Overall Review: Advanced Level 1

Now that I have completed all of the chapters for the Advanced Level I Tax Course, I feel like I can really share my overall opinion on the course as a whole.   While I did not have any major problems with this course, I did not feel that it was quite as tight as the Comprehensive Tax Course.  There were several times where I felt a little bit lost or like things were not quite as clear as in the Comprehensive Tax Course.  Some of that is not the fault of the course and is a natural result of the more complex topics that are covered and I was able to figure out what I needed to.  This course does not hold your hand quite as much, but honestly, that is to be expected at this point.  When preparing taxes in the real world, you will often have to look things up and do a little research before providing answers.  At least in the course, the instructors are always on hand to provide additional help where needed.

This course provides future preparers with a lot of additional knowledge on tax topics that are a little more complex but common.  I feel like everything I learned in the course is something I am likely to see at some point and am grateful to have the reference materials that The Income Tax School provides on these topics.  This course likely puts me a bit ahead of the typical beginning tax preparer as it greatly expands on the information covered in the Comprehensive Tax Course.

The time investment for this course is extremely reasonable and it can be done in 5 weeks if you stick to two chapters a week.  If you don’t count last week (was sick all week), I averaged about 1 chapter a week which is definitely on the slow end.  I plan to do the next course at the recommended pace of 2 chapters a week.  The great thing about self-study though is that you can adjust where you need to and still finish the course. If you have time you can take your time, if you don’t you can get it done quickly.

As always, the instructors and staff at The Income Tax School have been extremely helpful and quick to respond to any of my inquiries.  It is great that they take a very hands on approach to helping the students and never leave you feeling like you’re on your own.  Even in my experience blogging for the course, they have been very receptive to issues I’ve pointed out and have taken any criticisms I’ve had seriously.  Overall, I would definitely recommend that anyone take this course to increase their understanding of more complicated individual tax topics.