Gigs & odd jobs · idea 40 of 52
Seasonal tax preparation after the free training course
The big tax-prep chains train their own seasonal staff every autumn. Three months of steady work, and the skill compounds every year.
- Who pays you
- A tax-preparation company pays you an hourly wage, sometimes with a per-return bonus, on payroll, for preparing individual tax returns in their office during filing season. Independent preparers charge clients directly per return.
- Outcomes
- 0 receipts. Nobody's reported back on this one yet. Receipts open when accounts launch.
How it works
In countries where most people file their own tax return, chains of tax-prep offices staff up massively for the season. They run their own training course in autumn (often free or cheap, with the expectation you'll work for them), then hire the people who pass for the filing months. The pay is modest; the value is the skill. After two or three seasons, many preparers go independent, charging per return to a client list that follows them.
What it actually takes
- Passing the company's course and any registration your country requires for paid preparers.
- Availability for evenings and weekends during the peak weeks.
- Comfort with software, forms and people who are anxious about money.
- Patience. The first season pays little and teaches a lot.
Where it goes wrong
- Countries where tax filing is automated or simple. This idea doesn't exist there.
- Non-compete terms in the seasonal contract that limit going independent. Read it.
- Errors. A mistake on someone's return is serious; the training and the review process exist for a reason.
- Treating season one as the payoff. The money is in season three, independent.
Published 20 Aug 2026