1

APPENDIX B
EXAM CONTENT OUTLINES WITH
GLEIM CROSS-REFERENCES

This section contains the Part 1 Exam Content Outlines (ECOs) for 2021/2022.
The ECOs are subdivided into domains, and each domain has one or more topics, which are
further divided into specific items. According to the IRS’s Candidate Information Bulletin (available at
www.prometric.com/irs), not every topic in the ECOs will appear on the exam, and the list of topics
may not be all-inclusive. However, the ECOs are meant to reflect the knowledge needed for tasks
performed by EAs.
Next to each topic, we have provided a cross-reference to the most relevant Gleim study unit(s)
or subunit(s).

Domain 1: Preliminary Work with Taxpayer Data (14 Questions)

a. Preliminary Work to Prepare Tax Returns
1) Use of prior years’ returns for comparison, accuracy, and carryovers for current year’s return – 1.1
2) Taxpayer personal information (e.g., date of birth, marital status, dependents, identity protection PIN,
state issued photo ID) – 1.1, 1.3
3) Residency status and/or citizenship (e.g., visas, green cards, resident alien or non-resident alien,
ITIN) – 1.1, 1.6
4) Filing requirements and due date – 1.3
5) Taxpayer filing status – 1.2
6) Sources of worldwide taxable and non-taxable income (e.g., interest, wages, business, sales of
property, dividends, rental income, flow-through entities, alimony received) – 1.1, 2, 3, 10.2
7) Sources of applicable exclusions and adjustments to gross income (e.g., foreign earned income
exclusion, retirement plans, HSAs, alimony paid, health insurance, self-employment tax) – 2,
5.2-5.5
8) Sources of applicable deductions (e.g., itemized, standard) – 1.2, 6, 7.1
9) Qualifications for dependency – 1.4
10) Sources of applicable credits (e.g., education, foreign tax, child and dependent care, credit for other
dependents, child tax credit) – 8.1
11) Sources of tax payments and refundable credits – 8
12) Previous IRS correspondence with taxpayer – 1.1
13) Additional required returns to be filed, and taxes paid (e.g., employment, gifts, international
information returns, and other information returns) – 1.1, 7.2-7.3, 13, 14
14) Special filing requirements (e.g., foreign income, presidentially declared disaster areas, injured
spouse) – 1.1-1.2, 2, 6.5, 8
15) Foreign account and asset reporting (e.g., FBAR, Form 8938) – 1.1, 7.3
16) Minor children’s unearned income (“Kiddie” tax) – 1.5
17) ACA requirements (e.g., total household income, premium tax credit, household size) – 6.1, 7.3, 8.1

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2 Appendix B: Exam Content Outlines with Gleim Cross-References

Domain 2: Income and Assets (17 Questions)

a. Income
1) Taxability of wages, salaries and other earnings – 2
2) Interest Income (e.g., taxable and non-taxable) – 3.1
3) Dividends and other distributions from mutual funds, corporations, and other entities – 3.2
4) Personal property rental – 2
5) Gambling income and allowable deductions (e.g., Form W-2G, documentation) – 2, 6.6
6) Tax treatment of cancellation of debt (e.g., Form 1099C, foreclosures, insolvency) – 2
7) Tax treatment of a U.S. citizen/resident with foreign income (e.g., tax treaties, Form 1116,
Form 2555, Form 3520, Form 5471) – 1.1, 2, 8.1
8) Other income (e.g., scholarships, barter income, hobby income, alimony, non-taxable combat pay,
unearned income, taxable recoveries, NOL, illegal income) – 1.5, 2, 4.1, 5.4, 6.5, 7.2
9) Constructive receipt of income – 2
10) Constructive dividends (e.g., payments of personal expenses from a business entity) – 3.2
11) Passive income and loss – 5.8
12) Pass-through income (e.g., Schedule K-1, income, deductions, basis, qualified business income
(QBI) items) – 7.1
13) Royalties and related expenses – 2
14) State/local income tax refund and other itemized deduction recoveries – 2
15) 1099 MISC, 1099 NEC, 1099 K reporting, irregularities, and corrections – 2, 4.1

b. Retirement Income
1) Basis in a traditional IRA (Form 8606) – 12.2
2) Comparison of and distributions from traditional and Roth IRAs – 5.5, 12.2-12.4
3) Distributions from qualified and non-qualified plans (e.g., pre-tax, after-tax, rollovers, Form 1099R,
qualified charitable distribution) – 12
4) Excess contributions and tax treatment (e.g., penalties) – 12.3
5) Penalties and exceptions on premature distributions from qualified retirement plans and IRAs – 12.3
6) Prohibited transactions and tax consequences – 12.1-12.3
7) IRA conversions and recharacterization (Form 8606) – 12.4
8) Required minimum distributions – 12.3
9) Loans from qualified plans – 12.3
10) Taxability of Social Security and Railroad Retirement benefits – 1.3, 2
11) Inherited retirement accounts – 12.2
12) Foreign pensions and retirement income – 2

c. Property, Real and Personal

1) Sale or disposition of property including depreciation recapture rules and 1099A – 2, 7.2, 10-11
2) Capital gains and losses (e.g., netting effect, short-term, long-term, mark-to-market, virtual
currency) – 2, 9.8-9.9
3) Basis of assets (e.g., purchased, gifted or inherited) – 9.1-9.6
4) Basis of stock after stock splits and/or stock dividends (e.g., research, schedules, brokerage
records) – 9.5

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 Appendix B: Exam Content Outlines with Gleim Cross-References 3

