Most applicants to the 2021 U.S. Tax Court Nonattorney Examination will not sign-up to study at TLI because they've heard that our preparation program is too rigorous and demanding. And how right they are! At TLI we recognize that the historical reason for the low pass rate on the exam is mostly because enrolled agents and CPAs who apply to be admitted are ill-prepared. They expect to go in and sit for an examination on tax preparation and the internal revenue code along with three law sections that most believe they could reasonably command with diligent study. Well...they could never be more wrong because the entire nonattorney exam is really a test of legalities - that is, the legal interpretation and analysis of IRC sections and the subsequent presentation of evidence that is material and support a legal premise found in those sections, and which, once admitted into the record, will give rise to a judicial line of reasoning that can lead to a conclusion of facts.
Civil and criminal law is rooted in statutes that are decades and even centuries old. Such laws are derived from English Common Law (or as in the state of Louisiana, from the Napoleonic Code). They change at a turtle's pace, for the most part. But tax law is like the rabbit; it changes rapidly. Unlike civil and criminal law that is devised by states and the federal government, tax law is devised according to the whims of Congress and the regulators over at the Treasury Department. And, it is all about "tax law" - not FASB and certainly not about loopholes found in the Code sections.
This is what sets our Tax Bar Review Program apart from other preparatory courses - we prepare you to interpret and apply the tax laws as they appear in the IRC and unfold in the case law. You may have prepared taxes for the past 20 years and done so very successfully. But did you do so in a legal frame of mind. We don't think so. Why? Because you trained as a tax accountant - CPA or EA - not as a tax law practitioner, so you did what every good tax accountant did - you read the Code and you followed the rules. Now, what you'll have to do to pass the 2021 Nonattorney Examination is take all those years of knowledge, experience and habit and repackage them in the mindset of a tax litigator. You'll have to consider why the Congress and Treasury made those rules, what were their intentions and what did they hope the tax policies would achieve. And that's exactly what we'll teach you to do here at the Tax Law Institute.
If you believe you have the aptitude and the stamina to become a United States Tax Court Practitioner in 2021, be recognized by the Court as "Tax Litigation Counsel for the Petitioner", and practice in the United States Tax Court throughout the national jurisdiction then you should call Agent Rod Monger, Director of Tax Bar Tutorial Services for the 2020-2021 Tax Bar Review at the Tax Law Institute. He will talk to you, frankly and prolifically, about your background and goals as well as our program of orientation, preparation and support and the opportunities that await you should you wish to explore a rewarding, second career as a USTCP.
►This is a free tutorial service available throughout the term of enrollment during the 2020-2021 Tax Bar Review
