# Tax Preparers

> Prepare tax returns for individuals or small businesses.

- **SOC code:** 13-2082.00
- **Canonical URL:** https://singulariki.com/roles/role-13-2082-00
- **Also known as:** CPA (Certified Public Accountant), Enrolled Agent, Tax Advisor, Tax Preparer, Income Tax Preparer, Tax Accountant, Tax Associate, Tax Consultant
- **Frame:** "AI exposure" means task overlap (how codifiable the work is), not jobs lost or a forecast. Every figure below is traced to a named public dataset.

## What this work is

**Core tasks** (O*NET):
- Compute taxes owed or overpaid, using adding machines or personal computers, and complete entries on forms, following tax form instructions and tax tables.
- Use all appropriate adjustments, deductions, and credits to keep clients' taxes to a minimum.
- Interview clients to obtain additional information on taxable income and deductible expenses and allowances.
- Furnish taxpayers with sufficient information and advice to ensure correct tax form completion.
- Prepare or assist in preparing simple to complex tax returns for individuals or small businesses.
- Review financial records, such as income statements and documentation of expenditures to determine forms needed to prepare tax returns.
- Check data input or verify totals on forms prepared by others to detect errors in arithmetic, data entry, or procedures.
- Explain federal and state tax laws to individuals and companies.
- Answer questions and provide future tax planning to clients.
- Consult tax law handbooks or bulletins to determine procedures for preparation of atypical returns.
- Calculate form preparation fees according to return complexity and processing time required.
- Schedule appointments with clients.

## Skills, tools, capabilities

**Knowledge, skills & abilities** (O*NET, highest importance first):
- Reading Comprehension _(essential_skill)_
- Oral Comprehension _(ability)_
- Economics and Accounting _(knowledge)_
- Active Listening _(essential_skill)_
- Written Comprehension _(ability)_
- Oral Expression _(ability)_
- Near Vision _(ability)_
- English Language _(knowledge)_
- Deductive Reasoning _(ability)_
- Customer and Personal Service _(knowledge)_
- Mathematics _(knowledge)_
- Law and Government _(knowledge)_

**Skills in demand:**
- Reading Comprehension _(Common Skill)_
- Active Listening _(Common Skill)_
- English Language _(Common Skill)_
- Deductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Mathematics _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Excel _(Common Skill)_
- Critical Thinking _(Common Skill)_
- Information Ordering _(Specialized Skill)_
- Inductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Time Management _(Common Skill)_
- Active Learning _(Common Skill)_
- Writing _(Common Skill)_

**Tools & technology:**
- Intuit TurboTax _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft Excel _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft Office software _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Intuit QuickBooks _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Access _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Outlook _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Word _(hot technology)_
- Tax compliance property tax management software _(in demand)_
- Tax software _(in demand)_
- ACI TaskTracker
- ATX Total Accounting Office
- ATX Total Tax Office

## AI exposure & outlook

- **AI task-overlap index:** 95th percentile (High) across all occupations — composite of current-era exposure studies (ai-exposure-index-v1).
- **Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.):** 86th percentile (High) — source: felten_aioe.
- **LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou):** 95th percentile (High) — source: eloundou_gamma.
- **AI assistant applicability (Microsoft):** 90th percentile (High) — source: microsoft_applicability.
- **Frey–Osborne (2013, historical computerization estimate):** 99th percentile — kept separate from current-era studies.
- **Remote-capable (Dingel–Neiman):** no — task structure, not who actually works remote.
- **Projected employment (BLS 2024–34):** 4.5% growth (About average); 10.4k annual openings; 90.6k → 94.7k jobs.
- **Pay & employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):** median $50,560; 73,570 employed.

## How people actually use AI here

Anthropic Economic Index — measured AI conversations mapped to this occupation's tasks:

- **Automation vs augmentation:** 16% automation, 80% augmentation (usage-weighted).
- **Autonomy median:** 3.0 (higher = AI acts more independently).
- **Dominant collaboration mode:** learning.

**Tasks most handed to AI here:**
- Explain federal and state tax laws to individuals and companies. _(7.5% of measured AI use; learning)_
- Furnish taxpayers with sufficient information and advice to ensure correct tax form completion. _(1.1% of measured AI use; learning)_
- Check data input or verify totals on forms prepared by others to detect errors in arithmetic, data entry, or procedures. _(0.7% of measured AI use; validation)_
- Answer questions and provide future tax planning to clients. _(0.3% of measured AI use; learning)_

**Example prompts (honest phrasings of the tasks above — starting points, not endorsed instructions):**
- Help me explain federal and state tax laws to individuals and companies.
- Help me furnish taxpayers with sufficient information and advice to ensure correct tax form completion.
- Help me check data input or verify totals on forms prepared by others to detect errors in arithmetic, data entry, or procedures.
- Help me answer questions and provide future tax planning to clients.

## Sources

- **O*NET** (30.3) — U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)** (May 2024) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS Employment Projections** (2024–2034) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **Anthropic Economic Index** (v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27)) — Anthropic. https://www.anthropic.com/economic-index
- **Microsoft “Working with AI”** (working-with-ai) — Microsoft Research. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/
- **“GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.)** (arXiv 2303.10130) — OpenAI / academic. https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130
- **AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE)** (Felten, Raj & Seamans) — academic. https://github.com/AIOE-Data/AIOE
- **Frey & Osborne (2013)** (frey-osborne-automation) — academic. https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/publications/the-future-of-employment/
- **Dingel & Neiman (2020)** (dingel-neiman-workathome) — academic. https://github.com/jdingel/DingelNeiman-workathome

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_Generated from Singulariki's joined dataset; data snapshot 2026-06-02T21:00:32.945303+00:00. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-13-2082-00_