PeeDee

On 1/2/2020 at 10:04 AM, Pacun said:

A few years ago (for a couple of times), there have been similar postings and I have always argued that this market is going away faster than the aging tax preparers.  I have said in the past that Turbo tax is a very strong competitor and if you add the IRS free efiling, we are going to be out of business really soon as clients die or stop working.  The response I have gotten on this forum has been: "this year I had to amend 3 returns that were prepared in Turbo Tax.... Turbo tax keeps my business busy".  Internally, I have laughed because amending 3 returns is nothing is comparison to the millions of people that used Turbo Tax. We normally amend 3 returns of our own every year, don't we?
Other.... "incredible" tax preparers said "I provide service and personal care for my clients"... I told then that when Amazon came on board, retailers said that they provided personal care and Amazon was not a threat to them because of the personal touch that was provided to clients with each purchase.  YOU know the answer to that.
I will add something... My daughter is faster on her Iphone than myself on a computer with keyboard, mouse, keypad and huge monitor.  Millenniums just click and click and can efile their simple returns while I am still verifying numbers and that the address is correct. Think about this... millenniums don't like to to wait on line at a restaurant regardless of how good the food is and what makes you think they will be willing to wait for this old man to prepare their taxes? It is like me hiring someone to help me and can only type 5 words per minute with two fingers and looking at the keyboard.

In any event, I do believe this line of work if fading away and suggesting my clients to have another extra line of work is an EXCELLENT idea and we should do the same.

Amen, brother.

On what date will efile open for filing 2019 Form 1099? Tried to file them tonight and get the message that "the service is unavailable at this time".

On 1/1/2020 at 10:23 AM, Edsel said:

The Tax Laws are not simpler - but for most people they are. 

It has been reported that the number of people itemizing deductions has shrunk from 25% to 8%.  I believe that means the IRS can avoid complicated returns and process most people's taxes simply by compiling information returns.  They have been at war with itemized deductions my entire career - the standard deduction was called "low income allowance" and hardly anyone took it back then.

An increasing number of taxpayers can now very easily file taxes themselves, online, or TurboTax.

I am recommending for taxpayers to engage in a sideline business, or buy rental property, or otherwise complicate things.  Not so I can continue with their tax preparation, but for their own benefit to deduct expenses that are now lost.  And I expect in the near future, the IRS will swoop down and reclassify legitimate consulting businesses to employees.

I have enough clientele left to sustain me - for most of mine have rental property, small business, exotic investments, etc.

But as an industry, I see a shrinking customer base.  One telling look-around at CE seminars reveal most people at those seminars are 55 or older.  It is a new year, and we've got to pay attention to handwriting on the wall.

 

Ed, I couldn't agree with you more. I've been saying for several years that if were 40, I'd be looking for a new career in HVAC. Sure, AI will only be able to handle the 20% most difficult returns, but how many practices can survive an 80% reduction in clients/revenue?

Peter