Calculators

43 free calculators and routers, for practitioners and for your own return. Each one runs the actual IRS formula or IRM/IRC rule behind the answer, with the governing citation shown rather than just a number.

Collections

  • CSED Calculator

    Calculate the Collection Statute Expiration Date on any IRS liability, with every tolling event shown.

  • IA Payment Calculator

    Size a Simple Payment Plan, Guaranteed, or Simple Payment Plan (Business Trust Fund) installment agreement per IRM 5.14.

  • CNC Eligibility Calculator

    Check Hardship Currently Not Collectible eligibility per IRM 5.16.1.2.9 — income vs. allowable expenses and net asset equity.

  • OIC Pre-Qualifier

    Run the IRS reasonable-collection-potential formula to test offer-in-compromise viability.

  • Collection Alternative Router

    Route a case across Guaranteed IA, Simple Payment Plan, Non-Simple IA, PPIA, CNC, and OIC in one pass, with the IRM/IRC citation shown at every branch.

  • Form 433 Auto-Populator

    Turn a pasted Wage & Income Transcript into a populated Form 433 disposable-income estimate under the IRS Collection Financial Standards.

  • How Long Does the IRS Have to Audit a Return?

    Find the assessment statute expiration date (ASED) for a return: three years, six years or no limit, with each rule cited to the Code.

  • IRS Private Debt Collection: Check Your Account

    Got a private collection agency letter or call? See whether IRC §6306 lets the IRS send the account to an agency, which exclusions apply, and how to verify before you pay.

  • Taxpayer Advocate Service qualifier

    Test your situation against the nine Taxpayer Advocate Service case criteria in IRM 13.1.7, then draft the two statements a request for TAS help asks for. The tool never asks for a taxpayer ID.

  • CDP hearing prep

    Pick your lien or levy notice, enter its date and see your Collection Due Process hearing dates, the issues you may raise and what a request needs. The tool never asks for a taxpayer ID.

Penalties and disputes

  • Penalty Abatement Analyzer

    Check First-Time Abate and Automatic Exemption from Penalty eligibility, and rank reasonable-cause arguments.

  • Penalty Relief Router

    Route a penalty across AEP, First-Time Abate, and reasonable cause in one pass, with the IRM/IRC citation shown at every branch.

  • Innocent Spouse vs. Injured Spouse Router

    Route between IRC §6015 Innocent Spouse Relief (Form 8857) and IRC §6402 Injured Spouse Allocation (Form 8379) in one pass, with the IRC/Rev. Proc./IRM citation shown at every branch.

  • Appeal Channel Router

    Route a dispute to Collection Due Process, the Equivalent Hearing, the Collection Appeals Program, an Offer in Compromise rejection appeal, or Audit Reconsideration in one pass, with the deadline and the IRC/IRM citation shown at every branch.

  • IRS Penalty and Interest Calculator

    Estimate the IRS failure-to-file and failure-to-pay penalties and daily-compounded interest on one individual return, with the IRC section, the rate, and the arithmetic beside every line.

  • Penalty Abatement Letter Builder

    Draft a First Time Abate or reasonable-cause request letter from your own facts, with each IRM test marked met, not met, or unknown and the source beside it.

  • Information return penalty calculator: IRC 6721 and 6722

    Estimate the IRC 6721 and 6722 penalties for late or wrong information returns and payee statements, by lateness tier, with the annual maximums and the relief routes.

  • Notice of deficiency clock: last day to petition the Tax Court

    Compute the last day to petition the U.S. Tax Court after a notice of deficiency under IRC 6213(a), with the weekend and D.C.-holiday roll and the printed-date rule.

  • Worker classification factors

    Sort the facts about a worker into the three categories Publication 15-A uses, check the statutory employee rules and see your next steps. The tool never asks for a taxpayer ID.

  • Estimated tax penalty calculator and safe-harbor planner

    Estimate the IRS underpayment penalty for each due date, see which safe harbor needs less cash and test a payment. The tool never asks for a taxpayer ID.

Transcripts, income, practice

  • IRS Transcript Decoder

    Look up a transaction code and get its plain-English meaning, next action, and IRM citation.

  • QBI Deduction Calculator (Section 199A)

    Calculate your Section 199A qualified business income (QBI) deduction, including SSTB, W-2 wage, and UBIA limits.

