Page 9 - VTaxOnDemand Independent Industry Analysis of Accounting Industry

c. South Atlantic (DE, DC, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV) – $243
d. East South Central (AL, KY, MS, TN) – $137
e. West South Central (AR, LA, OK, TX) – $220
f. East North Central (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI) – $193
g. West North Central (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD) – $192
h. Mountain (AZ, CO, ID, MT, NV, NM, UT, WY) – $207
i. Pacific (AK, CA, HI, OR, WA) – $292

Fee Disclosures
1.) Tax preparation industry is one of the few consumer services in the United States for
which consumers cannot obtain a price for the services before they consume them. 15
2.) Policy experts in certain states, for example Ohio, have pushed for fee disclosure boxes,
similar to disclosure requirements for credit cards implemented in recent years. 16
3.) The National Taxpayer Advocate (NTA), the IRS office in charge of evaluating the
taxpayer experience, continues to emphasize that the lack of regulation, opaque pricing,
and add-on products are on the rise and destabilizing to filers. 17
4.) Regulation at the local level. City of Chicago mandates fee disclosure 18
5.) A GAO report found: “Paid preparers provided various reasons for the amount of the tax
preparations fee, including:
a. The EITC form is the most expensive form to file
b. The pricing and fees are at their peak from mid-January through February an then
go down
c. There is a price difference depending if the tax return is completing in the
morning or the evening.
6.) Consumer surveys find overwhelming support for disclosure of fees upfront. 19

15 http://www.policymattersohio.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/FeeDisclosure_Jun2013.pdf
16 http://www.policymattersohio.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/FeeDisclosure_Jun2013.pdf
17 https://static.newamerica.org/attachments/1678-improving-the-tax-preparation-experience/PaidTaxPrep-Report-
FINAL.pdf
18 https://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/bacp/supp_info/tax_preparer_businessinformation.html
19 http://www.dontmesswithtaxes.com/2016/01/taxpayers-want-up-front-pricing-from-paid-tax-preparers.html

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