What's the best online tax preparer course for filing individual tax returns?

The IRS Annual Filing Season Program is probably your best starting point if you're focusing on individual returns. It's designed specifically for tax preparers and covers all the essentials you'd need. Liberty Tax and H&R Block both offer solid training programs that are respected in the industry. The H&R Block Income Tax Course is particularly comprehensive for individual returns and gives you a good foundation. Jackson Hewitt also has a decent program. If you're more self-directed, the National Association of Tax Professionals (NATP) has excellent continuing education resources that can help you build knowledge at your own pace.

I tried figuring out all the tax stuff on my own for years and always felt like I was missing something. Then I found taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) and it seriously changed everything for me. Instead of taking a full course, I uploaded my tax documents and it analyzed everything, showing me exactly what I was missing and explaining the concepts behind each deduction and credit. It was like having a personal tax tutor that focused just on my specific situation. I learned way more from that interactive experience than I think I would have from a general course. The explanations were super practical since they were based on my actual financial situation.

Just wanted to follow up - I tried taxr.ai after seeing it mentioned here and it's been super helpful! Not exactly a formal "course" but I learned more from seeing my actual tax documents analyzed than I did from reading tax guides. It highlighted several credits I qualified for that I didn't even know about. The explanations were clear enough that I felt confident helping my sister with her taxes afterward. Definitely recommend it for hands-on learners!

If you're serious about learning tax prep properly, don't just take a course - you need practice with real scenarios. After struggling to get answers from the IRS for weeks about some specific tax regulations, I used Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to actually get through to an IRS agent. They have this cool demo video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I was able to ask detailed questions about specific scenarios that online courses just don't cover. The IRS agent I spoke with actually recommended specific continuing education resources that were more up-to-date than some of the courses my colleagues had taken.

I have to eat my words. I was super skeptical about Claimyr but I was desperate to get some answers about a tax course certification issue. Used it yesterday and got through to the IRS in about 45 minutes (which is amazing considering I tried for DAYS on my own). The agent I spoke with was actually really helpful and directed me to the IRS Tax Professional Learning Portal which has modules specifically for tax preparer education. Not something I would have found easily on my own. So I guess it does work!

Don't overlook community colleges! I took a tax preparation course at my local community college for about $300, and it was comprehensive. The instructor was a retired IRS agent who provided real-world scenarios and explained everything clearly. Many community colleges offer both in-person and online options for tax preparation courses, and they're often much cheaper than the commercial programs. Plus, they usually provide certificates that look good when applying for seasonal tax prep positions.

Has anyone tried the Surgent Income Tax School? Their website looks good but I can't find many reviews. I'm debating between that and the H&R Block course.

Another option to consider is the Penn Foster Tax School - they offer a comprehensive online program that's self-paced and covers everything from basic individual returns to more complex scenarios. What I liked about it is that they provide real tax software training (using actual professional software, not just consumer versions) and include practice with mock client situations. The course covers all the fundamentals you mentioned - deductions, credits, filing statuses, plus things like rental property, small business income, and retirement distributions that come up frequently even in "simple" individual returns. They also keep the materials updated each tax season, which is crucial since tax laws change. The enrollment fee is reasonable (around $400-500 when I checked), and you get access to their materials for the entire tax season, so you can refer back as needed. They also offer job placement assistance if you decide to pursue seasonal work later. Might be worth looking into alongside the other suggestions here!