some are busier than ever, while others report a change in clientele.
by beth bellor
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our recent story, tax season half over but no one is celebrating, seemed to have some readers scratching their heads.
more on tax season: five-point action plan for turning tax scam threats into new opportunities | liberty tax earnings down 48% | h&r block lagging behind last year | tax pros filing only 51% of e-returns | tax refunds up slightly | tax filings data looking less squirrely | tax return filings still lag, but pros hold 57% of market | tax filings down, but irs blames the calendar
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filing statistics are down, according to the irs (which should know).
the agency reported that as of march 10, the latest week for which data are available, individual income tax returns received were down 6.8 percent.
e-filing receipts were down 6.6 percent. those filings were down both among tax professionals, by 8.2 percent, and self-preparers, by 4.7 percent.
frank stitely, managing member of stitely & karstetter in chantilly, va., said, “we are experiencing the exact opposite. we were way up in january and february. i was concerned that we were borrowing revenue from march and april. now i wish we had been. we are at or beyond capacity with no letup in sight.”
who are these clients? jeffrey l. rochester of an eponymous firm in eaton rapids, michigan, has an idea.
“i am way up from any previous season, with no end yet in sight,” he said. “many new clients are former self-preparers who screwed up a previous year or two and now need it cleaned up. i expect these types to be an increasing revenue stream.”
cpa colin m. cody said the 1040 data should not be surprising. “practitioners have had to devote time and efforts to preparing forms 1065 and 1120s or extensions. this took time that otherwise would have been available for form 1040 work,” he reasoned. “from now through april 18th there will be more hours available for the form 1040 work, because the 1065 and 1120s extensions are out of the way.”
keith schroeder of the wealthy accountant blog blamed extra disclosure work tied to the additional child tax credit. “in the past we avoided tax returns with eitc so the sinkhole of time verifying if the client is legit was eliminated,” he said. “now we can’t avoid those junk returns with high incidence of fraud anymore. if a client has children we spend significantly more time on that return. fees had to be adjusted accordingly. the tax preparation industry is really changing as the government places more enforcement work on the tax professional.”
“my business clients seem busier this year with their everyday business and keep putting off seeing me,” said mike kimble of kimble and company, pc, in bartlett, tenn., who says he might be getting “a lot grayer” this year. “the fact that the traditional quick refund tax prep companies are not advertising as much on tv and in town as in the past decreases urgency by the general public (and my client base) and the fact that april 18th is deadline causes procrastinators to procrastinate even longer.”
maybe busy business owners are the problem as well for laura morton, president and founder of 10 key solutions in snellville, ga. “my corporate work is down 25 percent and my individual work is netting at 12 percent increase,” she said. “i am wanting to scale back but this was not the area that i wanted to scale back in. it is going to make me really look at numbers and make the necessary changes to be either competitive or continue to develop teaching programs that i can provide and get paid for.”
what are your thoughts? join the conversation.