Promoting EAs at Tax Time

 
Tax season is a grEAt time to share your expertise with the public! CSEA President Cynthia Leachmoore, EA was featured in a San Francisco Chronicle article by Kathleen Pender, “Early tax filing statistics confirm fears about refunds.”
 
The article notes that IRS statistics for the first five days of this year’s filing season show that 24 percent fewer taxpayers got federal refunds than the same period last year, and the average refund was 8.4 percent lower. The IRS received 12.4 percent fewer returns in the first five days of this year than last year, and processed 25.8 percent fewer.
 
Commenting on lower refunds, Ms. Leachmoore said one reason might be “because tax preparers, starting this year, must get additional documentation from clients claiming head-of-household status and the child tax credit. That could be cutting down on some fraudulent refunds.”
 
Ms. Leachmoore said that she has filed half as many returns this year as she did by the same time last year, and cited a number of reasons for the tax season’s slow start. “The government shutdown in January ‘made people skittish about booking appointments’ before February … Also, banks and brokerage firms are taking longer every year to send out the 1099 forms on investment income.”