Tax season damages accountants: Survey

Most accountants came out of tax season measurably damaged, according to a new index.

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The Tax Season Survival Index, a new assessment tool created by thought leader Hitendra Patil, benchmarked over 400 accountants and tax professionals in the aftermath of the 2026 filing season in terms of five different factors: caffeination, sleep deprivation, chaotic work environments, suspension of personal life, and deadline-week panic.

With each factor scoring up to 20 points, the index is designed to create a scale of 1 to 100, where “healthy, well-systematized” accountants score 50 or less, and a score of above 70 means long-term damage that can compound year over year.

Of the 438 accountants and tax pros who completed the assessment in the four weeks after April 15, 78% were in the “Survived” tier, meaning they had real, measurable damage to sleep, health, relationships and decision quality. The average score was 55.6; 3% of respondents scored above 70.

Below are some of the more disturbing statistics from the first tranche of respondents:

• Half of respondents experienced caffeine withdrawal after April 15.
• Half got less than six hours of sleep a night during tax season.
• Half reported a stress level of 8 or higher out of 10 in the final three days running up to April 15.
• Two out of three woke up at least weekly thinking about a specific client tax return.
• More than two-fifths (44%) reported strained personal relationship that needed to be repaired after tax season.

“The profession has normalized something that shouldn’t be normal,” said Patil, who is the CEO of Accountaneur Advisory, and a regular member of Accounting Today‘s Top 100 Most Influential People list. “We have gotten so good at pushing through that we have stopped measuring what it costs. The TISS index is the first attempt to put a number on the cost, not at the firm level, where partners can rationalize it, but at the human level, where its true costs are actually paid.”

He noted that larger firms (those with 51-200 employees) scored “noticeably” better than firms with six to 15 employees.

The assessment, which involves 26 questions, is still open for responses; accountants can participate here.