TAX LAW CRASH COURSE

Learn Tax Law by Following the Money

We follow money through its life cycle:

Earn → Spend → Own → Invest → Give → Transfer

At each stage, you’ll learn to ask:

• Who earns or owns the money?
• What kind of income, asset, or transaction is involved?
• When might a tax obligation arise?
• What requirements support a deduction, exclusion, credit, or deferral?
• What documentation should your advisors review?
• How does this decision affect the rest of your plan?

The goal is to help you see connections between individual decisions and their wider tax consequences.

What You’ll Learn

1. Tax Law Fundamentals: Understand the Language

Build a working understanding of the terms used in tax planning, financial advice, and business decisions.

Topics include:

• Gross income, taxable income, and ordinary income.
• Capital gains, capital losses, and cost basis.
• Deductions, credits, exclusions, and exemptions.
• Marginal tax rates versus effective tax rates.
• Tax deferral versus tax exemption.
• Active and passive income concepts.
• The difference between income, gift, and estate taxes.

You’ll learn why similar-sounding terms can lead to very different outcomes—and why a “write-off” needs more explanation than a social media caption.

2. Business Taxes: Connect the Entity to the Activity

Explore the tax questions that arise when you start, operate, or restructure a business.

Topics include:

• How sole proprietorships, LLCs, partnerships, and corporations fit into the tax picture.
• The relationship between legal entity structure and tax classification.
• Business revenue, owner compensation, distributions, and expenses.
• Ordinary and necessary business expense concepts.
• Personal versus business spending.
• Recordkeeping and substantiation.
• Questions to ask before changing your business structure.

Learn to evaluate an entity recommendation in the context of your operations, ownership, goals, and ongoing obligations.

3. Investment Taxes: Look Beyond the Headline Return

Understand the tax questions behind buying, holding, selling, and transferring assets.

We introduce:

• Realized and unrealized gains.
• Short-term and long-term capital gain concepts.
• Basis, appreciation, and depreciation.
• Investment income and distributions.
• Real estate and passive activity considerations.
• The difference between postponing a tax and eliminating it.
• Tax questions to raise before selling a business or major asset.

Practice looking at an investment through both its financial assumptions and its potential tax consequences.

4. Gifts, Inheritance & Estate Planning: Understand the Connections

Explore how ownership, lifetime transfers, and inheritance fit into a broader tax plan.

Topics include:

• Gift tax and estate tax fundamentals.
• The distinction between probate and estate taxation.
• Questions raised by gifting, selling, or leaving assets to heirs.
• Trust terminology and the tax claims commonly attached to it.
• Beneficiary designations and asset ownership.
• Coordination between estate documents and tax planning.

You’ll learn which issues to bring to your attorney and tax advisor before implementing a transfer strategy.

5. Charitable Giving, Nonprofits & Foundations

Learn the concepts behind charitable tax planning and how to evaluate claims involving donations and tax-exempt organizations.

Topics include:

• Public charities and private foundations.
• Tax-exempt status and charitable deduction eligibility.
• Cash versus noncash donations.
• Valuation, documentation, and timing questions.
• Organizational purpose, control, and personal benefit concerns.
• How charitable planning connects with business, investment, and estate decisions.

The emphasis is on understanding the requirements behind the proposed benefit.

Tax Scam Busting: Learn to Question the Pitch

A polished presentation is a reason to listen carefully—not a substitute for verification.

Our scam-busting section examines how tax claims are marketed through social media, webinars, conferences, unsolicited messages, and high-pressure sales calls.

We use examples drawn from IRS warnings, including misleading online tax advice, impersonation scams, questionable refund claims, dishonest preparers, inflated charitable deductions, and overpromised tax debt relief.

Recognize Claims That Deserve Scrutiny

Practice evaluating statements such as:

• “This structure makes all your income tax-free.”
• “Everyone qualifies for this credit.”
• “You can deduct your personal lifestyle.”
• “This trust eliminates your tax obligations.”
• “We guarantee you’ll settle your IRS debt for pennies.”
• “Your accountant doesn’t know this secret.”
• “You must act today to secure the deduction.”

