tax practice

11 tax client questions for year-round billings

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question markshow to identify post-busy season projects.

by blake christian

while most cpas and staff are in survival mode during busy season, the weeks following tax day offer excellent opportunities for cpas to identify challenges and opportunities, and begin inventorying projects to complete now that the rush has ended.

more tax practice: a lesson in basis taught to us by almond trees  |  how to end the tax revenue roller coaster with a four-season practice model  |  five ways to protect clients from ‘the sleazy six’ tax season scams  |  tax season productivity hacks  |   how to sell bundled tax services  |  46 avoidable tax-filing errors – if clients only knew  |  21 reasons why tax clients switch firms  |

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this time of year generally presents more opportunities to talk directly with your clients—either in person or on the phone—to discuss their business and personal financial matters. reviewing their source documents also provides numerous ways to identify work that they’ll need your help with in the coming year.

when you meet with clients in the weeks after busy season, it can be helpful to develop a short agenda of topics to cover. these can include not only industry and technical issues, but also longer-term operational and personal issues. here is a sampling of questions to consider asking clients—especially those for which you don’t produce monthly financial statements—when you meet with them in the period immediately following busy season.

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four common errors in form 1098-t

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form 1098-t tuition statement

the minefields in tuition statements.

by dennis p. benvie ms, cpa
surgent professional education

errors associated with educational credits, specifically for form 1098-t, can be easily misinterpreted.

eligible educational institutions often file form 1098-t to report either the aggregate amount of payments received (box 1) for qualified tuition and related expenses or the aggregate amount billed (box 2) for such tuition and expenses. should you receive this form, here are four common errors to watch for, and how to interpret them.

benvie

1) educational credits are based on the amount of adjusted qualified education expenses paid for the student in 2016 for academic periods beginning in 2016 or beginning in the first 3 months of 2017. an issue occurs when the costs for early 2016 tuition were billed in 2015, and the educational institution utilizes box 2 of form 1098-t.example: in january 2016, alex pays $6,000 for his final semester of classes. the university alex attends actually billed the tuition payment in december 2015. in may 2016, alex pays certain qualifying expenses amounting to $200. alex receives form 1098-t for 2016. box 1 is blank, and box 2 includes $200.

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five ways to protect clients from ‘the sleazy six’ tax season scams

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click to join the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 tax season survey. get the real-time trends, and benchmarks.
click to the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 tax season survey. get the real-time trends, and benchmarks.

let clients know you’re on their side. 

tax season 2017: what’s working. what’s not
join the conversation. get the answers.

by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

internal revenue service workers may be chronically understaffed, but they’re not stupid. they’ve been in the tax collection business since the civil war, and the irs has been harvesting income tax since 1913. it has processed billions of tax returns, and it knows the tricks that taxpayers often try. it also knows the tricks that wanna-be cheats use to exploit the tax system, effectively robbing the honest people who pay what they owe.

for the last three years, the irs has given a name to the most common schemes to swindle either taxpayers or the nation’s treasury. it calls them “the dirty dozen.” this year, half the dozen are scams by third parties that attempt to rip off taxpayers. the other half are taxpayer attempts to effectively rip off their government.

more on tax season:  five-point action plan for turning tax scam threats into new opportunities  |  taxes: beyond income to gas and more   |   readers sound off: what tax season decline?  |  overhyping ibm’s watson is dangerous  |  average tax refund by state   |  irms face staff turnover tsunami  |

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sleazy tax tactics don’t do a practicing accountant any good. the slime taints the tax pro, and the pro may be put in the very uncomfortable position of having to defend the taxpayer before an irs agent. this is not the light tax preparers look for at the end of the busy season tunnel. they’re thinking “bahamas,” not “irs office.”

clients who know about the dirty half-dozen will be disinclined to try a trick the irs is expecting. sharing the list will go far to ward off problems. read more →

five-point action plan for turning tax scam threats into new opportunities

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click here to learn how to get the benchmarks

how to advise clients of the irs ‘dirty dozen’ fraud schemes.

