[sancasuki]

Which would you learn more about tax from, a EA review course (Gleim, Fast Forward, etc.) or a traditional college class?

[sancasuki]

bump

[Anonymous]

In the end, both requires self study and understanding the material.

I've taken tax courses, and also passed two parts of the EA exam. I had to teach myself most things anyway.

[Ben]

I'm an EA, and had tax 1, tax 2, tax planning and research, and a grad level tax class.

There were things on the EA exam I barely touched on in college.

There were things in college that were barely covered on the EA exam.

Do whichever is cheaper and study your ass off on your own. You'll reach the same point in the end.

[sancasuki]

Self-study is fine as long as I have the answer key to practice questions.

I have taken one online tax course but that was only individual taxation. We didn't do corporate, partnerships, gift, estate, etc. The professor had us fill out a 1040 (among other forms) PDF without using tax software. And we'd get the answer to how much was due or owed, so that we could check our work. I thought it was a pretty good class. Learned a lot more than what I learned studying for REG.

It gets a little pricey taking courses though. Class (Foothill College) was about $200 and then another $150 for the book. I wasn't able to resell the book since the year was over. That's the annoying thing about tax classes and part of the reason why I never took one during my undergrad. The books are uber expensive and hard to resell since they create a new edition every year. And unfortunately the professor who teaches the corporate tax class has very bad reviews on ratemyprofessor.

I was wondering how they would teach corporate tax in a regular class. Looks like in the Gleim EA course, you read a book and just do multiple-choice questions. That doesn't seem as useful as filling out actual tax forms.

[Anonymous]

Only thing is professors may have a little insight, if they worked in practice before teaching.

You can find older tax books, maybe a year or two and find solutions manuals online for cheap. That works for me.

[sancasuki]

Yes, I was thinking of getting an older edition. I always thought it was retarded how the tax classes require the most current edition but by the time the students graduate and start work, the tax code will have changed again.

I was wondering what would be a typical assignment in a corporate/partnership tax class.

[ultrarunner]

Hi circadian malfunction,

I am taking Advanced Tax class at Foothill College, which is actually EA prep course. We use Gleim EA as well as the main textbook (South-Western Federal Edition; Comprehensive Volume). Assignment varies. It composes of MC testings and tax forms. My recent assignments were form 4797 and 1065. Final will be MC. Online Gleim EA is harder than I thought. My average trending is 50-60s 🙁

I am starting MST in January (not online). If you want to work in Tax, you may consider MST. Some schools waive GMAT/GRE if you pass CPA. I don't see you can get much credit out of self-study.

FAR 72,67,79 (Roger+Wiley test bank)11/15
AUD 80 (Roger)10/15
BEC 80 (Roger)4/16
REG 63,78 (Roger+Ninja MCQs)5/16

[sancasuki]

Hi ultrarunner,

I have taken ACTG 67 at Foothill with Professor Mayer. It was a good class. The reviews for Professor Novikov, the one who teaches ACTG 68A and ACTG 68B, are pretty bad. So that's why I hesitate to take her class, and because of the price.

How much did you pay for the books and stuff for ACTG 68A? I see that she requires the bundle for that South-Western book. Are you using the H&R Block, RIA Checkpoint, or Cengage things that come in the bundle?

[ultrarunner]

circadian malfunction, I took one class from the professor. I am taking another one right now. I don't mind her at all. Her class is tough. I believe that's why she got a bad review. Anyway, you could buy bundle for $171.78 (discounted price; including tax) via Foothill college online bookstore. Yes. I came with HR Block code and all resources at Cengage. HR Block code comes with the book. But you may need to enroll the class to access all resources available at Cengage.

FAR 72,67,79 (Roger+Wiley test bank)11/15
AUD 80 (Roger)10/15
BEC 80 (Roger)4/16
REG 63,78 (Roger+Ninja MCQs)5/16

[sancasuki]

Thank you for the information.

Are you using that extra stuff that came with the South-Western book? How is the Gleim software/book incorporated into the class? Are you doing the tax forms by hand or with tax software?

[ultrarunner]

I am using e-book feature only. There is extra stuff available, but I don't have much time to explore. All MC (mid-term/ final) questions are from Gleim, but Gleim itself is not incorporated into the class. If you enroll the class, you could get some discount. I got some calls from Gleim rep. who tries to sell me other stuff.

You could do tax by hand or with HR Block. Using software is optional. I prefer by hand.

FAR 72,67,79 (Roger+Wiley test bank)11/15
AUD 80 (Roger)10/15
BEC 80 (Roger)4/16
REG 63,78 (Roger+Ninja MCQs)5/16

[tmura514]

Gleim!
I used only Gleim EA books and passed all three parts stating from almost zero tax knowledge (and ESL). A few years before taking the EA exam, I took a seasonal H&R Block class just for my personal income tax return purpose ,and it was very good experience to learn basic personal income tax. Also IRS' publications and tax forms are very helpful. I remember that many questions on EA exam are from IRS publications.

[Author]

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