You’ll learn how to separate the sales language from the legal claim, identify missing facts, and determine what requires independent review.

Use a Practical Tax Strategy Checklist

Before paying for or implementing a strategy, learn to ask:

1. What specific legal authority supports the claim?
2. Who qualifies, and under what conditions?
3. Which facts could change the result?
4. What filings, records, valuations, and ongoing actions are required?
5. What are the total fees and continuing obligations?
6. Who benefits financially from selling the strategy?
7. Will an independent, qualified advisor review it?
8. What happens if the IRS challenges the position?

The objective is to build a repeatable method for evaluating unfamiliar claims.

Bring Your Questions Into One Connected Framework

Tax decisions intersect with business ownership, estate planning, charitable giving, contracts, and family priorities.

This course introduces BENT Law™—Business, Estate, Nonprofit, and Tax as a framework for seeing those relationships.

You’ll learn to identify where a recommendation in one area creates questions in another—and where your advisors need to coordinate before you act.

For example, a proposed business sale may also raise questions about asset ownership, charitable intentions, family transfers, and the timing of income. Understanding those connections helps you prepare for a more focused planning conversation.

Who Is This Tax Law Course For?

This introductory course is designed for:

• Business owners and entrepreneurs evaluating structures, expenses, growth, or an exit.
• Self-employed professionals and consultants seeking a clearer understanding of their tax questions.
• Investors and property owners exploring the tax implications of ownership and transactions.
• Families preparing for gifts, inheritance, charitable giving, or wealth transfers.
• Nonprofit founders and philanthropic donors learning how charitable structures fit into the tax system.
• Anyone encountering online tax advice who wants a practical way to assess the claims.

No legal or accounting background is required.

What You’ll Work Toward

Throughout the course, you’ll build a practical tax-planning question list to guide your next steps.

By the end, you should be better prepared to:

• Understand common tax terminology.
• Recognize the tax questions behind major financial decisions.
• Distinguish a claimed benefit from the requirements needed to support it.
• Identify missing information and potential warning signs.
• Organize questions for your attorney, CPA, or other advisor.
• Prioritize issues that need professional review.
• Evaluate tax strategies with greater confidence and care.

Your objective is a clearer picture of what you understand, what remains uncertain, and what needs attention before you act.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a tax law crash course?

A tax law crash course is an introduction to the legal concepts behind taxation. This course focuses on practical understanding: how income, business activity, investments, gifts, and charitable planning create tax questions.

Is this course suitable for beginners?

Yes. Concepts are introduced in plain English and connected to recognizable business and personal financial scenarios.

Is this a tax preparation course?

The focus is understanding tax law and evaluating decisions. It is not training to prepare returns professionally or become a licensed tax practitioner.

Will I learn how to reduce taxes legally?

You’ll learn concepts used in lawful tax planning and the questions needed to evaluate potential opportunities. Whether a particular strategy produces savings depends on your circumstances, applicable law, and proper implementation. No tax savings are guaranteed.

Does the course cover tax scams and the IRS Dirty Dozen?

Yes. Scam awareness is part of the curriculum, including examples from IRS Dirty Dozen warnings and exercises for evaluating misleading tax claims.

Does the course cover LLCs, trusts, nonprofits, and foundations?

Yes, at an introductory level. We explore their roles, common claims about them, and the questions to ask before creating or using one.

Is the course focused on U.S. tax law?

Yes. The primary focus is U.S. federal tax concepts. State, local, and international issues may require separate analysis.

Will I receive advice about my personal tax situation?

The course provides general education and a framework for discussing your circumstances with qualified advisors. Individual implementation requires advice tailored to your facts.

Understand the Tax Questions Before You Commit

Before you form an entity, buy a tax strategy, transfer an asset, or follow an online “tax hack,” learn how to examine the claim.

The Tax Law Crash Course helps you connect the concepts, recognize warning signs, and approach important decisions with better questions.

One day. Practical tax education. A clearer basis for your next decision.

[Enroll in the Tax Law Crash Course]

Educational program only. No legal, tax, or investment advice; no attorney-client relationship, academic credit, or professional qualification is provided.