The Pattern Lab
Every REG question is one of 20 recurring patterns. Learn to spot each one, run its playbook, and clear them all. Each pattern has a recognition guide and a cross-topic drill.
Patterns cleared
0 / 20Practice, ethics, and professional duties
Circular 230, the SSTS, the procedure clocks, and how far an accountant's liability reaches.
The Practitioner Rules
Match the conduct to its rulebook: Circular 230 for practice before the IRS, the SSTS for AICPA members, and sections 6694 and 6695 for preparer dollars.
8 questions
The Procedure Clock
Assessment runs 3, 6, or unlimited; collection runs 10 from assessment; and only the Tax Court lets you fight before you pay.
8 questions
The Accountant Liability Test
Two questions decide it: how far the negligence standard reaches, and which securities act sets the plaintiff's burden.
8 questions
Business law
Contracts, agency, secured transactions, bankruptcy, and entity choice.
The Contract Rules
Sort common law from UCC Article 2 first; the mirror image, the writing rules, and the remedies all fork from there.
8 questions
The Agency Authority
Trace the authority to its source: the principal's words to the agent make it actual, the principal's words to the third party make it apparent.
8 questions
The Secured Priority
Attachment makes the security interest enforceable; perfection makes it win, and a PMSI can jump the line.
8 questions
The Bankruptcy Rules
Sort the chapter, test each debt for discharge, and pay claims in the fixed section 507 order after clawing back preferences.
8 questions
The Entity Liability Rule
The entity form sets the shield: owners risk their investment, unless the form is a general partnership or the veil is pierced.
8 questions
Property transactions
The amount and character of gain, cost recovery, and the nontaxable exchanges.
The Gain Character Call
Compute the gain, then character it: capital, ordinary, or section 1231, with recapture peeling off the ordinary slice first.
12 questions
The Cost Recovery Engine
Layer the deductions in order: section 179 first, then bonus, then MACRS on what remains, each with its own convention.
8 questions
The Nontaxable Exchange
Realized gain is deferred, not erased: recognize only up to boot, and carry the deferred gain into a substituted basis.
8 questions
Individual taxation
Income and status, the deduction menu, QBI, credits, the AMT, and the loss limits.
Gross Income and Status
Everything is income unless a section excludes it, and the filing status turns on marital status and who the taxpayer supports.
8 questions
The Deduction Menu
Sort each deduction by where it lands: above the line to reach AGI, then the greater of the standard deduction or itemized below it.
8 questions
The QBI Deduction
Twenty percent of qualified business income, but above the threshold the SSTB cliff and the wage-or-UBIA cap take over.
8 questions
The Credit and AMT
Credits cut tax dollar for dollar; refundable ones can pay you back, and the AMT is a parallel tax you compare against.
8 questions
The Loss Limitation Ladder
A loss must clear three gates in order: basis, then at-risk, then passive, and only a full disposition frees what is suspended.
8 questions
Entity taxation
C corporations, passthrough basis and rules, and the transfer taxes.
The Corporate Transaction
Section 351 defers formation gain unless boot appears, and a distribution is a dividend only to the extent of earnings and profits.
8 questions
The Passthrough Basis
Basis rises with income and contributions, falls with losses and distributions, and never drops below zero.
8 questions
The Passthrough Rules
Passthroughs separate what must flow through on its own, and the eligibility and contribution rules gate who gets in and how.
8 questions
The Estate, Gift, and Trust Rule
The annual exclusion clears present-interest gifts, the unified credit shelters the rest, and DNI caps what a trust's beneficiaries are taxed on.
8 questions