Free Practitioner Resource Library
This library exists for solo and small-firm tax practitioners — EAs, CPAs, and independent preparers — who need execution-ready reference tools, not another summary of what the law says. Every resource here is sourced from primary IRS authority. New tools are added monthly, tied directly to the research behind each Deep Dive issue.
All downloadable resources are free with a free subscription to The Federal Tax Desk. Reference tools are ungated and available to everyone.
Downloadable Resources
Complimentary with a free subscription.
- OBBBA Practitioner Guide
Plain-English analysis of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act: the provisions that affect your clients now, the ones with delayed effective dates, and the traps practitioners are most likely to miss. Delivered to your inbox automatically when you subscribe.
Subscribe free → — Delivered in your welcome email.
- The Complete IRS Collections Timeline
Every deadline from first notice to CSED, mapped in order, with the IRM subsection governing each step. The reference for knowing where a client actually sits in the collection sequence.
- Reading an IRS Account Transcript: A Practitioner’s Guide
A plain-language walkthrough of what each transcript section actually means and where practitioners most often misread it.
Open the IRS Account Transcript Guide →
Related tool on this site: IRS Transcript Analyzer
- IRS PPS Quick Reference Card
One-page execution reference for IRS Practitioner Priority Service calls: direct phone numbers, hours of operation, IVR menu structure, and call timing guidance. Keep it on your desk when you dial.
Open the PPS Quick Reference Card →
Related tool on this site: Practitioner Priority Line
- Cheat Sheet #1 — IRS PPS Pre-Call Preparation
One-page checklist of everything to have ready before you dial PPS: client authorization, transcript access, account history, and the documentation that ends disputes faster.
Related tool on this site: Practitioner Priority Line
- Cheat Sheet #2 — Form 2848 vs. 8821 Authorization Decision Tree
When to use Form 2848, when to use Form 8821, when to file both simultaneously, and the one authorization trap that catches practitioners every year.
- Cheat Sheet #3 — OBBBA Practitioner Quick Reference
Every OBBBA provision on one page, sorted permanent / temporary / eliminated, each with its IRC section, key dates, and a one-line practitioner note.
- Cheat Sheet #4 — IRS Transcript Pull Workflow
Which of the five transcript types answers which question, what each one will and won’t show you, and how to order the right one the first time.
Related tool on this site: IRS Transcript Analyzer
- Cheat Sheet #5 — Penalty Abatement
First-time abatement and reasonable cause side by side, including the account-transcript check that tells you whether the IRS has already granted the relief you’re about to request.
Related tool on this site: Penalty Abatement Analyzer
- Cheat Sheet #6 — Reasonable Compensation Quick Reference
Reasonable compensation for S corporation officers on one page: the factors courts weigh, the figures from the cases that set the line, and the documentation that supports your number before an examiner asks for it.
Related tool on this site: Reasonable Compensation Benchmarker
- Cheat Sheet #7 — Tip & Overtime Deduction Documentation Checklist
What actually substantiates the OBBBA tip and overtime deductions when a W-2 alone won’t, including the separate marital-filing bars that live in two different Code sections.
- Cheat Sheet #8 — Trust Fund Recovery Penalty Responsible-Person Decision Tree
Who the IRS can reach under IRC §6672, the willfulness element that decides most cases, and the facts to establish before the Letter 1153 window closes.
- Cheat Sheet #9 — Stale Account Levy Response
A levy fired on a balance your client already paid. Routing by what actually fired, the authority behind each step, and the three responses that waste your time.
Free Reference Tools
No subscription required. Bookmark and use.
- IRS Notice Library — Notices, Cited to the IRM
Every notice a collections practitioner encounters, each with its own page: what triggered it, the response deadline that actually binds, the practitioner’s first action, and the controlling IRM or IRC authority printed on the page so you can check it yourself. CP14, CP501, CP503, CP504, LT11, Letter 1058, CP2000, CP3219A, CP523 and more.
- IRS Transaction Code Library — Codes, Cited to the IRM
The transaction codes that decide collection cases, each with a page of its own: what the code means, what it does to the account, the practitioner’s next action, and the governing IRM subsection. Refund freezes, penalty assessments and abatements, statute codes.
- IRS Transcript Analyzer
Paste the text or upload the PDF of an Account, Wage & Income, Return, or Record of Account transcript. Every transaction code translated, dated, and cited to the governing IRM section, in chronological order — the way CSED work needs it. It reports what the transcript says and draws no conclusions for you.
IRM-Cited Practitioner Calculators
Every calculation shows the authority behind it. Deterministic, not generated.
- CSED Calculator — collection statute expiration, with tolling events
- Installment Agreement Payment Calculator — including the 433-A trigger
- Currently Not Collectible Eligibility
- Offer in Compromise Pre-Qualifier
- Penalty Abatement Analyzer
- Form 433 Builder
- Reasonable Compensation Benchmarker
- SE Tax vs. S-Corp Comparison
- QBI / §199A Calculator
- Transaction Code Decoder
- Practitioner Profit Calculator
- Compliance Cards
Printable one-page authority cards for the calculations above — the citation chain behind a number, in a form that goes in a client file.
- Federal Tax Deadline Command Center — Q3 2026
Practitioner-action deadline calendar for July 1 – September 30, 2026. Every deadline with the practitioner action required, who it applies to, and controlling authority. Sourced from IRS Publication 509 and the IRS Q3 Tax Calendar, adjusted for weekends and federal holidays.
The Federal Tax Desk publishes primary-source federal tax analysis every Tuesday for practitioners who bill by the hour and can’t afford to get it wrong. Free subscribers get the full downloadable resource library. Paid subscribers get every Deep Dive issue in addition to the full resource library.