Free IRS Enrolled Agent SEE Part 1 (Individuals) Advising the Individual Taxpayer Practice Questions
Advising the Individual Taxpayer covers retirement planning and IRA strategy, education savings (529 / Coverdell), HSAs, withholding and estimated tax safe harbors, divorce and family situations, marriage and filing-status decisions, and identifying when to file an amended return.
Sample Questions
Question 1
Easy
For the 2025 tax year, qualified dividends received by an individual are generally taxed at:
Solution
IRC §1(h)(11) treats qualified dividend income as net capital gain for purposes of computing tax under §1(h), so qualified dividends are taxed at the 0%, 15%, or 20% long-term capital gain brackets that apply based on the taxpayer's taxable income. To qualify, the dividend generally must be paid by a domestic corporation or qualified foreign corporation, and the underlying stock must be held more than 60 days during the 121-day period beginning 60 days before the ex-dividend date (Pub 550).
Question 2
Medium
Phyllis and her husband are deciding whether to file married filing jointly or married filing separately for 2025. Which of the following statements about MFS is INCORRECT?
Solution
Joint and several liability under IRC §6013(d)(3) attaches to a joint return, not to MFS returns. On MFS returns each spouse is liable only for the tax shown on his or her own separate return. The other listed consequences (loss of EITC absent the separated-spouse exception, loss of dependent-care credit, and the matching itemize/standard rule under §63(c)(6)(A)) are correct disadvantages of MFS. See Pub 504.
Question 3
Hard
Equitable relief from joint and several liability under IRC §6015(f) is available to a requesting spouse only when which of the following conditions is satisfied?
Solution
IRC §6015(f) and Treas. Reg. §1.6015-4 condition equitable relief on two threshold gates: relief must be unavailable under §6015(b) (traditional innocent spouse) and §6015(c) (separation of liability), and, considering all facts and circumstances, it must be inequitable to hold the requesting spouse liable. Rev. Proc. 2013-34 enumerates the threshold conditions and weighting factors.