Are you aware, that as of August 2012, more tax preparers exist than law enforcement officers and firefighters put together? It is true. There are about 1.2 billion tax preparers, 765,000 policemen and 310,400 firefighters. That could be because this industry made almost $6 billion in revenue in 2012. The reason for this is most people have stopped doing taxes on their own without a tax preparation software and use some sort of Income Tax preparer, whether that be an online software for personal use or another person.
Did you know that before January 2013, an Income Tax preparer was not required to have any sort of continuing education for their field of study? There was no requirement of this by the Internal Revenue Service. Now, almost all people who are tax preparers must not only take the continuing education requirements, but also pass an exam based on the national tax laws. The only ones who do not have to do either of these things are CPAs (Certified Public Accountants), enrolled agents, and attorneys, who are licensed through the state and must comply to the state requirements for their positions.
There are plenty of different ways one can get their taxes done during the tax seasons. One way, which seems to have dwindled in popularity, is to grab the form that is applicable for your situation (a lot of local libraries will have sections of them available) and manually fill out all of the information and mail it in. Another way, is to use an online software for either yourself or someone else to prepare your taxes, such as TurboTax or TaxACT. These programs will run off of your computer and give you the opportunity to fill out the necessary information, but also guide you along the way and also have the option of asking for help. Another form of tax preparation is going to someone else who is certified to do tax returns and know the laws and such to have them do the work. In this instance, you will pay a fee for their services, which usually depends on how much work they have to do to prepare your return. H & R Block and Jackson Hewitt are just two of the big name companies who are dedicated to help you get the most money back.
