In all, taxpayers spend 6.1 billion hours preparing taxes in a year, says the Taxpayer Advocate Service, a branch of the IRS. Using software can be faster than sitting down with a 1040 and a calculator, but it may still take a few hours.
Mr. Robbins, the accountant, says for the amount of time and money spent on software, it might be a better choice to pay for human help.
“You can come in here with all your documents, and within half an hour, you can be in and out and be done, and know that things are done right,” he says.
