The Business Of Tax
For many Americans, annual payments to the IRS (or perhaps refunds from the IRS) happen like clockwork. They're simply something that must be tolerated, which must go on and then happen again next year. But in fact, the reality is a lot more complex. Rather than simply being something that happens spontaneously, IRS filing is linked to an entire industry designed to help people make the task a little less odious. Tax services companies have turned it from a simple annual occurrence into something much more complex: the tax services industry.
What Are Tax Services?
The vast majority of people who must pay the IRS have no desire to actually work out what forms need to be filed on their own. That's hardly surprising, considering just how complex a lot of the documentation is. The actual code that governs who owes what, who files what, and who receives how much back is thousands of pages long €" and that's just at the Federal level. States have their own regulations, their own departments, and their own thousand-page manuals for how to make it all work.
It would be almost impossible for a lot of people in the US to do their own filing. It's simply too complex and takes too much time to learn. With the many different elements of the code that must be learned and followed, knowing enough about it to actually file documents quickly became a full time job. If you're involved in work with another industry, you're not going to have time to make headway with learning it on your own. That's why the tax services industry exists: to help ensure that Americans file what they're required to file, pay what they're required to pay, and receive the refunds to which they are legally entitled. These men and women make IRS regulations their business so that other people don't have to.
Major Players In The Industry
Liberty Tax Service, Jackson Hewitt, H&R Block, and TurboTax are some of the biggest companies involved in the filing industry. Liberty Tax, Jackson Hewitt, and H&R Block emphasize walk-in offices and storefronts where prep workers do in-person interviews and complete your return on the spot. In contrast, TurboTax was created specifically with the intention of being an online solution that can be completed from home. All three of the office-based companies also offer their own e-filing solutions, some of which are available for less money than TurboTax.
Do Consumers Benefit?
Without companies like Liberty Tax, Jackson Hewitt, and H&R Block, Americans would have little choice but to research the nuances of IRS code on their own. This is a very time consuming process which is also very difficult without specific legal training or targeted coaching. Thus, these companies fill an important role within the economy: they help people avoid the fees and potential legal trouble that can come with improper, incomplete, or missed filings.
What Are Tax Services?
The vast majority of people who must pay the IRS have no desire to actually work out what forms need to be filed on their own. That's hardly surprising, considering just how complex a lot of the documentation is. The actual code that governs who owes what, who files what, and who receives how much back is thousands of pages long €" and that's just at the Federal level. States have their own regulations, their own departments, and their own thousand-page manuals for how to make it all work.
It would be almost impossible for a lot of people in the US to do their own filing. It's simply too complex and takes too much time to learn. With the many different elements of the code that must be learned and followed, knowing enough about it to actually file documents quickly became a full time job. If you're involved in work with another industry, you're not going to have time to make headway with learning it on your own. That's why the tax services industry exists: to help ensure that Americans file what they're required to file, pay what they're required to pay, and receive the refunds to which they are legally entitled. These men and women make IRS regulations their business so that other people don't have to.
Major Players In The Industry
Liberty Tax Service, Jackson Hewitt, H&R Block, and TurboTax are some of the biggest companies involved in the filing industry. Liberty Tax, Jackson Hewitt, and H&R Block emphasize walk-in offices and storefronts where prep workers do in-person interviews and complete your return on the spot. In contrast, TurboTax was created specifically with the intention of being an online solution that can be completed from home. All three of the office-based companies also offer their own e-filing solutions, some of which are available for less money than TurboTax.
Do Consumers Benefit?
Without companies like Liberty Tax, Jackson Hewitt, and H&R Block, Americans would have little choice but to research the nuances of IRS code on their own. This is a very time consuming process which is also very difficult without specific legal training or targeted coaching. Thus, these companies fill an important role within the economy: they help people avoid the fees and potential legal trouble that can come with improper, incomplete, or missed filings.
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