Do I need special certification to prepare taxes for other people?

Question

I live in Ohio, if that helps. My grandmother left me her home, which has an attached office that she used to prepare taxes in. Now that I'm a full-time mom, I'd like to do the same.

Answer 1

First off - stay away from H & R Block! Not only are they inexperienced (2 week training for employees) but they were fined last year by the government for cheating on their taxes! Their fine was in excess of 3 million!

If you want to provide personal tax services to people, you do not need a certification. The client would need to understand that should the IRS question their tax return, they are on their own. Even though you would prepare it for them, they would be the signer of the actual documents. Unless the clients are personal friends of yours, not many people would want to pay for tax filings that are not guaranteed.

If you decide to do taxing for a living and want to make a career out of it, you should study for the EA exam...Enrolled Agent. The testing is offered only in September of each year and generally runs 2 days. If you type "enrolled agent" into your browser, you will have plenty of links that can go into great detail.

It is not illegal to provide tax preparation for people without certification. However, remember that if they pay you, you must report is as "other income" on your 1040. They in turn, would report any amount they paid to you on their Schedule A.

Good luck to you. I hope I have helped, even if a little.

By the way, avoid paying a company to "walk you through" or "educate" you in the EA. Most companies will try to lure you by telling you that they will provide you with a list of questions from past EA exams...don't buy these. That information is free at www.irs.gov/taxpros/agents

Answer 2

Go to H and R Block and take their class, otherwise, I think you should be a Certified Public Accountant, CPA.

Answer 3

I think you need to be a CPA. ( certified public accountant)