From the famed Peter Luger Steak House in New York to the not so famous Crazy Pinz bowling lanes in Fort Wayne, Ind., CPAs are planning for the day after April 15th.
It’s been a tough season, beset by a widening economic crisis that has left clients worried or worse and their CPAs in much the same condition.
Still, about 33 percent of the 1,249 accountants who had taken our survey through April 6 term it better than last year’s, with 22 percent calling it worse and the rest “about the same.” We’ll be reporting more details on the season in coming weeks. Be sure to join the survey to get all the results.
HOW WAS YOUR BUSY SEASON?
HOW DOES IT COMPARE TO YOUR PEERS?
With deteriorating business conditions and distressed clients, accountants are more worried than in years past about getting paid in full or on time. And, worried too, about how much new work will be available this summer and into the fall.
Welcome to the new normal — Frugal is the new black.
Fifty-four percent of those receiving refunds intend to pay off credit card, utility, housing and other bills, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll. That compares with 35 percent who said the same thing a year ago. Only 5 percent, about the same as a year ago, plan a shopping spree.
Although 38 percent plan to spend at least part of it, the spending will be on basic needs: 17 percent on food and clothing. It was 7 percent a year ago.
By the way, 8 percent of those who owe taxes said they were very likely or somewhat likely to use a credit card to pay their tax bill.
More:
31 percent of those receiving refunds said they will use at least part of the money to pay credit card bills, compared with 17 percent a year ago.
19 percent said they will use their refunds to pay utility bills, compared with 10 percent a year ago.
17 percent said they will use their refunds for rent or mortgage payments, compared with 7 percent a year ago.
11 percent of those receiving refunds said they would use them to go on vacation, a slight increase from a year ago.
5 percent said they planned to use their refund for a down payment on a car, also a slight increase.
4 percent said they would use their refunds to buy stocks or bonds, about the same as a year ago.
Noted New Orleans rapper runs thriving 17-person tax practice — with local flavor.
“I started doing taxes a long time ago, as soon as I got my first job,” says New Orleans rapper Joe Blakk, Joe Blakk Income Tax Service.
Blakk had his first regional hit with the song “It Ain’t Where Ya From” in 1993, during his senior year of college. By the time he debuted as a rapper, though, he already had nearly a decade of experience preparing taxes — a sideline he pursued throughout high school and college the way some kids might have had a paper route.
Today, during each tax season, he employs 17 people — including the bounce rap pioneers Cheeky Blakk, Dolemite and T.T. Tucker, as well as Rebirth Brass Band bass drummer Keith Frazier — at the three local offices of Joe Blakk Income Tax Service.
When he started, “I wasn’t even charging, it was just about let’s get it done, let’s do it right. Let’s start filing taxes, repair our credit, own our own homes, and leave something for our children when we’re gone.”