tax season tracking poll:
join the survey. get the results

by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

for the third year in a row, the internal revenue service is listing the “dirty dozen” scams that can land taxpayers in the hands of crooks… or in jail.

more on tax season: liberty tax earnings down 48%  |  global tax talent shortage mounting into ‘perfect storm’  |  h&r block lagging behind last year  |  tax pro e-filing down 10%  |  successful tax seasons require teamwork  |  8 considerations with new clients  |  11 ways to get more tax clients  |  mandatory saturdays stir controversy  |  10 quick and easy tips for a better busy season  |  mandatory saturdays stir controversy|  10 quick and easy tips for a better busy season

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tax professionals are well-aware of the risks, with almost half in some of our tracking polls reporting “security, privacy and identity theft issues” as one of their chief concerns this year. in fact, savvy tax professionals are proactively advising clients about these common scams.

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liberty tax earnings down 48%. founder hewitt wants out.

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hewitt

liberty tax inc. reports results for the third quarter ended jan. 31

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

liberty tax, the chain of almost 4,000 tax prep offices, is suffering from a variety of problems, both internal and external, according to founder and ceo john hewitt.

“the 2017 tax season marks another period of change for the industry as filing patterns continue to shift later into the season,” says hewitt in a statement. “the whole industry has been slow, but we are clearly not satisfied with how we have performed in comparison to the market. there is still a lot of season in front of us and we are focused on delivering a strong second half and on implementing the appropriate changes to be successful in an evolving landscape.”

through feb. 28, the company said it had prepared 915,000 u.s. tax returns, as compared to 1,094,000 u.s. tax returns prepared in the comparable prior year period, representing a decline of 16.4%. the company operated 3,823 offices in the u.s. in fiscal 2017, down from 4,225 offices in 2016.  the decrease represents a decline of 250 permanent office locations, as well as a reduction of 152 seasonal and processing center locations, some stemming from compliance problems.

hewitt surprised listeners on the company’s quarterly earnings conference call by saying he’s looking to turn over the reins. “it’s time i have a backup in the company,” he said.

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analysis: global tax talent shortage mounting into ‘perfect storm’

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click read more>>> to download full pdf

good for talent; tough for employers: retirements, turnover, and outsourcing.

by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

“change is coming to the tax profession potentially as a ‘perfect storm’ in 2017,” according to some leading executive recruiters, explaining the upcoming tax reform is still unknown but will likely result in tax professionals needing to quickly change and adapt to new rules and regulations.

more careers & hiring: accountants without borders: tight talent pool drives salary increases nationwide  |  how to create a talent management strategy |  survey findings: talent wars, m&a frenzy continue  |  why job descriptions matter  |  how to develop home-grown future leaders  |  new staffing strategies for the next-generation accounting firm

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“additionally,” they say, “u.s. corporate tax departments will potentially explore outsourcing arrangements. citing the arrangement between pwc and ge, they ask, “is this a one-off situation or a transformational trend?” in the pwc/ge deal, ge hived off its tax department to pwc, which then assumed the ge tax department’s activities as an outsourcing engagement.

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h&r block lagging behind last year

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h&r block

down 7% so far this tax season. market share up.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

h&r block reports that its pace of filing is down from the year-ago period, but not as much as the rest of the industry.

more tax season data: pro e-filing own 10%  |  tax refunds up slightly | tax filings data looking less squirrely | tax return filings still lag, but pros hold 57% of market | tax filings down, but irs blames the calendar

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h&r block return volume outperformed industry results when compared to irs data reported through february 24. market share gains were realized in both the assisted and diy categories. in the assisted category, h&r block outperformed the industry with a decline of 8% compared to the irs reported decline of 13%. in the diy category, h&r block outperformed the industry with a decline of 5% compared to the irs reported decline of 8%. while overall industry and company volume is expected to improve during the second half of the tax season, company performance relative to the industry is expected to moderate given the conclusion of its free federal 1040ez and refund advance promotions on february 28.

