Five great tips for tax season from Charles McCabe, founder and CEO of Peoples Income Tax.
“The main differences I see for the 2009 tax season will be driven by the economic crisis. The presidential elections will likely have more impact for the 2010 tax season, although awareness of tax issues will certainly be heightened when the new president is elected and changes in the tax laws can be anticipated,” says McCabe. Peoples Income Tax operates multiple tax offices in central Virginia and licenses income tax school systems and tax practice management manuals to independent tax firms nationwide.
“Taxpayers will be seeking ways to cut expenses, and some who are capable will prepare their own tax returns, especially if they’re unemployed. Economic conditions, however, could also drive more taxpayers to tax professionals to seek to reduce tax liabilities. The increase in unemployment will be a positive factor for tax firms seeking to hire additional tax preparers and/or upgrade the caliber of their staffs. The same trends of the past few years will continue and intensify,” he adds, “such as greater competition, and increased IRS pressure on tax preparers to conduct due diligence and movement toward national regulation of tax preparers. Tax firms may also be able to get better deals on media advertising due to cut backs on marketing by businesses. I expect 2009 to be a good tax season with moderate growth.”
McCabe’s best tips:
- Developing a tax office policy and procedure manual is important for tax firms that employ more than a couple of people and essential to operating more than one office effectively. Employees need standard answers to scores of questions such as how the telephones should be answered, client problems resolved, returns priced, prepared, checked, processed, and e-filed, IRS Due Diligence requirements met, payments and bank deposits handled, daily results reported, and preparers paid.
- The schedule of charges and/or hourly rates should be reviewed and changes made prior to training tax preparers. A national tax preparer price survey might be obtained by becoming a member of a professional association such as the National Association of Tax Professionals (natptax.com).
- Take inventory of all existing equipment and supplies to determine shortages and avoid ordering excess items. For printed supplies, it might be cost-effective to order a supply for two years.
- A tax season marketing budget should be determined and a plan should be completely formulated four to six weeks prior to the season. The marketing plan should consider the following: advertising, including electronic and print media, direct mail, directory, and Internet pay-per-click; public relations, including news releases, writing articles, speaking engagements, radio and TV appearances and community service; sales, which includes networking, seminars, cold calling and telemarketing; promotions such as grand openings, group tax programs and client referral programs; and local Internet marketing including search engine optimization, link building, article marketing, and others.
- Organizers should be mailed or e-mailed by mid-December to clients with more complex returns. A January client newsletter should be produced with tax tips and articles, as well as information about services offered, features and benefits, guarantee, locations, hours, your Web site, and other details. Call prior clients before the dates they were in last year to schedule appointments. Letters or postcards should be sent to prior clients of any offices that are being relocated, and procedures should be developed to obtain client e-mail addresses. The firm’s Web site should include resources such as tax calculators and links to IRS sites.
Via WebCPA.
