Tax Year Changes: Identifying Opportunities and Avoiding Common Mistakes - 0.2 CPE

Selecting a tax year involves more than choosing a convenient reporting period. Tax professionals must evaluate entity-specific rules, IRS approval requirements, ownership restrictions, and the practical costs of implementing a tax year change before recommending a new annual accounting period.

Learning Objective

Assess whether a taxpayer may qualify for a federal tax year change and identify the applicable approval path.

Course Description

This nano-learning course reviews the federal rules for changing a taxpayer's annual accounting period, including entity restrictions, natural business year requirements, approval procedures, and short-period return considerations.

Ideal For

Professionals who advise businesses on entity planning, tax compliance, accounting methods, or annual reporting requirements.

Planning Implications

A client's preferred tax year may not be permitted under the Internal Revenue Code. Understanding required tax years, natural business year tests, automatic versus non-automatic approval procedures, and the administrative impact of short-period returns allows practitioners to provide sound guidance while avoiding unnecessary compliance

Author / Instructor

Mike Gleeson, MST
Mike Gleeson is Director of Tax Intelligence at CountingWorks PRO, where he helps lead the development of tax research, educational content, and AI-powered tax guidance tools. He holds a Master of Science in Taxation and has experience in tax policy, government affairs, and professional tax education.

Course Details

This course qualifies for NASBA continuing professional education credit. CountingWorks, Inc. is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its website: www.nasbaregistry.org. 

Make Better Tax Year Planning Decisions

Begin Tax Year Changes: Identifying Opportunities and Avoiding Common Mistakes to learn how to evaluate tax year change requests, navigate IRS approval rules, and recommend practical solutions that align with both compliance requirements and client objectives.