The tax preparer industry is a racket. We live in an age with powerful, user friendly tax programs like Turbo Tax that walk the user step by step through their tax return. There is no reason to pay a tax accountant $200/hr and give large bundles of sensitive information when you can achieve the same results yourself in under a hour. One of the biggest myths told to the public is the fact that they can't do taxes themselves. What is so complicated? Most tax returns are as simple as entering the income off your W2 and 1099s, claiming your dependents(if applicable) and taking a standard deduction. If you have a home, you will probably itemize by entering home mortgage interest, real estate taxes and state/local taxes paid last year. Its virtually the same process every year.