Filing Requirements and Due Dates
Learn the decision pattern the exam can test, then apply it to a realistic taxpayer fact pattern.
What changes the answer?
Separate the income threshold test from special rules that can require a return even below that threshold.
A tax-practice scenario
A self-employed teenager earns less than the standard deduction. Decide whether the self-employment filing rule still requires a return.
Identify the taxpayer, entity, transaction, and tax period first. Write the controlling tests in order, apply only the relevant facts, and keep the reporting result separate from any planning recommendation.
Do not take this shortcut.
Using only gross income and ignoring special taxes or refundable-credit filing reasons.
Turn the rule into recall.
Build a two-pass checklist: test the general threshold, then scan every special filing trigger.
- ExplainState the governing distinction without notes.
- ApplyChange one fact in the scenario and predict the new result.
- RetrieveAnswer an unseen question, then review every option.
Official source and scope
This lesson follows the current PSI content outline and uses the IRS reference below for the underlying tax or practice framework. Always confirm current forms, instructions, thresholds, and effective dates before advising a taxpayer.