questions for after tax season

eleven ideas that warrant following up.

by ed mendlowitz
how to build a stronger tax practice

many times we have important preliminary discussions when we obtain a client’s tax information.

more on marketing: help heirs with tax issues | seven questions to suggest estate planning | 28 data points for a financial planning discussion | every client can use financial planning | four reasons to perform tax projections | four additional services to suggest
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

skilled interviewing, or effective follow-up techniques, can make these into an additional engagement.

this should follow a typical pattern of making note of client needs when you prepare their tax return. after tax season there should be a systematic follow-up with a phone call suggesting that they might need additional services in this area, and why, followed by a brief fact sheet being mailed to the client.

following are some general financial planning questions you can ask tax clients that relate directly to taxes. getting their responses can lead you to reasons the client would need additional services.

have you considered certain tax-deferred retirement plans to shelter part-time business income?
did you know you can deduct the full market value of appreciated securities donated to charity without paying taxes on the appreciation?
did you know you should account for future taxes when transferring shares in a family business as part of a divorce settlement?
did you know you can get a full deduction for donated art, if it is done in a particular manner?
have you considered having shares of stock in your employer’s company that are held in your 401(k) plan distributed directly to you when you terminate your employment, rather than rolled over to an ira?
did you know you can minimize your capital gains taxes by choosing the most favorable method of calculating your profits when you sell shares of stock or mutual funds?
have you considered whether you should convert a regular ira to a roth ira?
do you know how to harvest your losses on some holdings so you can diversify your portfolio?
did you know you can borrow against your concentrated portfolio to get the funds for diversifying?
did you know a charitable remainder trust can be used to diversify your portfolio?
have you considered exchange-traded or index funds as an effective means of diversifying your portfolio?

posted on may 31, 2023

edward mendlowitz

about the author

buy now | learn more

edward mendlowitz, cpa, abv, pfs, is a partner at withum, a forward-thinking, technology-driven advisory, and accounting firm. ed has over 40 years of public accounting experience, is recognized as one of the top 100 most influential people in accounting by accounting today, and is the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 "practice doctor." his latest handbook for 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 is 77 ways to wow! the handbook for small-business advisory services.

ed is also the author of "memoirs of a cpa," available at amazon.

buy now | learn more

"memoirs" tells his story as a cpa and provides an inside look at what cpas do and how they run their accounting "business." cpas must serve clients effectively and exceptionally, recruit, train, retain and grow staff, and charge fees that clients happily pay because of the value they receive while the cpa earns a living, funds a retirement account, grows infrastructure, and perhaps makes a profit. this book tells how he did all of this and much more.

more ed mendlowitz in the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 store:

he is a licensed, certified public accountant in the states of new jersey and new york and is accredited by the american institute of certified public accountants (aicpa) in business valuation (abv), certified in financial forensics (cff) and as a personal financial specialist (pfs). ed is also admitted to practice before the united states tax court and has testified as an expert witness in federal and state court regarding business valuations, and twice at the house ways and means committee on tax reform, fairness, and reduction. a city college of new york graduate, ed earned his bachelor of business administration degree.

he is a member of the aicpa, the new jersey society of certified public accountants (njscpa) and the new york state society of certified public accountants (nysscpa). in addition, ed was a founding partner of mendlowitz weitsen, llp, cpas, which merged with withum in 2005. currently, he serves on the nysscpa estate planning committee and was chairman of the committee that planned the nysscpa’s 100th anniversary. ed, the author of 19 books, has also written hundreds of articles for business and professional journals and newsletters.

he is the contributing editor to the practitioners publishing company’s 706/709 deskbook, the aicpa’s management of an accounting practice handbook, corporate controller’s handbook and wiley’s handbook on budgeting and is on the editorial board of bottom line/personal newsletter and the journal of accountancy member panel on business valuation. appearing regularly on television news programs, ed has also been quoted in numerous major newspapers and periodicals in the united states. he received the lawler award for the best article published in 2001 in the journal of accountancy.

ed frequently speaks to many professional and business groups, including the aicpa, njscpa, nysscpa, american management association, the national committee for monetary reform, the university of medicine and dentistry in n.j., and many more. for 11 years, he taught courses on financial analysis, corporate financial policy and theory, monetary and fiscal policy, and managerial accounting in the mba program at fairleigh dickinson university.

click here for more by edward mendlowitz