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Tax Pros Race to the Finish Line

The Tax Season from Hell enters its final stages.

From the front lines (Clockwise from top left): Hill, Saarinen, Watson, Holmes, Claasen, Barber, Metzger, Sorge, Rowe
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By Beth Bellor
CPA Trendlines Research

Tax professionals are entering the final stretch of a second crisis-wracked busy season with only a precious few reporting better-than-year-ago metrics so far, according to the 20th annual CPA Trendlines busy season tracking poll.

This is a recovery? Nearly half of tax professionals are reporting this year’s Busy Season metrics “worse” than last year’s. Source: CPA Trendlines Busy Season Barometer.

MORE: Pros Surge Ahead in Tax Prep | Tax Pros Handle 53% of E-Filings | Tax Pros Hold Their Ground | Pros Tackle 49% of E-filed Returns | Survey: Tax Season Swings into the Red | Another Tax Season from Hell?
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Meanwhile, the spread between tax professionals’ gains and DIYers’ losses increased from 9.1 percentage points in the last reporting period to 12.2 points in the lastest, according to data reported by Internal Revenue Service for the week ending April 23, the latest available.

The agency had received 116.1 million individual income tax returns, down 4.7 percent from the same period in 2020 when tax season began 18 days earlier. It had processed 105.3 million returns, down 4.3 percent, pegging its processing rate at 90.7 percent.

Some 49 percent are calling 2021 “worse” than 2020, with about 16 percent holding steady, and 36 percent reporting a “better” year, including 10 percent enjoying a “much better” season.