ENROLLED AGENT PART 1 EXAM SCRIPT 2026
QUESTIONS ANSWERS
◉ Special Rules for Married Taxpayers who are "Considered
Unmarried" Answer: To be considered unmarried on the last day of
the tax year, a taxpayer must meet all of the following conditions:
Must not file a joint return with their spouse
Pay more than half the cost of a home, and the home must be the
main residence of a child, stepchild, or foster child for more than half
the year
Not live with a spouse in the home during the last six months of the
tax year
Be able to claim an exemption for the child.
**A married person, if not formally separated or divorced, must live
apart for MORE THAN HALF THE YEAR to claim head of household
status as "considered unmarried"
◉ NRA spouses Answer: A person who is married to a NRA may
elect to file HOH by "disregarding" the NRA, even if both spouses
lived together the entire year. The taxpayer must ALSO have a
qualifying child, or other qualifying dependent, in order to qualify
for HOH status.
,*In order to take advantage of this special rule, the US taxpayer
cannot file jointly with the NRA. This can be beneficial because those
married to a NRA who file jointly must report WORLDWIDE income.
Filing as head of household with another qualifying person,
however, will prevent such couples from having to pay taxes on
income received outside the US.
◉ Qualified Surviving Spouse Answer: Receives the same standard
deduction and uses the same tax brackets as married taxpayers who
file jointly. This filing status ONLY applies if the surviving spouse
remains unmarried AND has a qualifying dependent. If the surviving
spouse remarries before the end of the year, the deceased spouse's
return must be filed MFS.
For each of the two years following the year of the spouse's death,
the surviving spouse can use the QSS filing status if the survivor has
a qualifying dependent and doesn't remarry. After the two-year
period has ended, the surviving spouse may no longer file as QSS.
Foster children are not qualifying children for the purposes of the
QSS filing status.
◉ Annulment Answer: If a taxpayer obtains a court decree of
annulment that holds no valid marriage ever existed, the couple is
legally unmarried even if they filed joint returns for earlier years.
Unlike divorce, annulment is retroactive. Taxpayers who have
annulled their marriage must file amended returns claiming single
,or HOH for all the tax years affected by the annulment that aren't
closed by the statute of limitations.
◉ Determining Residency for Tax Purposes-aliens Answer: An 'alien'
refers to an individual who is not a US citizen. Aliens are divided into
2 categories:
nonresident alien and resident alien
◉ Resident aliens Answer: Are taxes on all their income worldwide,
similar to US citizens
◉ Non-resident aliens Answer: taxed on income earned within the
US and certain income related to conducting business in the country.
An NRA would be someone who lives outside the US, and simply
invests in US property or stocks, and is therefore required to file a
tax return to correctly report their US income.
◉ Dual-status aliens Answer: have both nonresident and resident
alien statuses during the same tax year. Different rules apply for the
parts of the year when they were a US resident and nonresident. The
most common dual-status years are the year of arrival and
departure from the US.
, ◉ Residency vs. immigration status Answer: Residency is NOT THE
SAME as legal immigration status. For tax purposes, an individual
may be considered a US resident based on the time spent in the US,
regardless of their immigration status.
◉ Tax Residency Tests Answer: If a taxpayer is NOT a US citizen,
they are considered NRA for tax purposes UNLESS they meet one of
the two tests: green card test of the substantial presence test
◉ Green card test Answer: An alien taxpayer is automatically
considered a US resident if they are lawful permanent residents of
the US at any time during the tax year. A lawful immigrant who has
been issued an alien registration card, aka a 'green card' is a US
resident by default.
◉ Substantial Presence Test Answer: An alien without a green card
is considered a US resident for tax purposes only if they meet the
substantial presence test for the calendar year. To meet this test,
they must be physically present in the US for at least:
-31 days during the current tax year, and
-183 days during the 3-year-period, which includes the current year
(2024) and the two years immediately PRECEDING the current year.
