irs reports everything went up except refunds

tax professionals kept 59 percent of the e-filing segment.

when all the clicking and cursing was done, the irs had received more than 132.2 million individual tax returns this year, up 0.8 percent from 2014. as of april 17, it had processed 126.1 million of them, up 0.4 percent from last year and a rate of 95.4 percent for the season’s receipts.

related: tax preparation fees: the national averages [infographic] | irs form 3115: a sin and a travesty | accountants see solid business gains in 2015 | as market share slips away, accountants look beyond the 1040 | irs emerges as major tax season competitor read more →

tax pros do 59% of e-filing as season nears end

receipts, processing, refund numbers all down.

with only five days left in the tax season, the irs had received more than 110.7 million individual tax returns and processed 108 million of them. the april 10 data showed receipts down 1.8 percent from 2014 and processing down 2.1 percent. processing for 2015 continued in the same range, at 97.5 percent.

related: have fun this tax season! | tax preparation fees: the national averages [infographic] | irs form 3115: a sin and a travesty | how to get paid faster this tax season | accountants see solid business gains in 2015 | as market share slips away, accountants look beyond the 1040 | irs emerges as major tax season competitor | tax pros losing market share to self-filers read more →

busy season 2015: worse and worser

z tax 2015 better or worseafter a bad year for many practitioners, watch for the consolidation and shakeout to come.

by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

before busy season 2015 had even begun, tax professionals were worrying most about the new rules and regulations they’d be facing, among them, the affordable care act.

join the survey; get the results

indeed, so-called obamacare loomed largely over the 2015 season, but practitioners found bigger problems with form 3115, tougher competition and fee pressures. so much so, that a significant number of practitioners swore this tax season would be their last. and with merger season coming close on the heels of busy season, the profession should brace for a new wave of consolidation and shakeout, according to the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 analysis.

see comprehensive coverage of busy season 2015 read more →

e-filing by tax pros gains more ground

nearly 100 million individual returns have been filed.

with the tax season winding down, the irs had received more than 99 million individual tax returns as of april 3, down 0.8 percent from 2014. more than 97.9 percent of those had been processed – 97 million, down 1.2 percent from last year.

related: have fun this tax season! | tax preparation fees: the national averages [infographic] | irs form 3115: a sin and a travesty | how to get paid faster this tax season | accountants see solid business gains in 2015 | as market share slips away, accountants look beyond the 1040 | irs emerges as major tax season competitor | tax pros losing market share to self-filers read more →

survey results: latest comments on busy season 2015

the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometerclick to join the survey; see the results
the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer
click to join the survey; see the results

the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer 2015:
join the survey. get the results

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

as results pour in from the final days of the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer 2015, it’s clear that practitioners’ experiences range widely, from outright euphoria to bleak despair.

see comprehensive coverage of busy season 2015

here are a few the latest comments, verbatim…

  • better than last year. volume is up significantly and good smoothness of preparation svc and knowledge of clients.
  • we added a small tax practice in an adjoining town
  • i didn’t have any clients with obamacare non-compliance

read more →

busy season 2015: comprehensive coverage

in case you missed it… in this directory, 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 compiles complete coverage of the 2015 busy season. irs seeks more tools to fight refund fraud fy 2016 budget provisions would expand authority for regulation, correctable errors. workflow automation takes root in … continued

busy season 2015: top lessons learned so far

the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometerclick to join the survey; see the results
the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer
click to join the survey; see the results

doing the tax season math: regs + staff + clients + tech + self = busy x busy x busy

 by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

the key lessons learned from the 11th annual 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer study are coming into clear focus.

more:
busy season 2015
comprehensive coverage

a. blair east
east

a.b. east, at manning elliott in vancouver, bc, canada, for example, took a lesson in smart management. he says he learned “the importance of having the right complement of experienced staff to delegate to so i can reduce my hours and deliver to clients on timely basis.” next year east will continue a very healthy policy: “i have been and will continue to mentor managers, seniors and juniors to advance their expertise on a quicker basis.”

most of the issues practitioners faced this year fit into seven main categories. what’s especially interesting is that the solutions vary from common sense to plain impossibility.

