Tax Preparers
Business, Management and AdministrationO*NET 13-2082.00United States
Prepare tax returns for individuals or small businesses.
- Median annual earnings
- $54,298
- Projected change
- +6%
- Typical education
- High school diploma or less
- Employment
- 104.02K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
38.1% of the workforce
Growing to 110.29K by 2035
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These courses and certificates are connected through catalog career relationships and Lightcast skill tags.
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The work
What tax preparers do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- Compute taxes owed or overpaid, using adding machines or personal computers, and complete entries on forms, following tax form instructions and tax tables.
- Use all appropriate adjustments, deductions, and credits to keep clients' taxes to a minimum.
- Interview clients to obtain additional information on taxable income and deductible expenses and allowances.
- Furnish taxpayers with sufficient information and advice to ensure correct tax form completion.
- 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.
- Answer questions and provide future tax planning to clients.
- Explain federal and state tax laws to individuals and companies.
- Consult tax law handbooks or bulletins to determine procedures for preparation of atypical returns.
- Calculate form preparation fees according to return complexity and processing time required.
- Schedule appointments with clients.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $28,974
- 25th percentile
- $35,953
- 50th percentile
- $54,298
- 75th percentile
- $83,591
- 90th percentile
- $134,280
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $54,298 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+6%faster than average
2025104,015 jobs
2035 projected110,294 jobs
6,279 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- High school diploma or less
- 38.1%
- Certificate
- 23.8%
- Bachelor's degree
- 23.8%
- Associate degree
- 14.3%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Tax Preparers5,156 postings
- 02Tax Associates3,277 postings
- 03Tax Professionals2,307 postings
- 04Lead Tax Preparers2,073 postings
- 05Tax Experts1,643 postings
- 06Tax Specialists706 postings
- 07Tax Advisors533 postings
- 08Tax Preparer Assistants531 postings
- 09International Tax Associates526 postings
- 10Seasonal Associates504 postings
- 11Associate Tax Managers471 postings
- 12Preseason Tax Professionals424 postings
- 13Tax Staff377 postings
- 14Asset Management Associates347 postings
- 15State and Local Tax Associates318 postings
- 16Federal Tax Associates268 postings
- 17Tax Directors253 postings
- 18Accountants/Tax Preparers193 postings
- 19Associate Directors187 postings
- 20Tax Reviewers174 postings
Top employers
- 01Intuit3,041 postings
- 02GPAC2,823 postings
- 03H&R Block2,657 postings
- 04KPMG1,466 postings
- 05Jackson Hewitt1,144 postings
- 06Robert Half1,139 postings
- 07Cherry Bekaert703 postings
- 08Ernst & Young497 postings
- 09PricewaterhouseCoopers473 postings
- 10Crowe454 postings
- 11Deloitte362 postings
- 12Baker Tilly328 postings
- 13Eisneramper Llp327 postings
- 14Forvis Mazars315 postings
- 15RSM313 postings
- 16Jobot312 postings
- 17Vaco252 postings
- 18BDO244 postings
- 19Staff Financial Group236 postings
- 20Alvarez & Marsal227 postings
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