Help with Intuit Jennifer Taxpayer practice exam - reaching line 15 on 2022 form 1040

I'm taking this practice tax preparer exam from Intuit and I'm completely stuck on the Jennifer Taxpayer scenario. I can't figure out how to get to line 15 on the 2022 Form 1040 correctly. This is the part where you need to calculate the total taxable interest. I've tried entering different combinations of her interest income, but the practice software keeps marking it wrong. I have her savings account interest statement showing $1,250 and a 1099-INT from Capital One showing $875. There's also something about tax-exempt interest but I'm not sure if that goes on line 15 or somewhere else. The instructions aren't clear about what exactly should be included in this line. Can someone who's done this Intuit practice exam before help me understand what I'm missing? Or maybe someone who knows Form 1040 inside and out? I've been staring at this for hours and I'm getting really frustrated!

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22 comments

Katherine Hunter

•8M

Line 15 on the 2022 Form 1040 is specifically for taxable interest income, which means you should only include interest that's subject to federal tax. For Jennifer Taxpayer's scenario, you'd add together the $1,250 from her savings account and the $875 from the Capital One 1099-INT, giving you $2,125 total for line 15. The tax-exempt interest you mentioned doesn't go on line 15. It should be reported on line 2a of the 2022 Form 1040. The IRS requires you to report tax-exempt interest even though it's not taxable - they want to know about it for certain calculations that might be affected by your total income. Make sure you're not accidentally including the tax-exempt interest in your line 15 total, as that's a common mistake on these practice exams.

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Katherine Hunter

•8M

Yes, interest from a matured CD would definitely go on line 15 as that's considered taxable interest income. This includes most CDs from banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions. For U.S. savings bonds, it depends on the type of bond. Interest from Series EE and Series I bonds is generally taxable at the federal level and would go on line 15, though you can exclude it if it meets education expense requirements. However, interest from Series HH bonds is always taxable and would be included on line 15. Interest from all these bonds is exempt from state and local taxes, but that doesn't affect where you report it on the federal return.

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Donna Cline

•8M

After struggling with the exact same practice exam, I discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) and it was a game-changer. I uploaded the Jennifer Taxpayer scenario documents, and it immediately identified that I was miscalculating line 15 because I wasn't handling the municipal bond interest correctly. The tax-exempt interest needs to be reported separately on line 2a, not included in line 15 as I kept doing. The tool actually explains each line of Form 1040 and shows you exactly which numbers from the source documents should go where. It saved me hours of frustration on the practice exam.

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Donna Cline

•8M

You can either upload screenshots of the practice exam pages or the PDF files directly - I used screenshots since I was working in the Intuit practice environment. It recognizes and processes the forms surprisingly well. For more complicated scenarios, I've found it handles most common tax situations quite accurately. I used it for practice scenarios involving Schedule C business income, rental properties, and even some basic foreign tax credit situations. It's not perfect with extremely complex scenarios, but for the level of complexity in the Jennifer Taxpayer exam, it works great. The tool explains its reasoning too, so you understand why certain items go on specific lines.

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Kelsey Hawkins

•8M

Just wanted to follow up about taxr.ai that was mentioned earlier. After getting stuck on the same Jennifer Taxpayer practice exam, I decided to give it a try. It immediately identified that I was including some tax-exempt municipal bond interest on line 15 when it should've been on line 2a instead! The tool actually showed me exactly which numbers from the 1099-INT should be placed on which lines of Form 1040. Passed the practice exam on my next attempt. What I especially liked was that it explained WHY each item goes where it does - helped me understand the concepts instead of just memorizing answers.

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Dylan Fisher

•8M

I had the same issue with Jennifer Taxpayer's scenario and spent hours trying to reach the IRS for clarification. After multiple attempts with busy signals, I found Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) and they got me connected to an actual IRS agent in under 20 minutes! You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent confirmed that for line 15 of Form 1040, I needed to include ONLY the taxable interest ($1,250 + $875 = $2,125) and put the tax-exempt interest on line 2a instead. This was exactly what I needed to pass that section of the practice exam.

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Dylan Fisher

•8M

It uses a system that continuously redials and navigates the IRS phone tree for you until it gets through. Then it calls you and connects you to the agent. It basically does the waiting for you so you don't have to sit there listening to hold music for hours. The IRS agents are actually super helpful when you finally get to speak with them. When I called about the Jennifer Taxpayer practice exam question, they walked me through exactly how to handle the different types of interest income on Form 1040. They even explained why tax-exempt interest needs to be reported even though it's not taxable.

