Completing the Return

Time Requirement: 15 minutes

Purpose

Review the steps and importance of concluding the interaction with the taxpayer.

Objectives

Understand how to:

• Assemble the taxpayer's copy of the tax return
• Identify the records the site maintains
• Explain to taxpayers which records they should maintain
• End the interview

Teaching the Lesson

Refer to the Lesson Plan for helpful instructor notes, visual aids, TaxSlayer® demos, and Internet links. Prompt students to share what they know about concluding the interview.

• Explain which documents are important for taxpayers to keep and which records the site maintains
• Review the steps to take to end the interview

Refer students who may want to work independently to Publication 4491, Completing the Return.

Key References

This lesson refers to the following publications and forms:

• Publication 4012, Finishing the Return tab
• Publication 4012, Using TaxSlayer Pro Online tab
• Publication 17, Tax Withholding and Estimated Taxes decision tree
• Form 1040-V, Payment Voucher

All references to materials can be found by clicking the Job Aids and Media buttons. There are also links to helpful tools that can be found on the irs.gov public portal. For this lesson, students can link to the following sites for additional help:

• Tax Topic - Form W-4
• Tax Topic - Recordkeeping
• Tax Topic - Checklist of Common Errors When Preparing Your Tax Return

TaxSlayer® Demos and Tutorials

It is recommended to go to the Practice Lab and access the latest TaxSlayer tutorial for this lesson. The TaxSlayer tutorials can be found by going to the Practice Lab and clicking on the link for TaxSlayer IRS training.

Publication 4012, Finishing the Return tab, includes information on concluding the interview with the taxpayer in TaxSlayer.