HOW TO START YOUR OWN TAX PREPARATION BUSINESS

Tax preparation industry is a rapidly growing industry. Last year 62% of Americans, had their tax returns filed by a paid preparer or a tax franchise. Tax preparation is a very lucrative industry for people who are interested in numbers and are looking to enter this business. Right after the holiday season, when many are strapped for cash the tax preparation business helps provide additional income and many like stay at home moms and seasonal employees, also like the seasonality factor of the business as well.

So how does one go about starting their own Tax Preparation business. Below are some of the steps listed to help you enter this business:

1) Get Training- This is the first and foremost thing you have to get done. You can get this basic Tax Prep course training from any of the big franchise tax companies or even at the IRS website. This training will help you understand the basics of tax preparation like schedules, tax forms and how to calculated taxes for your clients. Going forward the IRS will make it mandatory for tax preparers to be tested and have certain minimum hours of training.  

2) Location- Once you have completed the training, you need to know where do you want to conduct your business. If you want to do this from your home you need to have an existing client base which might include friends and family. If you want to start at a retail location you have to know which area you want to start your shop. You would have to sign up a lease and register for different utilities. You will have to register with local authorities to register your business in your area. Once you have your location you will also need to get an EFIN number from the IRS which will allow you to e file your customers taxes.

3) Tax Software- You will need to look into different tax software that are in the market which can allow you to file your customer’s taxes electronically. The advantages of tax software is that once you have your customer’s information in the software it will be easy to create various schedules using the basic information provided in the software. The software gives the tax return and your office a professional look, it also allows you to keep your customer’s information for future purposes in an electronic format.

6) Marketing and Advertising- Once you have your location decided you will have to start marketing and advertising to your customers to let them know that you are available to do their tax returns. The types of advertising that you can do can be through flyers, brochures and webmarketing. You will have to make sure your customers can find you therefore, you need to list your number in the phonebook. You might also want to partner with neighboring businesses who can keep your brochures and flyers in their stores and also refer your business to their customers.  When advertising make sure your advertisements and professional and appeal to your customers.

With keeping all these steps in mind and making sure you provide your customers great customer service by keeping wait time short, printing and providing your customers their tax returns in a neatly arranged folder you can enhance your professionalism and make sure your customers come back to you year after year. To find out more about starting your own Tax Preparation Business please visit our website at www.maximtaxservices.com or contact Raj at raj@maximmultiservices.com