Romeo Razi, CPA | Source | Founder at TaxedRight.com

Unfortunately, anybody can be a tax preparer,” says Romeo Razi, CPA, and founder and operator of Taxed Right, which offers concierge tax services for small-to-medium-sized businesses. “However, the best credentials that someone can have are a CPA license or an Enrolled Agent license (EA). The EA designation is given by the IRS after a tax preparer had taken a test. Also, EAs and CPAs must take 40 hours of continuing education a year to keep their license (i.e., to stay up to date on tax law changes).” - https://www.yahoo.com/now/2023-tax-season-full-swing-222142255.html

"Normally, the best use of a person's tax refund is to pay down high-interest debt. However, each person's situation is different. But if you're one of the lucky ones and only have low-interest debt, it would be foolish to pay that off early. So instead those people should put their refund into a tax-advantaged retirement account, like a Traditional IRA (make sure to invest it in a low risk asset like an index fund or the S&P 500.) That way they save the money, it grows, and they can get a tax benefit for it too."