Economy’s effect on tax filing methods

February 27, 2010

The struggling economy apparently is affecting tax filing. And I'm not just talking about individuals having trouble paying what they owe Uncle Sam or their state tax collectors.

The actual business of filing seems to be sensitive to these tough fiscal circumstances, with it looking like hard times help one tax-related sector, but hurt another.

Last week, a market analyst with Oppenheimer told his clients that in this soft economy, worried consumers have looked for ways to trim costs, including preparing their taxes themselves instead of paying a fee to have someone
do it for them.

The evidence of such a shift?

Intuit's latest report on its TurboTax
product showed growth for the software of more than 11 percent compared with a year ago.

Meanwhile, Kansas City-based H&R Block announced that its preliminary tax season numbers ending Feb. 15 showed same-office tax returns prepared in retail operations dropped 5.6 percent from the same period in 2009. Block's total number of tax returns prepared dropped 6.3 percent year-over-year.

So do these two company earnings reports really mean that folks are truly trading paid tax preparers for self-preparation options?

It will take more than one set of
numbers to reach a solid conclusion. In fact, just a few weeks ago a survey found that more folks are turning to tax pros for tax help.

But these latest Wall Street figures do indicate a trend worth watching by
taxpayers, tax preparers and investors with shares in tax sector businesses.

Take our poll: The early tax-filing filing pattern reports
raise, as usual, even more questions.

Is the IRS' own Free File program
contributing to this trend?

As the April 15 filing deadline gets closer
will folks who've been putting off their taxes decide they need personal tax pro help?

While decidedly unscientific, let's see if Don't Mess With Taxes readers can add some more fuel to the filing method fire via this short poll:

Hello Tax Season 2026

Happy New Tax Year! Are you ready to file your 2025 tax return? I know, too early to ask. But Tax Day 2026 will be here before we realize it. The Internal Revenue Service deadline to file and pay any tax we owe is the regular April 15 date this year. It’s also Tax Day for most of the states that collect income taxes from their residents, which is most of the states! If that seems too far away right now, don’t worry. As is the case every tax season, the ol’ blog’s tips and other tax reminders should help all of us meet our state and federal responsibilities. Procrastinators also will want to keep an eye on the countdown clock just below. It tracks how much time we have until April’s Tax Day, just in case we put off our annual tax task until the absolutely final hours and decide we need to instead get an extension request into the IRS by that date. (Note: I’m in the Central Time Zone, so adjust accordingly for where you live.)

Credits/Deductions

Disasters

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Filing and Paying Taxes

Politics/Laws

Refunds

State Taxes

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Tax Tips

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