The Average Salary of Tax Professionals
- Accountants are tax professionals who assist individuals and businesses in a variety of accounting and tax-related duties. They give tax advice, prepare returns, analyze financial information and prepare financial reports for tax authorities, government agencies and other groups. Accountants work in a variety of industries. They are employed by Federal, state and local governments as well as tax preparation and management firms. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), accountants earned an annual median wage of $59,430 as of May 2008. Those working for accounting and tax preparation firms earned an average of $61,480 according to the BLS.
- Tax examiners review tax returns to determine their accuracy. They examine tax credits and deductions and certify that the credits are allowed by law. Examiners are also charged with entering returns into the computer system for processing and verifying that taxpayer social security numbers accurately match their names.
Tax collectors work with delinquent tax accounts. They work with tax-payers on settling their accounts and determine if the IRS should take a lien on the tax-payers bank accounts, real estate, automobiles or other assets.
According to the BLS, tax examiners and collectors earned an annual median salary of $48,100 as a national average as of May 2008. Those working for the Federal government earned an average salary of $42,035 as of March 2009. - Tax preparers assist in preparing tax returns for individuals and small businesses. They compute over-payments and determine if taxes are owed. Although they perform some of the same functions as accountants to a certain extent, tax preparers do not have the same education and credentials as accountants and therefore earn lower wages. According to the Occupational Information Network, tax preparers earned an average salary of $30,060 as of May 2009.
- Assessors value property for tax assessment purposes. Although they predominately work in the real estate industry, they are considered tax professionals because they must remain current on tax assessment procedures to accurately determine property values within a given jurisdiction. According to the BLS, assessors earned an average annual wage of $47,370 as of May 2008. Most assessors work for local governments and real estate firms while some are employed by banks and other financial institutions.
