SEE Part 2 study resources
The best SEE Part 2 study material is free and official: the PSI Candidate Information Bulletin for the syllabus, the IRS’s own sample questions, and the 2025 editions of the IRS publications and form instructions the exam is based on. The exam tests law as amended through December 31, 2025, so use the 2025 editions — older ones miss the 2025 depreciation changes. We checked every publication below on irs.gov in September 2026.
Start with the official exam material
The PSI Candidate Information Bulletin. Its Part 2 content outline is the syllabus: every topic, and the number of scored questions per domain (30, 37 and 18). Print it and tick topics off.
The IRS sample SEE questions. The IRS publishes sample questions for each part, written on tax law through December 31, 2025. They have never been used on an actual exam and exist to show the style. Do them early to calibrate and again at the end.
Publications by domain
| Publication | Covers | Domain |
|---|---|---|
| Pub 334, Tax Guide for Small Business | Schedule C businesses: income, expenses, SE tax | Entities, tax preparation |
| Pub 541, Partnerships | Formation, basis, distributions, dispositions | Entities |
| Pub 542, Corporations | Formation, E&P, distributions, corporate tax | Entities |
| Pub 583, Starting a Business and Keeping Records | Entity choice, start-up costs, records | Entities, tax preparation |
| Pub 538, Accounting Periods and Methods | Tax years, cash and accrual, changes | Entities, tax preparation |
| Pub 946, How to Depreciate Property | MACRS, section 179, special allowance, listed property | Tax preparation |
| Pub 463, Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses | Meals, gifts, mileage, substantiation | Tax preparation |
| Pub 15 (Circular E) and Pub 15-B | Employment taxes, deposits, fringe benefits | Tax preparation |
| Pub 551, Basis of Assets | Cost basis, adjustments | Tax preparation |
| Pub 544, Sales and Other Dispositions of Assets | Dispositions, like-kind exchanges | Tax preparation |
| Pub 587, Business Use of Your Home | Home office | Tax preparation |
| Pub 225, Farmer’s Tax Guide | Schedule F, crop insurance, farm estimated tax | Specialized returns |
| Pub 527, Residential Rental Property | Rental income and expenses, vacation homes | Specialized returns |
| Pub 925, Passive Activity and At-Risk Rules | $25,000 allowance, real estate professionals | Specialized returns |
| Pub 560, Retirement Plans for Small Business | SEP, SIMPLE and qualified plans | Specialized returns |
| Pub 557, Tax-Exempt Status for Your Organization | 501(c) status and applications | Specialized returns |
| Pub 598, Tax on Unrelated Business Income | UBTI and Form 990-T | Specialized returns |
Publication 535 no longer exists. The IRS discontinued Pub 535, Business Expenses, after its 2022 revision and now points to Pub 334 and other publications and form instructions for each former topic. Study guides that still point to it are out of date on this at least.
Form instructions
For entity returns there is no single publication that replaces the instructions. Read these 2025 instructions, at least the general sections and the schedules the outline names:
- Form 1065 — filing, due dates, K-1 items, M-1 and M-2, the centralized audit regime and its opt-out
- Form 1120 — tax computation, dividends-received deduction, M-1, M-2 and M-3
- Form 1120-S and Form 2553 — S corporation eligibility, election, shareholder items
- Form 1041 — who must file, exemptions, DNI, the 65-day election
- Form 990 and 990-T — which return an exempt organisation files
- Form 4562 — depreciation and amortization, including start-up and organizational costs
- Schedule C and Form 8995 — business income, start-up costs, the QBI deduction
A sensible order
- Read the Part 2 content outline and note the 30/37/18 split.
- Do the IRS sample questions cold.
- Work through Pub 541 and 542 plus the 1065, 1120 and 1120-S instructions for the entities domain.
- Read Pub 334, 946 and 463 for tax preparation, with Pub 551 and 544 for assets.
- One publication per specialized topic: 225, 527 with 925, 560, and 557 with 598, plus the 1041 instructions.
- Take the practice test and review by domain.
What to skip
Anything written for a different tax year. The exam asks about 2025. Figures from 2026 articles can be wrong answers.
Braindumps and “real exam question” collections. They are not legitimate preparation, and anything sold as real exam content is unreliable anyway.
Deep state tax material. The SEE is federal only.
Worth paying for
A structured review course or full-length practice exams, if you want timed practice beyond the free material — useful mainly for the calculation questions. The study plan shows where they fit, and the cheat sheet condenses the figures you need to memorise.