Form guide
Plain-English IRS form guide for EA exam preparation. Verify current IRS instructions before testing.
Tax Year Covered: 2026. Last Reviewed: May 30, 2026. Review Status: Version 1.0 Draft. Source Priority: IRS primary, PSI for exam administration.
Tax rules, limits, forms, fees, and exam logistics can change. Always verify current tax-year limits, exam fees, scheduling rules, and identification requirements with official IRS and PSI sources before testing.
Schedule E is used for rental, royalty, partnership, S corporation, estate, and trust income. This guide is written for EA exam preparation, not for preparing a real taxpayer filing.
Taxpayers, businesses, fiduciaries, or representatives use this form when the facts require rental, royalty, partnership, S corporation, estate, and trust income.
This form is most relevant to Part 1 and Part 2. The SEE may test the form name, purpose, timing, authority, or relationship to another tax issue.
• Taxpayer or entity identification
• Tax period or filing year
• Income, deduction, authorization, collection, or procedural information
• Signature, declaration, or representative information where applicable
• Choosing the form because it sounds familiar rather than because it fits the facts
• Ignoring the tax year or tax period
• Confusing information reporting with representation authority
• Using outdated instructions
The exam may place a familiar form beside a similar but incorrect form. Always identify what the taxpayer or representative is trying to do.
Read the form name first, then ask: who files it, what issue does it address, what tax year or period does it cover, and what authority or reporting result does it create?
• Filing Requirements and Filing Status
• Business Income, Self-Employment, and Rentals
• Business Entities and Tax Fundamentals
• Business Income, Business Deductions, Accounting Methods, and Accounting Periods
• Business Credits, Retirement Plans, Exempt Organizations, and Specialized Taxpayers