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new poll: why small business owners need tax professionals

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what clients don’t know they don’t know.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

no wonder small business owners need accountants. many don’t understand the deductions they’re entitled to. most don’t use bookkeeping software. and too many are still keeping paper receipts by the shoebox-load.

more on tax season: security and id theft emerge as top tax season worry  |  successful tax seasons require teamwork  |  8 considerations with new clients  |  irs budget: penny-wise, pound-foolish  |  11 ways to get more tax clients  |  irs taxpayer advocate questions preparation of tax preparers  |  watchdog warns of dubious irs plans   |  tax season productivity hacks  |  letting staff go after tax season  |  how to sell bundled tax services

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after surveying more than small business owners, manta, the small-business directory, asserts small business owners “are on top of their tax games.” but we know a few accountants who would beg to differ.

manta’s survey found only 61% of small business owners understand the deductions available to them as business owners. luckily about the same number, 62%, use a cpa to file taxes. still, 21% track of expenses with paper receipts, making filing a pain.

more highlights:

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survey results: security and id theft emerge as top tax season worry

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even as irs sees declines.

by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season survey is turning up a disturbing finding, one that looks like it’s only going to get worse.  join the survey. get the answers

late and unprepared clients scored high, indicated by 41.6 percent of respondents. staffing issues, at 34 percent, was right up there, too. but the most common concern was security, privacy, and identity theft, checked off by 46.2 percent.

more on busy season: tax refunds up slightly   |   irs budget: penny-wise, pound-foolish   |   irs taxpayer advocate questions preparation of tax preparers   |   future state or future shock? irs watchdog warns of dubious irs plans   |

join the survey. get the results
join the survey. get the results.

tax season productivity hacks   |   tax filings data looking less squirrely   |   letting staff go after tax season   |  how to sell bundled tax services   |   survey results: who’s afraid of busy season 2017?   |   a little tax humor   |   tax return filings still lag, but pros hold 57% of market   |   checklist: 46 avoidable tax-filing errors – if clients only knew   |   survey results: practitioners bullish on busy season 2017   |   free instant download: sample fee schedule for 1040s   |   tax filings down, but irs blames the calendar   |   busy season 2017 gets off to strong start   |  2017 fee survey: price for non-itemized 1040s advances 6% to $176    |   the annual tax meeting is dead. clients killed it.   |   mandatory saturdays stir controversy 

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it isn’t often that one category of concern reaches the mid-40s. in 2016, “clients late or unprepared” is the only one that’s consistently up there, ranging from a low of 47.3 in 2016 to 59.3 percent in 2010. but generally, the numbers for that category have been improving.

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irs budget: penny-wise, pound-foolish

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irs funding in decline. ($ billions, inflation adjusted)

tax professionals feel the pain.

by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

people don’t often have much nice to say about the internal revenue service. but everybody seems to like what internal revenues pay for—the powerful military, the court system, the interstate highways, air travel safety, the control of disease, the prevention of pollution, national parks, health benefits for elected officials, and so much more.

without taxes, we don’t have a great country. we don’t even have civilization. and without the irs, we don’t have taxes.

despite the crucial importance of the irs, congress has reduced the service’s budget to the point where lost revenues may exceed (if they aren’t already) cost savings. and the problem can only get worse, professionals say, with a 14-percent budget cut next year, as reportedly planned by the white house. read more →

irs taxpayer advocate questions preparation of tax preparers

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three big issues: code, cooperation, competence.

table shows reduction in irs geographic presence and employees since 2011.

 

by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

national taxpayer advocate nina olson, who heads the taxpayer advocate service, is citing three broad areas that congress should deal with if it hopes to avoid revenue catastrophe at the internal revenue service.

related: future state or future shock? irs watchdog warns of dubious irs plans

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the three main issues are: read more →