WalletHub: R.I. 11th best state for tax help

WALLETHUB SAID Rhode Island is the 11th best state for tax help. / COURTESY WALLETHUB
WALLETHUB SAID Rhode Island is the 11th best state for tax help. / COURTESY WALLETHUB

PROVIDENCE – Good news for tax filers: Rhode Island is the 11th best state for tax help, according to the latest survey by personal finance website WalletHub.
With the tax deadline three weeks away, WalletHub ranked the best and worst states for tax help.
Rhode Island tied for the 11th spot with California and Hawaii.
“Whether due to time restriction, numerical aversion or a simple lack of interest, we look upon mid-April with foreboding and then watch as procrastination inevitably makes way to a last-minute scramble,” WalletHub said. “Rather than spend the 16 hours the IRS says it takes for an individual to fill out their 1040, nearly six in 10 taxpayers hire a professional to do their returns.”
WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia using six key metrics, ranging from the number of accountants per 1,000 people to their average workload and mean hourly compensation.
The Ocean State ranked high for the percentage of filers paying for tax help – 63 percent, boosting its rank to 6th in that category. It ranked 18th for the number of accounting job openings per 1,000 people at 0.5 and it ranked 21st for the number of accountants per 1,000 people at 3.8.
It ranked 24th for affordability of tax help at 154 percent (the ratio between the average hourly rate for accountants and auditors in each state and the average wage in each state) and 24th for returns filed per accountant at 216.
Overall, North Dakota ranked first and Massachusetts came in second. Connecticut was tied for fifth with Colorado. Vermont ranked 22nd, Maine 27th (tied with Wyoming) and New Hampshire, 34th. Last place went to Idaho.

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