It might be an opportune time to land some new clients, since people are thinking about their taxes and wondering if they might pay less next year if they find a qualified tax preparer now.
Adding fuel to the fire is the fiasco at the nation’s largest tax return preparer, H&R Block, where a mistake caused the delay in processing some 600,000 customers’ returns. The blunder likely will have many taxpayers wondering if it’s time to shop around.
It remains clear that tax preparers in general have a captive audience. A February survey of just over 1,000 wage earners by the finance and accounting staffing firm Accounting Principals found that about half of middle-income wage earners pay to have their returns prepared by someone else because they to get want the biggest refund possible.
The survey found that:
• About 44 percent of working Americans will go to an accountant to prepare their taxes this year, including 49 percent who make between $30,000 and $50,000 annually.
• Among those who make $100,000 or more, 66 percent say they will get their return professionally prepared.
