Newest outsourcing wave: Your tax returns - AP

[question everything]

http://www.dailybulletin.com/Stories/0,1413,203~21482~1972193,00.html#


(snip)

The average accountant in India makes $250 to $300 per month, compared with $3,000 to $4,000 in the United States. Many firms say they'll use the savings to undercut competitors or add premium services like retirement planning. They also say Indian workers will be needed to replace droves of retiring baby boomer accountants.

"It's going to change the paradigm in which professionals prepare taxes, maybe even more than the way TurboTax (software) changed the way individuals did their taxes," said Dave Wyle, head of Newport Beach-based SurePrep, a software and consulting service with 300 Indian accountants in Bombay and Ahmedabad.

(snip).

Although firms have yet to report identity theft or fraud that stemmed from outsourcing, privacy advocates cringe at the notion of scanning and transmitting W2 forms along with the Social Security numbers and salary information on them across about a dozen time zones.

Democratic presidential front-runner John Kerry wants overseas call centers to disclose their location the New Economy version of the "made in America" label. Some consumer groups and privacy advocates say accountants should do the same.

(snip)

To protect privacy, tax consulting firms in India SurePrep, Datamatics, Xpitax, Outsource Partners International and other firms usually have armed guards outside offices. Entry is restricted by microchip-embedded swipe cards.

(snip)

[I AM SPARTACUS]

1. somehow, I just don't see much accountability happening with this...

...maybe that's just my inner cynic...

[aquart]

2. Can you say, "BAD IDEA"?

[Wwagsthedog]

3. Protect privacy?

They don't give a hoot about anyone's privacy. The security is there to protect these companies from an irate public.