With tax time in full swing, we did a little research and found some interesting statistics for tax preparation in 2015. Amount of tax paid, refunds, and more are all different than last year and are quite revealing. Read on to get these amazing stats.
1. Average Refund After Tax Preparation
According to CNN Money, the average federal tax refund was $3,120 for 2015 so far, with a few months left to go. Who knows if filers who know they’re due a refund make up the bulk of those sending in their returns early, but the number may come down as those who owe tax may likely delay their filing. With the average rate of return, it isn’t surprising that the overall average federal tax return is $2,800, or $320 less.
2. How Many Federal Tax Returns Qualify for a Refund?
In as much as most people hate paying taxes, there is cause for most of them to love tax time, 
given that 8 out of 10, or 80%, of them receive a refund. And if you think the rich don’t pay their fair share, most of the people who get a refund are considered working class. See the below stats from CNN Money
- 84% of those who make less than $50,000 received a refund in 2012.
- 76% of those who earned between $50,000 and $75,000 received a refund.
- 73% of those who earned between $75,000 and $100,000 received a refund.
- 62% of those who earned between $100,000 and $200,000 received a refund.
- 34% of those who make more than $200,000 received a refund in 2012.
- The average refund for those who make more than $200,000 and got one was $12,611. The high amount of refund is often associated with charitable donations, profit losses, etc.
However, there is little cause to get excited given that all those who received a refund have already paid their taxes, most commonly through paycheck deductions, and are not actually getting money but more or less letting the IRS and the fed have an interest free loan.
3. Tax Preparation Fees in 2014
Ah, so how much to have an expert navigate all these new laws and statistics? According to Taxing Subjects, the average paid for tax preparation services was $261 for those in 2014 who used an itemized Form 1040, as well as a Schedule A and state tax return. They also estimated that it took each pro about four hours to complete and submit the form, putting the hourly rate at about $65.
However, if you have a non-itemized return, the rate is even lower, with the average at only $152. This includes only a Form 1040 that is non-itemized and a state return. But those of us who offer tax preparation services in Houston do not need to file state returns for Texas, so the average rate may even be lower. A few other key tax preparation fees: it costs an average of $590 for a Form 1065 (partnership), $806 for a Form 1120 (corporation), and the average tax preparation fees for West South Central United States (AR, LA, OK, TX) was $242.
4. Tax Preparation 2013 vs. Tax Preparation 2014
There have been a few slight changes in the IRS reported data between the two years. One of the most interesting stats is that visits to the IRS official site were actually down. Given how budget cuts have made calling the office even harder, one would assume the visits would only go up. A few other stats:
- The total number of income tax returns received by the IRS in 2014 was a whopping 149,684,000, up 1% from 2013.
- According to the United States Census, the national population on July 4, 2014 was 318,881,992, up 0.8% from 316,148,990 in 2013, meaning that more of the population is filing returns.
- The total number of those who used e-file in their tax preparation was 125,821,000 in 2014, up 2.7% from 2013.
- The total number of federal tax refunds was 109,499,00 in 2014, down -0.1% from 2013.
- The total dollar amount of federal tax refunds was $305.734 billion in 2014, up 1.3% from 2013.
- The total visits to the IRS.gov site were down 3.1% between 2013 and 2014.
Tax Preparation Services in Houston
And if you are in need of expert tax preparation services in Houston or the surrounding area, please contact me.