Good tax comparisons begin with complete profile information. Open the client and select Profile.
Review the household and income
Confirm client and co-client details, then add or update income. Check the owner, annual amount, start/end timing, and growth assumption for each stream. Reconcile equity compensation separately so it is not duplicated in salary and equity inputs.
Review tax assumptions
In Tax → Tax Inputs, select Edit tax assumptions.
Review:
Filing Status for the household.
Federal, state, supplemental withholding, and capital gains rate assumptions.
Dependents, including birthdays used for modeled age eligibility.
State Tax Rate Schedule, including the effective year and state for planned changes.
Itemized deduction inputs for state/local taxes, mortgage interest, charitable contributions, and medical expenses.
Select Save, then reopen Tax and check the resulting calculations. A withholding-rate assumption is not the same as the household's final tax rate.
Add dated history
Review State Tax Residency History and Company Employment History. Use actual start/end dates, rather than substituting a planned move or employment change for a historical fact. Follow Maintain company and state history.
Establish the prior-year base case
Under Prior-Year Base Case, use Import 1040 or Add prior-year base case. The imported or manually entered facts support the Tax tab's prior-year no-plan base case. See Import and review a tax return.
Check payments and the result
Verify withholding and estimated payments for the same year in the relevant tax scenario. Review withholding and estimated tax due, then compare plans in the Tax tab.
Missing inputs, a wrong tax year, or a missing state can materially change an estimate. Treat unresolved warnings as a reason to review the inputs before sharing results.