Learn U.S. federal income tax through three connected lenses — the tax formula, the Form 1040 and schedules, and tax software.
This course gives you a working foundation in United States federal income tax preparation for tax year 2025 (returns generally filed by April 15, 2026). Rather than memorizing rules, you will learn to view the tax code through three connected lenses: the income tax formula (the conceptual skeleton), the Form 1040 and its schedules (sourced from the official IRS Form 1040 instructions for 2025), and tax software (demonstrated in Lacerte, though the methodology applies to any preparation software). Moving fluently between these three views is how working preparers actually think.
You will start with a study strategy for tackling a tax code that is both massive and constantly changing, then survey the tools of the trade—paid software, free IRS resources, and Excel. From there, you will work through the conceptual core: tax types and categories, the difference between marginal and average tax rates, and the full income tax formula from gross income through refund or balance due, mapped directly onto Form 1040.
The next block covers the rules of the road—the hierarchy of tax law and authority and Circular 230 governing practice before the IRS—followed by the Affordable Care Act and Premium Tax Credit, what is new for 2025, filing requirements, and the when, where, and how of filing, including extensions and the difference between filing and payment penalties. The course closes with a hands-on, two-part build of an interactive income tax formula worksheet in Excel that mirrors Form 1040 and acts as a transparent double-check on your software data input.
Taught in a clear, conversational style with frequent worked examples, the course suits tax professionals refreshing on 2025 changes, accounting and CPA-track students, bookkeepers expanding into tax work, and engaged taxpayers who want to truly understand their own returns.
Strategy for learning tax law and keeping current as the code changes
The three-lens framework: tax formula, forms, and software
Paid tax software options and free tax tools
Tax types and categories, and the political terminology around them
Marginal vs. average tax rates, with worked software examples
The full income tax formula, walked through in tax software
The hierarchy of tax law and tax authority
Circular 230—regulations governing practice before the IRS
Affordable Care Act and the Premium Tax Credit for tax year 2025
What is new for tax year 2025
Filing requirements—who has to file and why
When, where, and how to file, including extensions and penalties
Building an interactive Excel tax formula worksheet (Parts 1 and 2)
CPA, CGMA, M.S. Tax, CPI
Through working with students from many different schools, Mr. Steele has learned best practices for helping people understand accounting fast. Learning new skills and finding the best way to share knowledge with people who can benefit from it is a passion of his. Mr. Steele has experience working as a practicing Certified Public Accountant (CPA), an accounting and business instructor, and curriculum developer. He has enjoyed putting together quality tools to improve learning and has been teaching, making instructional resources, and building curriculum since 2009. He has been a practicing CPA since 2005. Mr. Steele is a practicing CPA, has a Certified Post-Secondary Instructor (CPI) credential, a Master of Science in taxation from Golden Gate University, a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Economics with an emphasis in accounting from The University of California Santa Barbara, and a Global Management Accounting Designation (CGMA) from The American Institute of CPA (AICPA). Mr. Steele has also authored five books that can be found on Amazon or in audiobook format on Audible. He has developed bestselling courses in accounting topics including financial accounting and QuickBooks accounting software. In addition to working as an accountant, teaching, and developing courses Mr. Steele has helped create an accounting website at accountinginstruction, a YouTube channel called Accounting Instruction, Help, and How Too, and has developed supplemental resources including a Facebook Page, Twitter Page, and Podcasts that can be found on I-tunes, Stitcher, or Soundcloud. Mr. Steele's teaching philosophy is to make content applicable, understandable, and accessible. Adult learners are looking for application when they learn new skills. In other words, learners want to be able to apply skills in the real world to help their lives. Mr. Steele’s formal accounting education, practical work experience, and substantial teaching experience allow him to create a curriculum that combines traditional accounting education with practical knowledge and application. He accomplishes the goals of making accounting useful and applicable by combining theory with real-world software like Excel and QuickBooks. Many courses teach QuickBooks data entry or Excel functions but are not providing the real value learners want. Real value is a result of learning technical skills like applications, in conjunction with specific goals, like accounting goals, including being able to interpret the performance of a business. Mr. Steele makes knowledge understandable by breaking down complex concepts into smaller units with specific objectives and using step by step learning processes to understand each unit. Many accounting textbooks cram way too much information into a course, making it impossible to understand any unit fully. By breaking the content down into digestible chunks, we can move forward much faster. Mr. Steele also makes use of color association in both presentations and Excel worksheets, a learning tool often overlooked in the accounting field, but one that can vastly improve the speed and comprehension of learning accounting concepts. The material is also made understandable through the application of concepts learned. Courses will typically demonstrate the accounting concepts and then provide an Excel worksheet or practice problems to work through the concepts covered. The practice problems will be accompanied by an instructional video to work through the problem in step by step format. Excel worksheets will be preformatted, usually including an answer tab that shows the completed problem, and a practice tab where learners can complete the problem along with a step by step presentation video. Mr. Steele makes learning accounting accessible by making use of technology and partnering with teaching platforms that have a vision of spreading knowledge like CPDformula.
