tax season 2023: better or worse?

early barometer readings: hope springs eternal…

two-thirds of tax professionals are forecasting a better busy season this year, including 14 percent who hope for a "much better" year. (via 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research)
outlook 2023: two-thirds of tax professionals forecast a better busy season this year, including 14 percent who hope for a “much better” year. (via 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research)

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by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

paula rhoden is unsure, maybe a bit worried, but senses that the season might be much like last year. “so many unknowns for this tax season,” she tells us. “too difficult to plan.”jaclyn j. mcguinness, offering a host of accounting services in the dallas area, admits, "it’s just a guess at this point.” others, however, are seeing enough clues to predict improvement.
on the front lines: mcguiness (left) admits, “it’s just a guess…” rhoden worries about “so many unknowns…”

are we in for a good busy season?

so far, so good, say more than half the early birds who have responded to the 2023 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer survey.

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yes, it’s only beginning. any clients already delivering their income docs in early january are the type who are organized and easy to process. and so far, new apps haven’t been stressed, the irs has changed any rules, partners and staff are still fresh from the holidays, and as long as you aren’t working in california, the south, the northern plains, buffalo, or upper new england, the weather’s been nice. right now, it’s about as good as it’s going to get.

better than last year

results from the first wave of polling show 55 percent of accountants think this year will be “somewhat better” than last year. on top of that, an optimistic 12 percent tell us their season will be “much better.”

with 18 percent figuring 2023 will be about the same as last year, less than 15 fear things will be somewhat or much worse.

were the predictions for 2023 to come to fruition, it would mark a dramatic turn-around from 2022. the final 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 tally for the 2022 busy season, measured after the last returns were filed in october, shows more than half reporting a worse year than in 2021, including 23% reporting “much worse.”

going into last year’s busy season, most accountants were already expecting an even worse year than 2020, with 40 percent bracing for “somewhat worse” and 11 percent girding for “much worse.” the final 2022 readings, however, show a much better performance than they feared. almost a complete reversal.

 

final 2022 results: mostly negative.

some of the optimism may be only relative to the troubles of the past couple of years. it’s hard—but not impossible—to imagine things getting worse.

paula rhoden is unsure, maybe a bit worried, but senses that the season might be much like last year. “so many unknowns for this tax season,” she tells us. “too difficult to plan.”

jaclyn j. mcguinness, offering a host of accounting services in the dallas area, admits, “it’s just a guess at this point.”
others, however, are seeing enough clues to predict improvement.

evidence of what’s to come

here’s some of the evidence:

• “we have more clients because cpas in the area are either retiring or not taking on new clients because of staffing/capacity restraints.”
• “last year was dreadful from a state perspective with new law changes, 7203 and k-2/3 issues, along with pte issues.”
• “we’ve added a handful of returns, and raised prices, so we’re optimistic that there will be limited extensions.”
• “i think this year should be smoother without the child care credits & ppp & erc.”

chief concerns

this year’s chief concerns are clients late or unprepared, reported by 55 percent, a number that swells by another 28 percent if you include late or erroneous k1s, 1099, etc.

as always, irs operations are predictably problematic, a justifiable fear for 51 percent.

that perpetual problem, staffing issues, is nearly as worrisome, hitting a new high of 47 percent.

despite these concerns, which at this point are more imaginary than real, 59 percent say they expect some increase or a significant increase in their pool of clients.

to the extent that total revenue can be predicted, a heady 76 percent see more revenues coming their way, though only 64 percent think it will result in higher net profits.

practitioners are divided on the economic outlook for 2023. while 63 percent see the national economy sliding downhill, only 14 percent believe happy days are here again. twenty-eight percent feel anxious for their clients, though under 12 percent feel the same for their own businesses.