Law Commons^™

The Demand For Tax Return Preparation Services, Jeffrey A. Dubin, Michael J. Graetz, Michael A. Udell, Louis L. Wilde

Faculty Scholarship

We analyze taxpayer choices of return preparation services. We distinguish between two types of nonpaid preparers, six types of paid third parties, and self-preparation. Among other things, we find significant differences in the factors which explain the demand for paid third parties who are and are not able to represent clients before the IRS. Among these factors are increases in IRS audit rates and the frequency of IRS penalties.