  1. affordable care act
  2. irs regs and congressional cruelty
  3. better staff, more staff
  4. clients
  5. management
  6. technology
  7. interrelated problems

here’s a summary of our findings: read more →

busy season 2015: fixing the tax system

tax frustrationhow tax professionals would remake the tax code. 

imagine there’s no deductions,
it’s easy if you try.
no 8965, no1095-a,
above us, only sky.
imagine all the cpas,
living for today

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

there’s nothing like another tax season to prod accountants into imagining about ways to reform the nation’s tax system. in the this year’s 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer, some cpas have specific suggestions; others are calling on the profession to take a leadership role in the national conversation.

register your comments here: 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 2-minute survey: fix the tax system

卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 is polling the profession with a two-minute survey asking for specific recommendations for changing the code, the regs, the instructions and the forms – whatever it takes to make life easier for cpas and the american taxpayer. (the call was not to reduce or increase taxes, just to simplify them.)

the earliest responses call for a diverse set of approaches: read more →

busy season 2015: new lessons in time management

the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometerclick to join the survey; see the results
the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer
click to join the survey; see the results

lesson learned: plan, prioritize, repeat.

next question: key financial metrics for 2015 results.
join the survey; get the answers.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

they don’t call it “busy season” for nothing. it’s a frenetic, hectic, even hellish effort to herd client cats toward an unforgiving deadline.

when we ask 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 members what lessons they’re learning this year and what they plan to do about it next year, we hear a lot about time management. based on the survey, time management issues can be organized into eight main categories:

  1. disorganized offices,

    lisa toback cpa
    toback
  2. timing,
  3. staffing,
  4. scheduling,
  5. procrastination,
  6. poor planning,
  7. the need for time off and
  8. the desire to retire.

the solutions cpas will be implementing next year range from minor tweaks to complete overhauls, or even surrendering to retirement and calling it victory. read more →

tax pros cling to 57% of e-filing market

total individual returns received has topped 90 million.

the irs has received nearly 90.3 million individual tax returns as of march 27, down 0.6 percent from 2014. the processing rate remains nearly at pace, with nearly 88.3 million of returns processed – down 0.9 percent from last year but still running more than 97.8 percent complete.

related: have fun this tax season! | tax preparation fees: the national averages [infographic] | irs form 3115: a sin and a travesty | how to get paid faster this tax season | accountants see solid business gains in 2015 | as market share slips away, accountants look beyond the 1040 | irs emerges as major tax season competitor | tax pros losing market share to self-filers

read more →

busy season 2015: vexed by regs, cpas dismayed at congress

get a read on the busy season. join the survey; get the results
get a read on the busy season. join the survey; get the results

next question: what’s the best way to fix the tax system? register your comments here.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

the u.s. tax system has become so complex and dysfunctional that even professional tax practitioners are bitterly frustrated and angry – outrage that’s been boiling over in the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer.

this year accountants are talking about staff problems, client problems, overload problems and affordable care act problems. but the anger with new forms and regulations isn’t stopping there.

“all reason has gone out the door,” says a cpa in montrose, colo. “i have been preparing tax returns for over 35 years. there has never been a tax season like this one – and there will never be another one like it.”

read more →

here’s your new tax season marketing plan

arrow signs showing march through junenever too early to start planning for next year.

by ed mendlowitz
tax season opportunity guide

marketing takes many forms. further, many accountants are not trained in marketing. i also know that while most cpas want more business, they are too busy with what they have to be actively seeking new business. additionally, marketing can be external, internal or retentive.

more on tax season: when ‘quick and easy’ tax season research isn’t | 5 personal touches for tax season | consistency simplifies tax season | 11 clear client instructions to make your tax season easier | 3 ways to build a tax season team | have fun this tax season | how to get paid faster this tax season

external is where new clients are solicited. that takes effort, ingenuity, time and maybe even some money.

internal is where you sell additional services to existing clients. it takes little effort or time and no money – but some ingenuity.  read more →