US Tax — Level 2

How Level 2's lessons and nine cases fit together, what you need first, and how to turn each case into practice U.S. federal · Course version 2026.1 Level: Applied By the end of this lesson you will be able to: • Describe Level 2's four applied lessons and nine cases, and their order • Confirm the prerequisite: US Tax Level 1 or equivalent routine-1040 experience • Use the eight-stage case cycle, from facts to the taxpayer outcome • Work with tax year 2025 figures and know when an older year still matters • Recognise the scope limits and when to escalate • Explain what completing Level 2 shows, and what it doesn't Before this lesson you should know: • US Tax Level 1 (U.S. Individual Tax Foundations), or equivalent experience preparing routine federal Form 1040 returns (wages, interest, dividends, standard deduction, common credits) Outside this lesson's scope (refer or escalate): • State or local returns • Business entities (partnerships, S or C corporations), trusts and estates • Cross-border and treaty positions beyond recognition (Cross-Border Tax course or a specialist)

Prepare a one-slip 2025 return accurately, then look for the value the client can't see Tax year 2025 (returns filed in 2026) · U.S. federal · Course version 2026.1 Level: Applied By the end of this lesson you will be able to: • Set up the information page and screening questions for a new single client • Enter every box of a W-2, including Box 13 and Box 14 • Explain why Box 1 wages can be lower than Social Security and Medicare wages • Calculate 2025 tax with the $15,750 standard deduction and the Tax Table • Show where each figure lands on the 2025 Form 1040 and explain the refund • Ask 2025 planning questions, including the new Schedule 1-A deductions Before this lesson you should know: • US Tax Level 1 (U.S. Individual Tax Foundations) or equivalent experience preparing routine Form 1040 returns • US Tax Level 2 Course Introduction (the eight-stage case cycle) Outside this lesson's scope (refer or escalate): • The client reports overtime, tips or new-car loan interest: gather records and apply the Schedule 1-A rules before claiming • W-2 boxes do not reconcile (e.g., unexplained Box 1 vs Box 5 gaps) and the employer cannot explain them • The client has income or documents beyond a W-2 (self-employment, investments, foreign accounts)

Two W-2s, investment slips, gambling winnings and a 2025 Schedule A where the limits change the answer Tax year 2025 (returns filed in 2026) · U.S. federal · Course version 2026.1 Level: Applied By the end of this lesson you will be able to: • Enter two W-2s and check Box 6 Medicare tax against Box 5 • Report W-2G gambling winnings and deduct losses up to the winnings • Enter 1099-INT and 1099-DIV items, including when Schedule D is required • Apply the 2025 SALT cap, its income phase-down and the $750,000 mortgage limit • Compute Additional Medicare Tax and NIIT, and reconcile withholding • Explain the 2025 balance due and the planning points to the clients Before this lesson you should know: • US Tax Level 1 (U.S. Individual Tax Foundations) or equivalent routine Form 1040 experience, including Schedule A basics • US Tax Level 2 Case Study 1 (Tax Table method and the case cycle) Outside this lesson's scope (refer or escalate): • Foreign tax exceeds $600 (joint) or is not all passive on 1099s: Form 1116 needed • Mortgages taken out before December 16, 2017, refinanced, or used partly for non-home purposes (debt tracing) • A balance due suggests an underpayment penalty and the prior-year return is unavailable • Professional gambling, or gambling losses without records • W-2 amounts that don't reconcile and need a Form W-2c from the employer