What degree do I need for tax preparation?

The complexity of filing taxes is not a mystery for business owners or any taxpayer for that matter. However it is also not avoidable or ethical to avoid them, and the consequences come on heavier in the forms of fees and penalties. This is where individuals and businesses turn to the expertise of tax preparers.

What Are My Educational Requirements to Become a Tax Preparer?

Although there is no hard and fast rule of what one must do to become a tax preparer. It is also a job that is steadily on the rise. And companies and clients will look for certain qualifications. Here’s a guide as to what a certified Tax Preparer will be expected to have on their resume.

·  Getting Your Bachelor’s Degree

Having a 4-year bachelor’s degree in business, accounting or finance will be beneficial in providing you broader employment opportunities. However, if you do not have a bachelor’s degree in the specified fields, do not worry. There are several online and physical courses, one can take, such as a GST certification course, a sales tax course, and plenty of other opportunities to heavy your resume. 

·  Becoming a Licensed Professional

This may vary but it is expected of you to have a minimum of 60 hours in educating yourself to the basic accounting and tax training courses. Other advanced and beginner courses such as a corporate tax course, GST course for beginners, payroll tax courses, etc., are also great viable options. Every two years there is a call for enrolling new tax preparers on the TRP portal. Once enrolled, you will be trained among 5000 candidates, out of which 500 will be eligible for taking the enrollment test. You will also need rigorous Income Tax course training added to which qualifying the examination, will recognize you as a tax preparer. 

·  Attending Training Courses

Attending proper training courses in tax preparation will not only embellish your resume but also prepare you for the job, update you on changes in tax laws or regulations, and keep you up to your peak potential. Taking an Income tax certification course, and other tax-oriented courses will help you, your organization, and your clients and is a must to become a certified professional. These courses are essential, especially to independent tax preparers. And even as a licensed professional, you will be advised to continue with your courses.

There is no doubt that a tax preparer’s job can be financially and often career-wise, more than satisfying. It can be scary if you are starting new into the tax world, but that is why there are professional income tax courses and other training programs to prepare you for it. 

Goods and services tax is an indirect method of taxation that will replace loads of state and central levies along with merging them in order to make accessible a sole system of circumlocutory duty. The aim of this program is mainly to develop the skills of diverse finance, taxation, and accounting professionals and be more conversant, mainly in taxation. In this itinerary, you will get to learn concepts regarding IGST, GST and law, GST payment, basics & taxation, GST registration and management, and GST Accounting.