The answers to the exercises (not the certification test) can be obtained by going to the http://www.irs.gov website. A copy of it, more instructions on the practice lab, and changes/additions to training material are available at
http://www.vita-volunteers.org/Training_Material/Tax_Preparation_Volunteer_Training.htm
http://www.vita-volunteers.org/Training_Material/Tax_Preparation_Volunteer_Training.htm
Your blog is interesting, but finding a way to e-mail you should be easier - I took two minutes attempting to do so with limited success. Most people have "contact us" linked prominently.
ReplyDeleteTaking this question as an e-mail, I think there are a number of (at least 2) errors on the VITA test this year. Is there someone to contact about this? I cannot know until I finish the test how it impacts my score, but these ambiguities should not be present for what should be a relatively straightforward and simple test.
Kyle,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. I agree that finding a way to e-mail should be easier - however, this increases the amount of spam that is received, so that is why there is the comments section which you so ably found.
It is quite possible there are errors in the test this year (I assume you mean the certification exam), but then that is nothing new. Last year there were errors and ambiguous questions which many volunteers spent a great deal of time thinking about which were corner cases that were not commonly encountered situations in real life.
Feedback forms are present in the learning material and just about everything that is provided; however, the webmaster's personal observation is that while told all comments are read, it is apparent what action is taken, by whom or whether anything comes of it.
If you need a person to tell it to, the IRS Relationship manager whom you eventually will work with to volunteer would in theory be a good resource; you may have much better results than me - I was told that my comments are passed on to headquarters, and that through them and up the management chain, the same acknowledgement and no follow on occurs.
However, I believe that we have an opportunity to do something productive. I will start a new thread on the exams themselves - I have my pet peeves about 2 of the questions in the basic test which I think does not serve us well, and if you choose to add the specifics of your comments about the questions, you may have the satisfaction of having other people seeing them, and possibly agreeing or disagreeing with you, which is probably better than being met with silence.
Is anyone else having problems getting the 2009 answers for problem #5 from pub 4491-w (taxpayer Evans). I get line 37 (29362) if I don't include education tuition on page one but can't get line 43 (11847) no matter what I do.
ReplyDeleteI am learning at home and it would be helpful to have the actual finished forms for the practice problems rather than just key totals as given currently on the irs site. For those learning at home it's difficult to find the error when you have no idea what number is entered in the wrong place while learning new software.
ReplyDelete40B IS :
ReplyDeleteSTANDARD DEDUCTION $8,300 (HH)
SALES TAX VEHICLE 1,365
ADD EXTRA ALL RE TAXES $500
TOTAL 10,215
DEP 7,300
10,215 + 7,300= 17,515
29,362-17,515= $11,847
HH 7,300
ReplyDeleteSales tax new vehicle 1,365
Real Estate taxes 500
Total 10,215
Taxpayer Evans