Discussion:Tax Court Examination Application 2008
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Discussion Forum Index --> Advanced Tax Questions --> Tax Court Examination Application 2008
Discussion Forum Index --> Tax Questions --> Tax Court Examination Application 2008
RoyDaleOne (talk|edits) said: | 30 April 2008 |
| http://www.ustaxcourt.gov/press.htm | |
TheTinCook (talk|edits) said: | 30 April 2008 |
| Anyone going for it this year? | |
RoyDaleOne (talk|edits) said: | 1 May 2008 |
| Maybe. | |
TheTinCook (talk|edits) said: | 1 May 2008 |
| I'm going to give it a shot this year. If nothing else, I'll have a leg up for 2010.
I've already started on the NITA book on Federal Rules of Evidence. So many types of hearsay....so little time. Want to tackle some of the old exam ?'s on the board with me? I could use a study partner. | |
Donniecastleman (talk|edits) said: | 1 May 2008 |
| Hey Tin, sounds enticing but I don't think I'm quite ready for the TC exam, let me know if you postpone it for a year and I'll jump in with you in 2009! | |
TheTinCook (talk|edits) said: | 1 May 2008 |
| Sure thing Donnie, except that the TC exam is only offered once every two years. Next exam will be in Nov 2010.
Even though I have a slim possibility of passing, but with so few opportunities to take the exam, I figure I might as well take it now. | |
Donniecastleman (talk|edits) said: | 1 May 2008 |
| yep, I realized that after writing that, let me know if you don't pass it in 08 and we're on for 2010! | |
| 1 May 2008 | |
| TinCook
If you don't mind some unsolicited advice, you might consider taking a prep class. I'll give you two sites where you can get information. I took Sherrill's class. The class is,by itself, not enough to pass the test. But it helped me focus on what I needed to do. Passing this test requires a commitment. You may not have a life for 6 months. I studied a MINIMUM of 2 hours a day (every day - even missed a lot of NFL games in the fall) from Mid-May until the day before the exam in November. One of the biggest problems is that there are no official answers to the exam. The exams are NOT graded in a consistent manner. No one knows for sure who marks these exams. One thing I would suggest is to practice writing out the "old" exams. Writing for 4 hours is something most folks are not acustomed to. Your hand will hurt after you write your first 4 hour block. I wrote 25 exams. By that I mean I wrote out answers for the 5 prior exams and then did 5 four hour sessions for each of them. Like I said - it is a commitment. Good Luck! Classes: Sherrill Gregory,EA www.taxcourtexam.com Mary Ann Maxson,EA www.maxstaxes.com | |
TheTinCook (talk|edits) said: | 1 May 2008 |
| Thanks, NYEA.
I plan on taking one of the DC cram sessions. All the other courses I was either too late or way out of budget. However, I'm shamelessly taking advantage of their free advice. | |
| 2 May 2008 | |
| There are so many exceptions to hearsay, it makes you wonder what does NOT get in. Just remember, the point of the hearsay exclusion is that the "party" is not there to be crossed, hence evidence is not tested. "Well, Mr. Jones said, or Mr. Jones signed this affidavit". Well yeah, but he's not here so I can cross him.
Also, keep in mind the extremely important point that these are bench trials. Since the trend with evidence very generally is to let the evidence in and let the finder of fact judge the wieght of the evidence, you can imagine that this would apply doubly with a bench trial (judge is less likely to be swayed, prejudicied). In practice, there will be many stipulations in this type of trial, and not the same painfully slow (and correct) introduction of evidence you'd have in another setting. Knowing this will not help you with the test, but it should provide some relief that you won't have to rememeber much of it if you pass. | |
