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<\/a>As regular readers know, I\u2019m a big fan of the National Association of Tax Professionals<\/a>. They generally provide top-notch education, and I appreciate the fact that they do not discriminate against non-credentialed tax pros. Before I became a CPA, that was where I got most of my continuing education, because organizations like AICPA or NAEA are restricted to those with licenses. The IRS Tax Forums and web programming are more accessible, but often the quality of IRS presentation skills is pretty poor \u2014 they\u2019re trained on compliance, not on public speaking. So when I see that NATP is hosting a class on an important topic<\/a> that might not be getting enough promotion, I try to amplify it.<\/p>\n Today I\u2019d love to highlight their upcoming session on August 29th: \u201cTax Planning for Military Personnel and Spouses<\/a>\u201c. NATP Instructor Mari Fries, EA, CFP<\/a> explains that at the core of all military returns is the Servicemember\u2019s Civil Relief Act (SCRA) and in more recent years the Military Spouse Residency Relief Act (MSRRA). Understanding the impact of these acts on a military return can result in thousands of dollars of tax savings for the service member and family.<\/p>\n I wanted to share it because I feel like this is a topic that doesn\u2019t get much CPE time \u2014 it\u2019s always a page in an update where the presenter says, \u201cand I\u2019m sure this doesn\u2019t apply to anyone in here,\u201d or \u201cif this applies to your clients you already know the details, so I won\u2019t go into it.\u201d The most we can usually hope for is a link to the IRS webpage on Tax Information for Members of the Military<\/a> or IRS Publication 3, Armed Forces Tax Guide<\/a>. (To be fair, both of these are chock-full of great info, but it\u2019s hard to suss out on your own, even as a professional preparer.)<\/p>\n If you have tax clients in the military, or you\u2019re considering a niche in this under-served area, I strongly recommend this 100-minute, 2-CPE credit class. It will also be available on-demand<\/a>.<\/p>\n From NATP:<\/p>\n At the core of all military returns is the\u00a0Servicemember\u2019s Civil Relief Act<\/em>\u00a0(SCRA) and in more recent years the\u00a0Military Spouse Residency Relief Act<\/em>\u00a0(MSRRA). Understanding the impact of these acts on a military return can result in thousands of dollars of tax savings for the service member and family. This webinar, through case studies, will demonstrate the impact of these two federal laws on state returns and offer the preparer the knowledge necessary to identify when the SCRA and MSRRA are not being applied accurately at the state level. Additionally, we will cover other tax benefits afforded to our military personnel such as nontaxable pay and benefits, nontaxable combat pay and its impact on IRA contributions and EITC, and automatic extensions to name a few.<\/p>\n In this course, the instructor will teach you to distinguish between \u201chome of record\u201d and \u201cdomicile\u201d, understand the impacts of the SCRA and the MSRRA on domicile, accurately identify when the laws are not being applied appropriately at the state level, and summarize special tax provisions available to military personnel.<\/p>\n Mari Fries, EA, CFP provides a preview of the course and her passion for the topic in this short YouTube spot:<\/p>\n \n