US Tax Lab
See the sample return

How the work is done

The returns are prepared the way a tax practice prepares them, by people who do that for a living.

Who does the work

US Tax Lab is a team of working tax professionals across the US.

We are tax preparers and bookkeepers, not a CPA firm.

16 preparers
Build the federal and state returns in professional tax software.
4 reviewers
Carry out the two layers of review that every return goes through.
2 on quality assurance
Check that the files are complete and intact.

From brief to delivery

  1. Write

    We agree which states, forms and problems you want covered. Then we invent the taxpayers and the documents they would hand over. If you already have cases, send those instead.

  2. Prepare

    A preparer builds each federal and state return in professional tax software. The software does the arithmetic and prints the forms.

  3. Review

    Every return goes through two layers of review against the source documents. Quality assurance then checks that the files are complete and intact.

  4. Deliver

    You receive the files under your own IDs. Ask about any line and we will show where it comes from.

What makes a return fit to grade against

These hold for all 20 returns in the sample set. The last one is what a case file adds.

  • Printed by tax software. Nothing is typed onto a blank form. Each return is the PDF the software produced.
  • Current law. Tax year 2025, including the deductions that began that year for tips, overtime, car loan interest and taxpayers 65 and over.
  • State and city returns included. Each case has its resident state return. Where the facts call for one, it also has a city return or a second state.
  • Invented people, real problems. Every taxpayer, employer and account is made up for the case. The problems come from kinds of situations we have seen in practice. No client data is reused.
  • Real-looking details. Names, addresses, employers and identification numbers are invented, and formatted like real ones. Nothing in a case is a placeholder.
  • Traced, in a case file. Every line with a figure names its source, and a script recomputes the arithmetic. See the Illinois sample.

What a prepared return is, and is not

A prepared return is a professional’s answer. It is not a ruling from the IRS or a state. Where the facts leave room for judgment, the workpaper says what we chose and why, so you can decide whether a different answer should also score as correct.

If you find an error, tell us. We correct the return and reissue the case.

Invented taxpayers, real experience

We adhere entirely to Section 7216 and never reuse any client data.

How we handle data

  • What is invented. Every name, address, identification number, employer, account and figure in a case is made up for that case.
  • What is real. The experience. We may use kinds of situations we have seen before, such as a prenuptial agreement in Washington that allocates assets, income and liabilities between spouses, or a taxpayer who lives in another country and works remotely through an LLC in the United States.
  • Coincidence. Cases are written to look real, so a made-up name or number can match a real one by chance.
  • Your files stay yours. Files you send us are used for your project and nothing else.