This redesigned course is the first course in a four-course U.S. Federal Tax Specialization and reflects legislation from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed in 2025. It covers and focuses on the U.S. federal tax system as it relates to individuals, employees, and sole proprietors. Key concepts covered include gross income and items that are statutorily included or excluded in it, personal and business expenses that qualify as tax deductions, and the differing tax treatments for employees versus self-employed taxpayers. Unlike many other introductory courses in tax and as part of this course’s comprehensive wrap-up, learners will be provided with practical and tangible experience reporting both income and expenses on the main individual tax return used in the US Form 1040.
MK
Great overview of 1040 preparation. My primary purpose for taking the course was learning the details of, and computing the AMT. I am disappointed this was not covered.
KR
Thank you so much for the information and session on US Tax Fed Tax . Its a great learning platform for everyone who opt the course through Coursera! Thanks again.
MS
I am very happy and exited that i complete the course of Federal Taxation I: Individuals, Employees, and Sole Proprietors , I want to complete rest of the course of US FEDERAL TAXATION.
SF
I found the information, while somewhat dated, to be an excellent course for someone who is already licensed as a CPA that needed a low-cost refresher prior to the start of tax season.
RG
Completed on September 5, 2018 - excellent introduction course that can lead to a Coursera Certificate titled "U.S. Federal Taxation Specialization" sponsored by the University of Illinois.
ED
This course was very practical and effective. I enjoyed the lectures and quizzes. It was effective in helping me to get current on my taxes.Thank you
GC
Very easy and fluid course. The step by step is clear. Perhaps just improving the feedback when you get a wrong answer in the quizzes it would be helpful.
PP
quite detailed and informative. it would be great if it was structured a bit better to avoid confusions between deductions for AGI and from in terms of BUSINESS and INDIVIDUAL
JV
Excellent course. A lot of material covered. I must keep updating the tax information to remain current. Thanks very much for the opportunity given.
MD
This tax course was just right for me. I learned quite a bit and I would like to continue on with the specialization. I will sign up for the next one.
SL
Highly recommended course, I learned a lot of things, very useful and practical to help people with their tax returns. The course is very clear.
SR
Great introduction to federal taxation, I enjoyed learing about IRAs & even learning about some of the hidden gems that are new for tax year 2020 because of the CARES Act.
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Completed on September 5, 2018 - excellent introduction course that can lead to a Coursera Certificate titled "U.S. Federal Taxation Specialization" sponsored by the University of Illinois.
Thanks a lot. It was one of the the best courses I have done to date, and I have completed quite a few. The crisp lectures were very informative and have really contributed enormously to my understanding of the subject. An excellent and "must experience" course.
My friend who did the H&R Block training (a few years ago) said this training far surpassed hers.
BTW, thanks to this course I am now working as an assistant tax preparer! Started 02/01/2021 ☺️
Some info to be aware of: there's a lot of due diligence to be done for child credits and HOH filing status.
This was a great introduction into Federal Taxation. It gave excellent examples of all of the components that go into a 1040 tax prep. I loved the course and I feel the professors did an amazing job.
I thoroughly enjoyed the course. The presenters were very thorough and detailed. the examples given were very simple and understandable.
i look forward to continuing on this Taxation journey
I highly recommend this course to everyone to learn and file their personal taxes. Very professional instructors and university platform. Content is very professional and easy to follow.
One of the most complete well explaining and practice course that I ever take, I know I expand my knowledge in a very good way I can wait to start the rest of the specialization.
This course was very practical and effective. I enjoyed the lectures and quizzes. It was effective in helping me to get current on my taxes.
Thank you
The content was excellent. The way the material was presented was easy to grasp and understand. The professors did a great job of explaining the material.
The final asked us to complete a 2018 1040 but some of the forms and schedules were dated 2017 and the line numbers were not the same.
My questions in the content forum to address these issues were not answered in a timely manner and the information needed to complete the course was not provided in a timely manner, which led me to have to reset my end date. I was recently contacted with a question about whether I was going to finish the course and asked to fill out a survey.
I was frankly disappointed in the unprofessional manner in which I was treated. I believe my computer might have been hacked because I was unable to access the 1040 that I started.
I am willing to continue to take the rest of the Taxation courses as long as the materials needed are provided and I get follow up and answers to any question I might have.
Marva King-Smith
PS
This was definitely NOT a fun learning experience. All I learned is how easy it is for information to be manipulated in this online environment and fed to students for a fee. The information provided is inaccurate. I would NOT recommend this program to anyone. Thank you Geis Business School for your time and wasting mine.
Instructors s are not helpful in answering queries as well as content does not include many answers to assignments.
Uses old information
It is no secret that the USA tax code is dreaded and hated by many. Try studying it on your own and you will understand why. However, professor Lisowky has someone managed to take an incredibly difficult subject and presented it in an easy to understand form. He ensured that the core was preserved and understood, and he used clear examples to illustrate difficult points. My initial thoughts were that this was going to be a dry and dull subject - trying to learn a bunch of rules, their exceptions and exceptions to exceptions. Professor Lisowky proved me wrong. He brought the subject to life and I had a pleasurable learning experience. Thank you professor and Coursera!
Easy to follow along, the professors do a great job at explaining the material and providing a simple real world type example which enhances the learning experience. It is a great course to understand how to prepare a simple to moderately complex individual tax return using the 1040 form.
Awesome class...I have been a tax professional for 18 years and teach our tax classes to hire new preparers. I really enjoyed the class, might need to update it somewhat as the Big Beautiful bill was just passed
I am very happy and exited that i complete the course of Federal Taxation I: Individuals, Employees, and Sole Proprietors , I want to complete rest of the course of US FEDERAL TAXATION.
Very easy and fluid course. The step by step is clear.
Perhaps just improving the feedback when you get a wrong answer in the quizzes it would be helpful.
Excellent course. The quizzes and the comprehensive tests reflect the video learning sessions.
Wonderful refresher course after years away from Accounting degree. Thank you
Great course
Too basic. We need a taxation instruction that goes beyond the basics found in the tax form instructions.