  • SE Tax vs. S-Corp Calculator

    Find the income level where an S-corp election beats sole-proprietor self-employment tax.

  • Reasonable Comp Benchmarker

    Build a defensible reasonable-compensation range by profession and income.

  • Trump Account Employer Nondiscrimination Test

    Run the ratio percentage and 55% average benefits tests on Trump Account contributions, at the $2,500 (IRC §128(b)) and $5,000 (IRC §530A(c)(2)) limits, per proposed REG-101355-26.

  • DCAP Nondiscrimination Test

    Run the ratio percentage, 55% average benefits, and 25% owner concentration tests on a dependent care assistance program (DCAP), at the $7,500/$3,750 IRC §129(a)(2)(A) limits, per proposed REG-101355-26.

  • Practitioner Profit Calculator

    See what reclaiming your research hours is worth to your practice.

  • IRS Form Finder

    Describe a tax situation in plain language and find the matching IRS form, with a link to its current IRS.gov page.

  • IRS Transcript Analyzer

    Paste an IRS Account Transcript, Wage & Income Transcript, Return Transcript, or Record of Account Transcript and get every transaction code or income document, with the plain-English meaning and IRM citation for each.

  • Kiddie Tax Calculator (Form 8615)

    Find out whether a child’s unearned income is taxed at the parent’s rate under IRC §1(g), and how much extra tax that adds, with every line of Form 8615 shown and cited.

  • IRS records request router: routine access, Respond Directly, or FOIA

    Find the quickest way to get an IRS record: routine access, the Respond Directly Process or a FOIA request, with the 26 CFR 601.702 checklist, a request letter and the deadlines.

  • Form 2848 and Form 8821 pre-flight check

    Test a filled-in Form 2848 or Form 8821 against the IRM 21.3.7 essential elements and rejection reasons before you send it. The tool never asks for a taxpayer ID.

Your own return

  • Social Security Benefits Taxability Calculator

    Find how much of your Social Security or Tier 1 Railroad Retirement benefits are taxable, with every line of Pub. 915 Worksheet 1 shown and cited to IRC §86.

  • Standard Deduction Calculator

    Find your standard deduction for 2025 or 2026, with the age 65 and blindness add-ons, the dependent limit, and the cases where it is zero, every step cited to IRC §63 and Pub. 501.

  • Do I Have to File a Tax Return?

    Check whether you must file a federal return: the gross-income test by filing status and age, the separate test for dependents, and the situations that require a return at any income, each cited to IRC §6012 and Pub. 501.

  • Can I Claim Someone as a Dependent?

    Check whether a person is your qualifying child or qualifying relative, whether an exception applies, and who may claim a child that two people could, each test cited to IRC §152 and Pub. 501.

  • Child Tax Credit Calculator

    Check whether a child brings you the child tax credit or the credit for other dependents under IRC §24, including the age-17 and Social Security number rules, then see the income phase-out line by line.

  • Filing Status Calculator

    Check which of the five filing statuses you can use, including the considered-unmarried rules for spouses who live apart, head of household, and qualifying surviving spouse. Each test shows its citation to the tax code or Pub. 501.

  • Education Credit Calculator

    Check whether a student brings you the American opportunity credit or the lifetime learning credit, the amount after the income phase-out, the refundable part, and who claims it, each rule cited to IRC §25A and Form 8863.

  • IRS Payment Plan Calculator

    Owe the IRS and cannot pay it all now? See which IRS payment plan likely fits you and an estimated monthly payment, with the rule behind it.

  • Can't Pay IRS Taxes? Option Finder

    Owe the IRS more than you can pay? See whether a payment plan, a pause in collection or an offer to settle fits, with the rule behind it.

  • Math-Error Abatement Clock

    Calculate the IRC §6213(b)(2)(A) 60-day deadline to request abatement of a math-error assessment (CP10, CP11, CP11A, CP12, CP13, CP16), adjusted under IRC §7503 for weekends and legal holidays.

  • CP2000 response builder

    Sort each change on your CP2000 notice, see what the IRS page says about replying and draft reply paragraphs with bracket placeholders. The tool never asks for a taxpayer ID.

More from the Desk

More practitioner writing from Forrest Baumhover, CFP®, EA at The Federal Tax Desk on Substack.

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