Hi .. I did returns back in the 70's and more recently the last 14 years or so. I am 70 now and think I am hanging it up after today. I have mostly enjoyed doing taxes it can be quite rewarding helping people out. But the last few years seem to be more of a chore than a joy. I will definitely miss the clients I have done for many years. I'm sure I'll still be following the posts on this board. And who knows ... maybe I will be back, but as of now I think I have had enough.
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Not Quite Ready
Doshan, I know what you mean and I'm not quite ready to hang it up.
Except for obvious automation, my approach to help clients lower their taxes via accepted laws has not changed during my career. I already observed ethical methods even before there was a Cir. 230, so I focus on the tax laws as opposed to walking a tightrope because of preparer regulation.
If I'm ever required to be a govt lackey and audit my clients, I will quit. On the spot. -
Give it a year. You know they say it's like having a baby, you forget the pain after a while and by gosh, wind up doing it again.Originally posted by ddoshan View PostComment
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Ditto
I feel like getting out of the biz EVERY April 15th. But then again, I am always excited to get started when January rolls around.Comment
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Your sentiment this time of the year is very common. I'm older than you and during the worst of it It crossed my mind. Now that I'm at the 15th I say,"It wasn't THAT bad". I'll end up doing 385 personals and another 60 entities with no help other than a write-up bookkeeper. Hang in there. Get your rest and see how you feel in May or June.This post is for discussion purposes only and should be verified with other sources before actual use.
Many times I post additional info on the post, Click on "message board" for updated content.Comment
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Age Discussion
Several comments have been made about age. I am hardly a spring chicken myself.
But I can't help but notice when going to a CPE seminar that there are usually very few young people in the room. Many people are my age, and the age of some mentioned in this thread. This should tell us something.
Namely, there are just simply not enough young people anxious to burst on the scene of tax preparation. This is important because the IRS is foaming at the mouth to regulate (not just register) preparers with more and more transfer of auditing to be pushed onto tax preparers. They apparently believe the industry is so lucrative that old-timers like us will put up with them, and young people will be rushing into practice like Thanksgiving weekend shoppers stampeding each other to get into department stores.
Look around at these seminars. Only a relatively few hardy souls under age 35. Overwhelming majority age 55 and up. Tax preparation industry is not anywhere as lucrative as to put up with IRS misery and attract young people either.
Don't feel sorry for the IRS when we've been stamped out. There is always TurboTax and TaxAct. People can pay a lousy $40 and be as knowledgeable as we are right there on the spot. Even after all our experience and schooling every year. If you don't believe it, watch their commercials. Most of us know people who use these things overpay their taxes. That's fine with the IRS.Comment
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I am 39 and I do not know many around my age preparing tax returns. I am sure there are even less that are younger than me. I just happen to fall into tax preparation. My goal after high school was to get a job as a secretary or maybe bank teller. I got a part time job as a secretary for an tax prep office and in a couple of years started preparing returns. 18 years later and I am still at it.
This season has been rough and I've said many times that I would not mind doing something else than tax prep. Do not know what that would be though.Comment
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