For purposes of the 183-day requirement, all the days present in the
current year are counted, along with:
QUESTIONS ANSWERS
◉ Special Rules for Married Taxpayers who are "Considered
Unmarried" Answer: To be considered unmarried on the last day of
the tax year, a taxpayer must meet all of the following conditions:
Must not file a joint return with their spouse
Pay more than half the cost of a home, and the home must be the
main residence of a child, stepchild, or foster child for more than half
the year
Not live with a spouse in the home during the last six months of the
tax year
Be able to claim an exemption for the child.
**A married person, if not formally separated or divorced, must live
apart for MORE THAN HALF THE YEAR to claim head of household
status as "considered unmarried"
◉ NRA spouses Answer: A person who is married to a NRA may
elect to file HOH by "disregarding" the NRA, even if both spouses
lived together the entire year. The taxpayer must ALSO have a
qualifying child, or other qualifying dependent, in order to qualify
for HOH status.
,*In order to take advantage of this special rule, the US taxpayer
cannot file jointly with the NRA. This can be beneficial because those
married to a NRA who file jointly must report WORLDWIDE income.
Filing as head of household with another qualifying person,
however, will prevent such couples from having to pay taxes on
income received outside the US.
◉ Qualified Surviving Spouse Answer: Receives the same standard
deduction and uses the same tax brackets as married taxpayers who
file jointly. This filing status ONLY applies if the surviving spouse
remains unmarried AND has a qualifying dependent. If the surviving
spouse remarries before the end of the year, the deceased spouse's
return must be filed MFS.
For each of the two years following the year of the spouse's death,
the surviving spouse can use the QSS filing status if the survivor has
a qualifying dependent and doesn't remarry. After the two-year
period has ended, the surviving spouse may no longer file as QSS.
Foster children are not qualifying children for the purposes of the
QSS filing status.
◉ Annulment Answer: If a taxpayer obtains a court decree of
annulment that holds no valid marriage ever existed, the couple is
legally unmarried even if they filed joint returns for earlier years.
Unlike divorce, annulment is retroactive. Taxpayers who have
annulled their marriage must file amended returns claiming single
,or HOH for all the tax years affected by the annulment that aren't
closed by the statute of limitations.
◉ Determining Residency for Tax Purposes-aliens Answer: An 'alien'
refers to an individual who is not a US citizen. Aliens are divided into
2 categories:
nonresident alien and resident alien
◉ Resident aliens Answer: Are taxes on all their income worldwide,
similar to US citizens
◉ Non-resident aliens Answer: taxed on income earned within the
US and certain income related to conducting business in the country.
An NRA would be someone who lives outside the US, and simply
invests in US property or stocks, and is therefore required to file a
tax return to correctly report their US income.
◉ Dual-status aliens Answer: have both nonresident and resident
alien statuses during the same tax year. Different rules apply for the
parts of the year when they were a US resident and nonresident. The
most common dual-status years are the year of arrival and
departure from the US.
, ◉ Residency vs. immigration status Answer: Residency is NOT THE
SAME as legal immigration status. For tax purposes, an individual
may be considered a US resident based on the time spent in the US,
regardless of their immigration status.
◉ Tax Residency Tests Answer: If a taxpayer is NOT a US citizen,
they are considered NRA for tax purposes UNLESS they meet one of
the two tests: green card test of the substantial presence test
◉ Green card test Answer: An alien taxpayer is automatically
considered a US resident if they are lawful permanent residents of
the US at any time during the tax year. A lawful immigrant who has
been issued an alien registration card, aka a 'green card' is a US
resident by default.
◉ Substantial Presence Test Answer: An alien without a green card
is considered a US resident for tax purposes only if they meet the
substantial presence test for the calendar year. To meet this test,
they must be physically present in the US for at least:
-31 days during the current tax year, and
-183 days during the 3-year-period, which includes the current year
(2024) and the two years immediately PRECEDING the current year.
For purposes of the 183-day requirement, all the days present in the
current year are counted, along with:
