Question Writing Standards

Publication rule

No question, flashcard, exam set, or lesson should be treated as official course content until it has source notes, answer explanations, review metadata, and an approved review status.

Last reviewed: May 30, 2026. Tax year covered: Current IRS SEE cycle; students must verify current-year limits before testing.

Question purpose

Every question must test one identifiable EA exam skill. A student should be able to understand what rule was tested after reading the explanation.

• Assign exam part, domain, topic, module, difficulty, skill, IRS concept reference, and last reviewed date.
• Use one best answer only.
• Make distractors plausible, not silly.
• Avoid repeated answer patterns, giveaway wording, and copycat stems.
• Do not copy competitor questions, official exam questions, or IRS sample questions.

Required explanation format

The explanation is part of the product, not an afterthought. It must teach the rule and the reasoning path.

• Correct Answer: identify the correct choice.
• Why this is correct: explain the rule and apply it to the facts.
• Why the other answers are wrong: explain A, B, C, and D separately.
• Rule tested: name the controlling tax or procedure concept.
• Exam trap: explain the misleading fact or common mistake.
• Source note: cite the IRS form, instruction, publication, Circular 230 topic, or official guidance area.

Difficulty calibration

Difficulty must reflect cognitive load, not just question length. A hard question should require rule selection, careful reading, or calculation discipline.

• Easy: tests one direct rule with minimal distractors.
• Medium: tests rule application with one or two realistic distractors.
• Hard: tests multi-step reasoning, calculation setup, timing, entity classification, or procedural authority.
• A question cannot be published if the explanation does not support the assigned difficulty.