Except for our four international clients on second extension and our ten clients impacted by Hurricane Ian, the 2020-2022 Tax Season is over. I expect that within one month, we will be off filing returns until February 2023 (well, there is our one September fiscal-year-end corporate client….) We had quite a few issues this year, and I’ll expound on them at length in the next week or two. For now, let me ask a question:
Among tax professionals, is anyone happy?
I saw lots of tax professionals leaving the profession over the past two to three years, and it didn’t make sense to me. This is a good profession where we help our clients. I enjoy the work (yes, someone has to). But this past Tax Season was the first year I felt, at times, that I didn’t like what I was doing; I now understand why tax professionals are retiring.
This has major impacts to our clients. The Law of Supply and Demand holds throughout the world (no matter what politicians say). If Supply decreases, Price increases. Even if inflation were 0% (and it’s not), prices would be increasing significantly. Add in the huge inflation we’re seeing (example: paper prices at Costco have increased from $28.99/case to $35.99 $36.99/case since November 2021), and most tax professionals will be increasing prices dramatically for the 2023 Tax Season.
Did I mention Demand? That’s increasing, too. During the month of October (and today is October 19th, so there’s still another nine business days) we’ve received twenty inquiries for next year! So that, too, will cause price increases. Additionally, if you are seeking a tax professional to assist you with your 2022 tax returns now is the time to find him or her because January will likely be too late!
I’m going to have a lot more to say about this as I review our failings (and, unfortunately, there were plenty) and successes during the 2022 Tax Season. I’ve written two parts of the series (Part 1 and Part 2 were posted earlier this year); Part 3 should be up by the end of next week with Part 4 following soon thereafter.
Let me go back to the question I asked and ask it of myself: Was I happy doing what I do this year? Far less so than in the past. This means changes are coming–perhaps dramatic changes. I am going to be happy doing what I do or I won’t do it anymore: life is too short to do otherwise.
UPDATE: I just returned from Costco to buy paper (and a few other items), and the price has increased $1/case (to $36.99 from $35.99) from September.
