Charles E. McCabe
Chuck McCabe, founder, president and CEO of Peoples Income Tax, Inc. has been named to the practitioners subcommittee of the Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee of the Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Treasury Department.
"Years ago, my first real job was as a brakeman and freight conductor for the Pennsylvania Railroad. At that point, I hadn’t finished high school. I got knocked off a boxcar and got a back injury and I was engaged and needed a part-time job. I saw the ad for the H&R Block Tax Course and took it and learned how to become a tax preparer. The company was expanding and so I almost immediately became an assistant district manager and then I became district manager expanding from zero offices to seven. I then became regional director. I just got into it by taking the tax course then later on went to get my education."
"I am a newly appointed member [of the Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee], one of seven. And basically the [mission of the] ETAAC is to provide advice and guidance to the IRS. Particularly, to help the ETA reach its goal of having 80 percent of all tax returns filed electronically by 2007. Congress made the goal and we need to achieve it."
"[Peoples Income Tax] currently e-file[s] 90- percent [of the returns] that we prepare [and] we prepare over 10,000 a year. It’s a more efficient way to do it. It takes a lot less time and money to file electronically versus a paper return, so there is less cost involved in the process and that should translate to [fewer] tax dollars being spent. There are big advantages to [e-filing for] the government, taxpayers and tax practitioners."
"Some people question whether they’ll be able to reach [the goal]. I think its’ reachable; everyone is working diligently to find creative ways to do it."
"The IRS is making excellent progress. There are a lot of challenges and ETAAC is a multiple-effort campaign [consisting] of advertising, awareness [and] education [aimed at reducing]… barriers such as extra paperwork for the tax practitioner. Some tax practitioners don’t see enough benefit to implement it because… [they are preparing more complex returns for people with] upper-end or higher incomes. What I would like to see is that all tax practitioners are on the same playing field. We are very supportive of e-filing and we encourage our clients to do it."
-Interviewed by Victoria Schnettler