5) Publicly traded partnerships (PTP) (e.g., sales, dispositions, losses) – 1.1

6) Sale of a personal residence (e.g., IRC sec 121 exclusions) – 11.1
7) Installment sales (e.g., related parties, original cost, date of acquisition, possible recalculations and
recharacterization) – 10.3
8) Options (e.g., stock, commodity, ISO, ESPP) – 3.2
9) Like-kind exchange – 11.2
10) Non-business bad debts – 4.1
11) Investor versus trader – 9.8

d. Adjustments to Income
1) Self-employment tax – 5.3, 7.3
2) Retirement contribution limits and deductibility (e.g., earned compensation requirements) – 5.3, 5.5
3) Health savings accounts – 5.2
4) Other adjustments to income (e.g., student loan interest, alimony, moving expenses for active
military, write-in adjustments) – 5.3-5.7
5) Self-Employed Health Insurance – 5.3

Domain 3: Deductions and Credits (17 Questions)

a. Itemized Deductions and QBI
1) Medical, dental, vision, long-term care expenses – 6.1
2) Various taxes (e.g., state and local, personal property, real estate) – 6.2
3) Interest expense (e.g., mortgage interest, investment interest, tracing rules, points, indebtedness
limitations) – 6.3
4) Charitable contributions (e.g., cash, non-cash, limitations, documentation required) – 6.4
5) Nonbusiness casualty and theft losses – 6.5
6) Other itemized deductions – 6.6
7) Itemized deductions for Form 1040-NR – 1.2, 1.6
8) Qualified Business Income (QBI) deduction – 7.1

b. Credits
1) Child and dependent care credit – 8.1
2) Child tax credit and credit for other dependents – 8.1
3) Education credits – 8.1
4) Foreign tax credit – 8.1
5) Earned income tax credit (e.g., paid preparer’s earned income credit checklist, eligibility and
disallowance) – 8.1
6) Adoption credits (e.g., carryovers, limitations, special needs) – 8.1
7) ACA premium tax credit – 8.1
8) Other credits (refundable and non-refundable) (e.g., health coverage tax credit, energy credits,
Retirement savings contribution credit) – 8.1

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4 Appendix B: Exam Content Outlines with Gleim Cross-References

Domain 4: Taxation (15 Questions)

a. Taxation
1) Alternative minimum tax and credit for prior year – 7.2, 8.1
2) Household employees – 7.3
3) Underpayment penalties and interest – 8.2
4) Self-employment tax – 5.3, 7.3
5) Excess Social Security withholding – 8.2
6) Tax provisions for members of the clergy – 7.3
7) Tax provisions for members of the military – 1.1, 1.3, 2, 5.7, 6.3
8) Income in respect of decedent – 2, 3.3, 6.6, 9.4, 10.2, 14.2
9) Net investment income tax – 7.3
10) Additional Medicare tax – 7.3
11) Uncollected Social Security and Medicare tax – 7.3
12) Other taxes (e.g., first time homebuyer credit repayment) – 7.3, 8.1

Domain 5: Advising the Individual Taxpayer (11 Questions)

a. Advising the Individual Taxpayer
1) Reporting obligations for individuals (e.g., 1099, bartering, cash) – 1-14
2) Property sales (e.g., homes, stock, businesses, antiques, collectibles) – 10-11
3) Education planning (e.g., lifetime learning credit, IRC section 529 plans) – 8.1, 13.2
4) Estate planning (e.g., gift versus inheritance, trusts, family partnerships, charitable giving, long-term
care, life insurance) – 14
5) Retirement planning (e.g., annuities, IRAs, employer plans, early retirement rules, required minimum
distribution, beneficiary ownership, charitable distributions from an IRA) – 12
6) Marriage and divorce (e.g., divorce settlement, common-law, community property, alimony) – 2, 5.4
7) Items that will affect future/past returns (e.g., carryovers, net operating loss, Schedule D, Form 8801,
negative QBI carryover) – 1.1, 5.8, 7.1, 9.8
8) Injured spouse – 1.2
9) Innocent spouse – 1.2
10) Estimated tax and penalty avoidance (e.g., mid-year estimated tax planning) – 8.2
11) Adjustments, deductions, and credits for tax planning (e.g., timing of income and expenses) – 4-7
12) Character of transaction (e.g., use of capital gain rates versus ordinary income rates) – 9.8
13) Advantages and disadvantages of MFJ/MFS/HOH filing statuses in various scenarios (e.g., joint and
several liability) – 1.2
14) Conditions for filing a claim of refund (e.g., amended returns) – 8.2
15) Penalty of perjury – 1.3

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 Appendix B: Exam Content Outlines with Gleim Cross-References 5

Domain 6: Specialized Returns for Individuals (11 Questions)

a. Estate Tax
1) Gross estate, taxable estate (calculations and payments), unified credit – 14.1
2) Jointly held property – 14.1
3) Marital deduction and other marital issues (e.g., portability election) – 14.2
4) Life insurance, IRAs, and retirement plans – 12, 14.1
5) Estate filing requirements and due dates (e.g., Form 706; Form 1041) – 14.3
b. Gift Tax
1) Gift-splitting – 13.3
2) Annual exclusion – 13.1-13.2
3) Unified credit – 13.2
4) Effect on estate tax (e.g., Generation skipping transfer tax) – 14.1, 14.4
5) Filing requirements (e.g., Form 709) – 13.1

c. International Information Reporting

1) Filing and reporting requirements and due dates (e.g., FBAR, Form 8938, Form 8865, Form 5471,
Form 3520) – 1.1, 7.3
2) Covered accounts (e.g., FBAR, Form 8938) – 1.1
3) Potential penalties (e.g., failure to file, underreporting, substantially incomplete, statute of limitations,
reduction of tax attributes) – 1.1, 8.2
4) Distinctions between FBAR and Form 8938 requirements – 1.1

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