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Gianna Scott

•8M

I need to admit I was wrong about Claimyr from my earlier comment. After struggling with the Jennifer Taxpayer practice exam for DAYS and getting nowhere with the IRS helpline myself, I reluctantly tried it. Got connected to an IRS tax specialist in about 15 minutes and they confirmed exactly what I needed for line 15 on Form 1040. They explained that ONLY taxable interest goes on line 15, while tax-exempt interest (like from municipal bonds in the practice scenario) goes on line 2a. Honestly shocked this actually worked. Passed that section of the practice exam immediately after the call. Saved myself at least 3 more hours of hold music and probably days of frustration.

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Alfredo Lugo

•8M

If you're still stuck on the Jennifer Taxpayer practice exam, here's a quick reference for the interest section of Form 1040 (2022): Line 2a: Tax-exempt interest (like municipal bonds) Line 2b: Taxable interest (what you're struggling with on line 15) The reason for your confusion is that line numbering changed between tax years. In 2022, taxable interest is reported on line 2b, not line 15. Line 15 on the 2022 Form 1040 is actually for total qualified dividends. If your practice exam is referring to line 15 for interest, it might be using an older version of Form 1040 or there's a typo in the practice materials.

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Alfredo Lugo

•8M

You're absolutely right - I made a mistake in my original response. I was looking at the wrong year's form when I answered. On the 2022 Form 1040, line 2b is for taxable interest and line 15 is indeed for total tax, not interest income at all. This makes me think the practice exam might have a typo or be referring to a different line or a different year's form. It's possible they're using an older version where interest was on line 15, or maybe they're referring to Schedule B where interest details are itemized. I'd recommend checking if the practice exam instructions specify which tax year's forms you should be using, as form line numbers do change between years.

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Natasha Petrov

•5M

I think there's definitely some confusion here about the line numbers. I just completed the Jennifer Taxpayer practice exam yesterday and can confirm that in the current version, you're asked about line 2b for taxable interest, not line 15. For anyone still working on this: the $1,250 from savings account interest plus the $875 from the Capital One 1099-INT should total $2,125 and go on line 2b. Any tax-exempt municipal bond interest would go on line 2a instead. It sounds like some people might be working with an older version of the practice exam that references outdated line numbers. I'd recommend downloading the most current version from Intuit's website to avoid this confusion. The actual 2022 Form 1040 has taxable interest on line 2b, and that's what the updated practice exam should be testing.

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Sean O'Connor

•4M

Thank you so much for clearing this up! I was getting really frustrated because I kept looking for line 15 on my 2022 Form 1040 and couldn't find where interest income was supposed to go there. Your explanation about the outdated practice exam versions makes perfect sense now. I just downloaded the latest version from Intuit and you're absolutely right - it asks about line 2b for the taxable interest. The $2,125 total ($1,250 + $875) worked perfectly and I finally passed that section! Really appreciate everyone's help in this thread, especially clarifying the line number confusion.

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Esmeralda Gómez

•3M

I'm so glad I found this thread! I was having the exact same issue with the Jennifer Taxpayer practice exam and getting really frustrated. After reading through all these responses, I realize I was making two mistakes: 1) I was looking at an older version of the practice exam that referenced line 15 instead of line 2b, and 2) I was accidentally including some tax-exempt municipal bond interest in my taxable interest calculation. Just to confirm for anyone else still struggling - on the current 2022 Form 1040, taxable interest goes on line 2b (not line 15), and for Jennifer's scenario it should be $1,250 + $875 = $2,125. The tax-exempt interest from municipal bonds goes separately on line 2a. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences with the different tools and resources too. It's really helpful to know there are options like taxr.ai and even ways to reach actual IRS agents when you get stuck on these practice scenarios.

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Liam O'Donnell

•3d

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm also working through tax preparer certification and was running into similar issues. It's frustrating when practice materials don't match current forms - I wasted so much time thinking I was doing something wrong when it was just outdated line references. Your breakdown of the two main mistakes (wrong line number and including tax-exempt interest) is exactly what I needed. I've been struggling with distinguishing between taxable and tax-exempt interest reporting. The fact that tax-exempt interest still needs to be reported on line 2a even though it's not taxable was something I completely missed. Going to update my practice materials now and retry the Jennifer Taxpayer scenario with the correct line 2b reference. Really appreciate everyone sharing their solutions!

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