Skip to main content
  • Experts
  • Events
  • Briefing Book
  • Resources
  • About
  • Contact
  • Support
  • Fiscal Facts
Twitter
Facebook
Logo Site
  • Topics
    • Individual Taxes
    • Business Taxes
    • Federal Budget and Economy
    • State and Local Issues
    • Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms
  • TaxVox Blog
  • Research & Commentary
  • Laws & Proposals
  • Model Estimates
  • Statistics
  • Features
Research report

Changes in Tax Preparation Methods, 1993-2003

Eric Toder
May 9, 2005
Download PDFPrint
Share

Primary tasks

  • Overview(active tab)
  • Full Report

Abstract

Few taxpayers still prepare their returns the old-fashioned way - with pencil and paper. The percentage of individual taxpayers who prepare their own returns without software dropped from 40 percent to 13 percent in the last decade, while paid preparer and software use increased. In tax year 2003, 62 percent of taxpayer used paid preparers and an additional 25 percent used tax software. Use of tax software and paid preparers is one way of reducing the compliance burden of an increasingly complex Federal income tax, but some components of burden, such as recordkeeping, will remain no matter how we prepare returns.

Research Area

Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms
To reuse content from the Tax Policy Center, visit copyright.com, search for the publications, choose from a list of licenses, and complete the transaction.

Meet the Experts

  • Eric Toder
    Institute Fellow and Codirector, Tax Policy Center
Research report

New Evidence on The Effect of The TCJA On the Housing Market

Robert McClelland, Livia Mucciolo, Safia Sayed
March 30, 2022
  • Donate Today
  • Topics
  • TaxVox Blog
  • Research & Commentary
  • Laws & Proposals
  • Model Estimates
  • Statistics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Newsletters
Twitter
Facebook
  • © Urban Institute, Brookings Institution, and individual authors, 2022.