates
Check Them Out!
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Sep 2015 Regional Meetings
35
Certification Requirements
● All Volunteers – IRS Standards of Conduct test
 Pub 4961 is only available in electronic format
● Local Coordinators and Counselors
 Intake/Interview and Quality Review training and test
–10 questions – New

Link & Learn or Pub 5101 (on-line only)
● Counselors
 Advanced test



35 instead of 40 questions
Increased emphasis on ACA
Completing four exercises from NTTC Workbook
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NTTC – Oct 2015
36
Certification Testing
● Recommend (URGE!!!) Link & Learn rather
than paper

Excellent on-line training reinforces
classroom

Easier for the Instructors

However, Instructors don’t see test score –
only that the test was passed
 Magnifies
need for Instructor to review
exercises to assess student
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NTTC – Oct 2015
37
Optional Certification Tests
● Optional Certifications for Counselors

HSA

Military

International

Cancellation of mortgage debt (if extended)
Out-of-Scope for California
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NTTC – Oct 2015
38
Training and Certification
Questions…
Comments…
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NTTC – Oct 2015
39
Affordable
Care Act
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Sep 2015 Regional Meetings
40
ACA
● ACA in scope for Tax-Aide except for:

Shared Policy Allocation
 Marketplace
coverage for a person who is
not on the return

Alternative Calculation for Year of
Marriage
 Marketplace
customer got married during
the tax year
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Sep 2015 Regional Meetings
41
ACA
● Several first year exemptions no longer apply
● Shared Responsibility Payment (SRP penalty)
greatly increased:

$325 per person, up from $95 last year
or if greater: 2% of income, up from 1%
● Taxpayers do not need to provide proof of
insurance (unless due diligence raises
questions)
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Sep 2015 Regional Meetings
42
Expanded ACA Section of Intake Form
Counselors are expected to record in detail…
… and QR’s to confirm!
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Sep 2015 Regional Meetings
43
Great variability in CA-2 Sites
National
VITA/TCE
Average
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Sep 2015 Regional Meetings
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ACA
Questions…
Comments…
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Sep 2015 Regional Meetings
45
Scope
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Sep 2015 Regional Meetings
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Scope creep is a concern
• Several requests for local/regional
scope change
•
Training, certification, Volunteer
Protection Act, etc. all become issues
• We’re trying to help the majority of
those taxpayers who need us – not
every taxpayer
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Sep 2015 Regional Meetings
47
Scope – Approved Change
● Only one requested change was
approved by IRS:
1099-R Code L (with 1, 4 or B) now in
scope

Loan treated as distribution

Early distribution subject to 10% penalty

Cannot be rolled over
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Sep 2015 Regional Meetings
48
Scope – Requests Not Approved
● Request for Medicare Advantage
Medical Savings Account distributions
not approved this year
● Line 29 adjustment for self-employed
health care costs not approved
● AARP may make any return with SE
income and paid medical insurance OOS
due to ACA impact
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Sep 2015 Regional Meetings
49
Other Changes
● Dependents can be issued an Identity
Protection (IP) PIN
● Medicaid Waiver Income now
mandatorily not taxable
● myRA - New savings account (like a Roth)
● Can claim up to $25,000 in expenses on a
Sch C
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Sep 2015 Regional Meetings
50
Additional Boxes on 1099 Forms
● 1099-INT
Box 10 Market discount (2014)
Box 11 Bond premium (2014)
Box 13 bond premium on tax-exempt bond (2015)
● 1099-OID
Box 5 Market discount (2014)
Box 6 Acquisition premium (2014)
● 1099-INT, 1099-DIV, 1099-OID, and 1099-MISC
FATCA filing requirement check box (2015)
TAX-AIDE
Sep 2015 Regional Meetings
51
Additional Boxes on 1099 Forms OOS
● 1099-INT
Box 10 Market discount (2014)
Box 11 Bond premium (2014)
Box 13 bond premium on tax-exempt bond (2015)
● 1099-OID
Box 5 Market discount (2014)
Box 6 Acquisition premium (2014)
● 1099-INT, 1099-DIV, 1099-OID, and 1099-MISC
FATCA filing requirement check box (2015)
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Sep 2015 Regional Meetings
52
Tax-Aide – “We’re Special”
● Some topics not in scope for VITA are for
Tax-Aide




SEP/Simple IRA distributions
1099-K for self-employment income
Land rental received as cash (no expenses)
Non-cash donations up to $5,000
…and nine more!
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Sep 2015 Regional Meetings
53
Challenges due to Expanded Scope
● Topics aren’t covered in IRS Training
Materials
… but should be addressed during training
● Will suggest that these be taught as a unit

Make their scope clear and provide
reference resources

Focus on site leadership
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Sep 2015 Regional Meetings
54
Identity Theft and $1 AGI Returns
● Have recommended including $1 of
income on federal return so it could be
e-filed

Detects or prevents ID theft
● IRS counsel has a problem with this –
it’s an “inaccurate” return.
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Sep 2015 Regional Meetings
55
TY2015 Tax-Aide Practice
CONCLUSION:
We will continue Tax-Aide practice of
preparing $1 AGI returns and include this
in training materials
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Sep 2015 Regional Meetings
56
That’s All, Folks
Questions…
Comments…
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Sep 2015 Regional Meetings
57