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The Use of Technology in Tax Preparation: A Closer Examination of Electronic Filing and Filing Errors
Author(s) -
Chiang Bea,
Limato Jeffrey
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of corporate accounting and finance
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1097-0053
pISSN - 1044-8136
DOI - 10.1002/jcaf.22258
Subject(s) - taxpayer , internal revenue , certification , revenue , service (business) , business , accounting , income tax , tax credit , economics , public economics , marketing , management , macroeconomics
Historically, individuals have called upon certified public accountants for their tax preparation services; however, with the implementation of new technologies and resources, there has been a change in the way tax preparation is performed in the United States. The purpose of this article is to explore how the Internal Revenue Service's Taxpayer Assistance and Education Programs have evolved over time. Additionally, the advent of electronic return filing (e‐filing) will be reviewed, to see if e‐filing has increased the propensity for individuals to file their returns electronically and whether filing errors have been reduced by electronic filings over the years. After analyzing data from the IRS Data Book and Filing Season Statistics, the results indicate that despite an increasing trend in the use of technology in the IRS's Taxpayer Assistance Programs, in addition to an increasing trend in the propensity for taxpayers to file their individual income tax returns electronically, no increase or decrease in mathematical errors on individual income tax returns has been identified by the IRS. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.