tax

when ‘quick and easy’ tax season research isn’t

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businessman is dialing phone for advicefour reasons not to let one question stop a tax return in its tracks.

by ed mendlowitz
tax season opportunity guide

i keep a few of the one-volume tax guides in my office so i could look up a quick answer when i need to. recently a golf buddy emailed me a question that i thought i could answer quickly. he wanted to know that if he was in the “zero” percent capital gains tax bracket, did that apply to an unlimited amount of capital gains? sounds like a simple question.

more on tax season: 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

well i looked it up online and then in three one-volume tax guides. only one source had thorough coverage of the issue. i ended up spending an hour on this “simple” question including my emailed response. nothing is simple anymore.  read more →

e-filing by tax pros slows for third straight week

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after a fast start at the beginning of the season, the pace of e-filing by tax professionals continues to brake, compared with the same time last year. but the number of do-it-yourselfers is growing briskly.

irs statistics for week ending march 6, 2015

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

tax professionals e-filed over 33.4 million returns through march 6, 2015, down 4 percent from the over 34.8 million returns e-filed by the same time in 2014. read more →

5 personal touches for tax season

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businessman talking on phone in the officeone is a can’t-skip.

by ed mendlowitz
tax season opportunity guide

occasionally accountants lose touch with their clients, especially during tax season. part of this is because of the crush of work, which is compressed into a pretty short period. we sometimes lose sight that we are working on something the clients consider one of the most important things in their lives at that moment.

read more →

irs defanged by 20 years of budget cuts

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irs criminal prosecutions over the past 20 years / trac

prosecutions down 16 percent in 2014.

budget cuts are clearly undermining  the nation’s ability to collect tax revenue and enforce tax laws, widening already gaping budget holes, 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 data show.

for instance, tax prosecutions, which peaked during the early clinton administration, bottomed during the bush administration. read more →

tax season urgency: it’s a bad thing

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six ways to eliminate stress and potential mistakes. by ed mendlowitz tax season opportunity guide urgency creates stress and pressure and leads to mistakes and improper perceptions of the quality of the work. planning and execution reduce urgency. one way … continued

three amazing cpas who want to do tax returns for free

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creating awesome value to become the go-to business strategist.

by hitendra patil
pransform inc.

as part of my role in calling on cpa firms, i meet with as many as a hundred in a month. but three of them absolutely blew me away. let me tell you why.

they all share one common factor in their thinking, which is creating awesome value for their clients. all of them provide the same standard services to their clients that an accounting and tax firm would. what happens beyond those standard services is what separates them from the rest of the world. and they use a simple trick to create awesome value. read more →

tax pro e-filing is holding steady

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the irs has processed more than 97 percent of returns received.

tax professionals e-filed over 23.7 million returns through feb. 20, 2015, down 3.9 percent from the nearly 24.7 million returns e-filed by the same time in 2014.

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 →

consistency simplifies tax season

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man talking to woman with checklistapply it to service, processes and standards.

by ed mendlowitz
tax season opportunity guide

one way to guarantee extra work is to have everything always done differently each time it is done.

more on 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

not establishing uniform procedures is bad business and unnecessarily consumes part of your life. consistency in performance reduces work and review time and creates a greater reliance on the staff people. read more →

identity theft: clients wonder if they can trust their accountants

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click for infographic
click for infographic

the do’s and don’ts clients should hear from you first.

by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

americans were already afraid of identity thefts involving big companies like target, sony and anthem blue cross.

now the fear and distrust is starting to infect tax and accounting firms.

taxpayers using professional tax preparers are increasingly worrying about the security of their personal financial information, up 6 percentage points from last year, according to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 sources.

six percentage points may not sound like much, but when it’s a 40% growth rate. at that pace, if unchecked, next year 29% of clients would need reassurances.

the big data breaches are already legion — target, sony, anthem blue cross. but when taxpayers start to suspect the security at cpa firms and professional tax preparation companies, the profession has a problem. and it’s a fundamental and growing problem.

read more →

3 ways to build a tax season team

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happy multi-ethnic business team with thumbs up in the officeit’s a long season. make it a happy one.

by ed mendlowitz
tax season opportunity guide

if you have staff, have happy cheerful helpful people. don’t surround yourself with downers and naysayers.

also have team players. part of this is your firm’s culture. it takes work to get people to work together and to focus on doing what it takes to service the client fully, properly and timely.  everyone working together gets it done.

read more →