Basic Analysis of Tax Returns Workshop

Course Description

Who Should Attend:

This workshop is appropriate for conference officers, hearing officers, attorneys, and judges responsible for determining income and ultimately establishing/modifying support orders.

Overview and Focus:

In calculating a support obligation, one of the first steps is to accurately assess and determine the parties’ incomes. This task has become increasingly more difficult because individuals may receive income from several sources and/or receive income from self-employment. The documentation, primarily the Federal Income Tax Return, has become an integral part of the process. It is very important that child support enforcement (CSE) workers know how to read and interpret an individual’s tax return and its attached schedules. Knowing what questions to ask and being able to identify certain items on this documentation is imperative. Engaging in a thorough analysis of all the schedules of the tax return will more likely result in the determination of an accurate income.

This workshop will focus on Federal, State, and local authorities (i.e., regulations, statutes, rules, procedures, policies, and case law) governing the determination of income using the documentation as it pertains to establishment of a support order. The intent is to assist triers of fact in:

• Analyzing the schedules on tax returns;
• Establishing items to be considered gross income, less allowable deductions for support purposes, and;
• Arriving at an accurate net income to determine a support obligation.

Ultimately, this hands-on workshop will provide a systematic process to analyzing tax returns.

Topics Addressed:

The first section will address:

• The Federal Income Tax Return and accompanying schedules.
• Title 23 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes (23 Pa. C.S.) §4302 and Rule 1910.16-2(a) of the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure (Pa. R.C.P.), which contain a broad definition of eligible types of income for support purposes as it pertains to items, which can be found on the tax return.
• Case law pertaining to income determination, including what items may be added back to income or are considered additional income for support purposes.

The second section will address:

• Schedule C of the Federal Income Tax Return.
• Questions to ask of the parties about the income and expenses represented on Schedule C.
• Title 23 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes (23 Pa. C.S.) §4302 and Rule 1910.16-2(a) of the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure (Pa. R.C.P.), which contain a broad definition of eligible types of income for support purposes, as it pertains to items that can be found on Schedule C.
• Case law regarding how to determine income for a self-employed individual.

Length of program:

3 hours

Course Level

Workshop These brief intensive educational programs are designed for a relatively small group of people and focus on techniques and skills in a particular field.