question: your book recommends having the preparer fix all errors. however, this is not always possible and our main concern is to get the returns out, so we usually have the reviewer make the changes, except if it looks like there will be extensive changes. isn’t this the way we should do it?
response: i receive the most comments about this issue, so i usually spend a lot of time rethinking this.
question: what do you think is the key to a successful tax season? response: there are many things needed for a successful tax season, but training and supervision are at the top of the list. this is being written in … continued
by ed mendlowitz
when you perform additional services on a tax return that you will be charging for, list it as a separate item along with the fee for that service. this way the client will know that something extra was done and the charge.
12 easy traps to fall into.
by ed mendlowitz
practice management answers
question: it is tax season and i am inundated with work. do you think it is proper to tell regular clients that i will deal with their problems after april 15? read more →
it’s better than last week’s 704,000-return deficit.
but irs data shows the professional tax preparer industry is still running behind year-ago rates, with 48.8 million returns e-filed in the latest week, compared to 49.2 million in the year-ago period. read more →
by ed mendlowitz
top 101 practice management answers
question: it is tax season and i am very busy, but many clients need financial planning advice and i want to make it a separate engagement for after tax season. what can i do now to get the work? read more →
do the math: pro market shrinks by 2 points.
the nation’s tax professionals have e-filed fewer than 44 million returns through march 21, off 1.3% or 571,000 returns, from the same point past year, while self-filers are running 5.9% ahead of last year, having transmitted 31.7 million returns.
do the math and you’ll find professionals’ 60% share of the e-filing market last year has slipped to about 58% – a seemingly small amount that, nevertheless, translates into hundreds of thousands of returns and millions in lost revenues. it’s a trend that shows no sign of slowing or reversing, according to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 analysis.
item 5: brace for new work.
by hitendra patil
pransform inc.
you may need to start asking your clients about bitcoin. new irs guidance treats bitcoins and other crypto-currencies not as money, but as property, for tax purposes and applies immediately to all returns. see the full text of notice 2014-21 (pdf).
among other things, the irs advised that:
is it part of a trend?
what’s the future of the tax business?
click here to join the survey; get the results
the irs says it has received more than 75 million individual tax returns as of march 14 and projects that it will receive about 149 million individual income tax returns by the end of the year.
see also:
is it an opportunity for tax professionals or a “scam on the public?”
in irs emerges as major tax season competitor, rick telberg’s suggestion that the irs is stealing business from tax professionals by offering clients free software apps is setting off a flood of comments. join the pro member conversation. read more →
irs marketing to 100 million taxpayers for free filing.
by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间
if you’re wondering where some of your tax business went this year, maybe the irs took it.
professional tax preparers are missing about 769,000 returns, compared to last year – business that appears to have gone to former or would-be clients now using do-it-yourself software. at typical rates, that’s about $153 million in lost fee income to the industry, enough to support thousands of practitioners, according to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 estimates.
accountants scramble as competition surges for bread-and-butter tax work.
join the survey; get the results.
by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间
pricing and fee pressures are surging as the hot-button issues this tax season, according to the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer.
to be sure, late or unprepared clients remain the single biggest issue, with 48% of more than 500 practitioners surveyed in february citing it, followed by tardy 1099s and k1s at 35%. those metrics are little changed from last february.
but this year, 31% of practitioners are complaining about pricing and fee pressures, which is triple the year-ago 10% figure.
related research
is the tax prep business topping out? the number of filings by tax professionals appears to have slowed or even reversed.
tax season metrics shift for the better: key indicators point to a better 2014 than 2013.
practitioners plot fee-pressure countermeasures: competitors vie for clients on price and promises.
competitors vie for clients on price and promises…