What’s the difference between Certificate Programs and course bundles?
Course bundles are sets of two ITS courses that, if bought together, come at a discounted rate. Certificate Programs are similar in that they contain multiple courses at a discounted rate, but also earn a credential from Surgent. The minimum grade requirement is higher (80% average instead of 70%), and there is an experience requirement proving that you’ve applied your knowledge in the field. Completing a Certificate Program allows you to add the CTC® or CTP® credential to your professional title as proof that you are certified by Surgent Income Tax School.
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What’s the difference between the CTC® and CTP® Certificate Programs?
Both the Chartered Tax Consultant (CTC®) and Chartered Tax Professional (CTP®) begin with our Comprehensive Tax Course, so any beginner has the option to choose the program that works best for them. The difference is how much further education beyond the Comprehensive course you wish to take. The CTC® program includes Small Business I and Small Business II, while the CTP® program includes all five of our tax learning courses. For more information on the course content and requirements for each program, visit the program pages.
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How long do I have to complete the programs?
You can access and complete all our courses online, 24/7, provided you have internet access. The Certificate Programs are a series of courses designed to be completed one at a time. Course terms are listed below:
Comprehensive – 6 months
Small Business I – 3 months
Small Business II – 3 months____________________________________end of CTC® Program – 12 months
Advanced I – 3 months
Advanced II – 3 months___________________________________end of CTP® Program – 18 months
To learn more about each course, click the links to the individual course page.
Back To TopDo I take the courses all at once, or one at a time?
One at a time. Depending on when you purchase, you could start your first course and by the time you’re ready to start the next one a new edition could be available. For this reason, we give you access to each course one at a time, to ensure you get the most up-to-date version available. This is also true if you order hard copy books with your course. Books are shipped one at a time so that you get the newest edition possible.
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Do I have to complete the courses in order?
Yes, although we can offer some flexibility. By default, students start with the Comprehensive Course, then move on to Advanced I and II, then Small Business I and II. If you’d like to complete the Small Business courses before the Advanced courses, notify our school administrators and we can make the change for you. We will not allow you to take either of the second level courses before completing the first level courses, however.
If you already have some tax knowledge and experience, you can try to test out of the Comprehensive Course and move straight to the advanced courses.
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Am I required to buy hard copy books?
Hard copy books are completely optional. Some students prefer to work through reading materials offline and simply use the online platform to complete assignments, quizzes, and tests. The hard copy books are also a useful tool for tax preparers to use as a reference after they’ve completed the course and are filing tax returns in the field. You do not have to wait for your hard copy book to be shipped to you before beginning your course, but you can if you wish.
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I’m buying a course on behalf of someone else, what should I do?
For business owners operating their own tax school who wish to license our courses for their students: email customercare@theincometaxschool.com or call 1-800-984-1040.
Many customers come to us and are buying a course or seminar for someone else. They could be buying the course for their spouse, or a business owner purchasing for an employee(s), or an employee signing up for a course that their employer is paying for. In those cases, use the following steps:
- Select your course(s)
- Proceed to checkout
- Fill the billing address and payment fields with the information of the person paying for the course.
- In the Additional Comments section: enter the names and emails of the person(s) taking the course(s)
Example: Jane is a business owner who wants to purchase the Comprehensive Tax Course for Megan and the CTP Program for Jeff. Jane puts both the Comprehensive course and the CTP Program in her cart and proceeds to checkout. Jane enters her information for the Name, Email, Billing Address, and credit card info, then specifies “Megan Smith – Comprehensive course. Email: megan@example.com, Jeff Jones – CTP Program. Email: jeff@example.com” in the Additional Comments section.
Jane will receive a receipt of purchase by email and will be given login credentials of her own by default. Our school administrators will then manually create student accounts for Megan and Jeff and add their respective courses to their accounts. Please allow up to 2 business days for this to take place.
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