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Tax Preparers

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Prepare tax returns for individuals or small businesses.

Related: Accountants & Auditors Bookkeeping, Accounting, & Auditing Clerks Credit Counselors Personal Financial Advisors Tax Examiners & Collectors, & Revenue Agents

Industries: Professional, Science, & Technical

Summary
Details

Calculate form preparation fees according to return complexity and processing time required.
Interview clients to obtain additional information on taxable income and deductible expenses and allowances.
Explain federal and state tax laws to individuals and companies.
Answer questions and provide future tax planning to clients.
Use all appropriate adjustments, deductions, and credits to keep clients' taxes to a minimum.
Answer questions and provide future tax planning to clients.
Prepare or assist in preparing simple to complex tax returns for individuals or small businesses.
Review financial records, such as income statements and documentation of expenditures to determine forms needed to prepare tax returns.
Check data input or verify totals on forms prepared by others to detect errors in arithmetic, data entry, or procedures.
Compute taxes owed or overpaid, using adding machines or personal computers, and complete entries on forms, following tax form instructions and tax tables.
Furnish taxpayers with sufficient information and advice to ensure correct tax form completion.
Consult tax law handbooks or bulletins to determine procedures for preparation of atypical returns.
Schedule appointments with clients.

Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.

Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.

Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

1 to 12 months on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

45120/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

21.69/hr

Currently Employed

2,020

Yearly Projected Openings

270

Conventional: People interested in this work like activities that include data, detail, and regular routines. They do well at jobs that need:

Integrity
Attention to Detail
Dependability
Stress Tolerance
Achievement/Effort
Persistence

Desktop calculator
Desktop computers
Notebook computers

Accounting software
Calendar and scheduling software
Compliance software
Data base user interface and query software
Document management software
Electronic mail software
Financial analysis software
Human resources software
Internet browser software
Office suite software
Project management software
Spreadsheet software
Tax preparation software
Web page creation and editing software
Word processing software

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Tax Preparers

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