As the April 15, 2025, tax filing deadline approaches, you may find yourself joining the growing crowd of US taxpayers scrambling to find a qualified tax accountant. With a dwindling IRS workforce, trying to do taxes alone isn’t an attractive alternative, especially if you hit any snags in tax prep.
Here’s the backstory for the shortage and a few practical places to start your search to secure a tax pro in 2025.
Why can’t you find a tax preparer?
There’s a growing shortage of tax professionals in the US. Many certified public accountants (CPAs) have retired over the past few years, and fewer young professionals are entering the field. Accounting programs have seen declining enrollment, and the high stress and long hours during tax season have pushed some out of the profession.
These trends are evidenced by the following statistics:
- Decline in accounting professionals: Over the past five years, the US has seen a reduction of approximately 340,000 accountants, indicating a substantial decrease in the workforce.
- Aging workforce: Currently, about 75% of CPAs are part of the Baby Boomer generation and are approaching retirement age, highlighting an emerging gap in experienced professionals.
- Seasonal surge in demand: Tax professionals are frequently scheduled out several weeks in advance. This makes it very difficult for taxpayers to get on a tax preparer’s schedule if they don’t start looking until March or later.
- More complex tax situations: Tax returns have become increasingly complicated. Between gig work, cryptocurrency transactions, and remote work arrangements, more people are seeking professional help to navigate the maze of deductions, credits, and compliance rules.
How to increase your chances of landing a tax pro
1. Contact your state’s CPA society.
Every US state (and most territories) supports an independent CPA professional society. Many have directories or referral services that aren’t widely advertised. Some even have “Find a CPA” tools geared toward matching by specialty, which can be especially useful if you need both financial statement preparation and tax preparation services.
2. Reach out to university accounting programs.
Some accounting departments have student-run tax clinics (especially around tax season) where advanced students help with returns for free or at a low cost under faculty supervision. Contact the business school at your local university to determine if that institution has a tax prep program.
Note that these programs will likely cater to simpler returns, and there may be income or other demographic limitations for participation. If you land a preparer through a program like this, starting a professional relationship with someone new to the profession may set you up for long-term service and reduce your chances of repeating this search year over year.
3. Link up via LinkedIn.
If you’re on LinkedIn, search for CPAs or tax preparers in your area or industry. Look for professionals posting about tax topics, as this often signals their engagement in the community and potential openness to engaging new clients. Consider posting a status asking for referrals — your network may have good recommendations.
4. Ask your other service providers.
In addition to leveraging your LinkedIn connections, tap into your existing network of professional service providers. Inquire with financial advisors, mortgage brokers, lawyers, and more for tax preparer recommendations. These professionals frequently collaborate with CPAs and can point you to someone trustworthy.
Some professionals, like financial advisors, might also have accounting designations or experience providing tax preparation services. While they may not advertise those, they may be open to offering them for a bundled fee in conjunction with the other services they provide.
5. Tune into podcasts, blogs & social media/online marketplaces.
YouTube channels, podcasts, and tax-focused TikToks are other ways to identify individuals interested in growing their brand. Listening to someone’s content gives you a sense of their style and may reveal their niche. Tax content creators may be open to taking clients, offering consultations, or — at the very least — offering recommendations.
Tip: When going with someone you don’t know, be sure to confirm their credentials to ensure that they’re a credible authority, as a social media platform alone doesn’t guarantee expertise.
6. Check out online marketplaces.
Some tax preparers offer their services on platforms like Upwork and Fiverr. You may also find a tax preparer using financial services networks like XY Planning Network. If you have doubts about using a preparer from one of these online marketplaces, here are some things to consider when hiring a CPA from any source that does not come with a personal recommendation.
- Verify credentials. Ensure the CPA or enrolled agent (EA) is licensed and in good standing. You can verify this information in some states by entering the state name and “professional license verification” into a search engine and then looking up the preparer’s name. Not all tax preparers must be CPAs or EAs, but the lack of a designation makes it more difficult to verify their skill level.
- Meet face-to-face. Ask for an in-person meeting or a video conference call. Without a recommendation, the more information you know about the preparer, the better equipped you’ll be to make the best preparer selection.
- Inquire about the security of information. Be wary of how your preparer asks for your data to be submitted. Tax preparers have a duty to protect client information and shouldn’t request that sensitive information be transferred through non-secure methods.
More helpful tips & resources
When looking for a tax preparer, you can do a few more things to increase your odds of landing a tax pro.
✅Be open to remote services. Many CPAs offer virtual consultations and services. Expanding your search to include remote professionals can increase your options.
✅Consider EAs. EAs are federally authorized tax practitioners with expertise in tax matters. Experienced EAs are a great alternative to CPAs for tax preparation.
✅Show up with organized records. Tax preparers with busy schedules may be more likely to take on a last-minute client if they can clearly define the scope of the work. A client with good records will likely only require tax services, whereas one with disorganized records may require bookkeeping adjustments or financial statement preparation before tax prep can begin.
Tax preparer search registries
In addition to checking out the website of your state society, you can visit the IRS’s search directory for tax preparers. You can also find an EA by heading over to the NAEA’s find a tax expert directory.
Implementing these strategies can improve your chances of finding a qualified tax preparer to assist with your tax preparation needs, even amidst a preparer shortage. If you decide to just throw in the towel and do your filings yourself, you may want to look into TurboTax as an option for your tax prep software (read our TurboTax review). And if that doesn’t suit your needs, see the top TurboTax alternatives that may work out in time if your search for an individual tax preparer doesn’t.
