US Tax Preparers

How To Become A Tax Preparer

There are several legitimate ways for finance minded, detail oriented people to get involved with the filing of individuals taxes. The preparation of taxes will always be in demand, the tax code changes year per year and most people find the preparation of taxes to be an uphill battle, and to what end, how can anyone individual find the time to know all important exemptions or credits that are available. That is where the certified tax preparer comes onto the scene.

Free Tax Preparer

Different states have various standards and tests, licenses in order to pursue this as a career, but it basically takes the initiative to become a certified tax preparer. The IRS does not provide the certification of tax preparers. Some states do require certain educational and experiential requirements, like California. So mostly this certification comes from the state. Formally one can pursue this through at a four-year university that is if one has the patience, time and resources to pursue higher education, and often times a CPA certification. Overall people choose to take lessons offered by the innumerate tax preparation companies that exist in the market today. Namely Jackson Hewitt and H & R Block.

Online Tax Preparers

There are also many independent colleges and universities both online elsewhere that offer courses that will grant tax preparation certification. The one advantage of seeking training through one of the big shops, like Jackson-Hewitt or H&R Block, is that they provide on the ground training for those in their programs, which also allows for newly minted tax preparers to have a client base from the start. The Accreditation Council for Accountancy and Taxation offers certification as an Accredited Tax Preparer to persons that pass courses offered by the Institute for Tax Studies of the College for Financial Planning, and have at least one year of work experience in preparing taxes.

Tax preparer employment is seasonal, obviously following the tax cycle. One has to be willing to accept this as part of reality and pursuer this as a form of secondary income. However the individual self employed tax preparer must be substantially able to sell themselves and their service, maintain a client base even though this might be a highly flux situation with the advent of free tax software or online services like TaxACT, Liberty Tax Online or one of the many services that the IRS website can route the individual. This has greatly changed the climate in which tax preparers can stake out a reasonable business. Yet these online services can incur fees, and don’t always provide the most personalized service. Veracious researchers and those who posses the skill to crunching numbers but also discover what tax credits, exemptions and choices can be made by filers. Some daily tasks of the income tax preparer include the review of clients records to determine a base estimate of taxes owed, interviewing one’s client to obtain information as to deductions and allowances, researching new tax law and tax law handbooks to determine the best course of action for unusual situations, determining fees and reviewing prepared tax forms for errors.