Washington: American accounting and medical billing firms are the latest to join the outsourcing bandwagon, transferring lakhs of jobs to India to take advantage of the low pay scales and educated workforce in the country. While in 2002 accounting firms sent some 25,000 tax returns to be completed by accountants in India, this year, that number is expected to quadruple.

The reason lies in the numbers - accountants in the United States typically earn $ 4,000 a month. In places like India it's closer to $ 400, David Wyle, CEO and founder of SurePrep, a tax-outsourcing firm based in Southern California which employs more than 200 accountants in Mumbai and Ahmedabad, told CNN.

"We've estimated firms will save between $ 40,000 to $ 50,000 for every 100 returns that are outsourced," said Wyle, whose firm expects to do 35,000 returns in the coming year, up from 7,000 last year.

Xiptax in Massachussets is another tax firm that has moved much work overseas for "a whole number of reasons", besides money, says chief executive officer (CEO) Mark Albrecht.

"Most CPAs (Certified Public Accountants) do between 45 to 50 per cent of their work in two months out of the year. It makes for an extremely stressful time," Albrecht said, adding accounting firms must then "strain" to find qualified staffers to help fill in during the crunch.

By hiring full-time staff in India, CPA firms like SurePrep and Xiptax don't have to worry about finding staff here.