Closed for Tax Season? Looks That Way

Ed Mendlowitz CPA The Practice Doctor Q and AAutomation can send the wrong message.

By Ed Mendlowitz
The CPA Trendlines Practice Doctor

QUESTION: I have an automatic email response and some clients and contacts criticized me for it. I am overloaded during tax season and this takes some pressure off of me. Here is the automatic email response I am sending out:

THANK YOU for your e-mail. Please accept my apology for this automated response. During tax season, most of my work days are scheduled with appointments and calls. I most always reply to emails and phone calls as soon as I can, usually the same day. Replies are slower during the months of February, March and April. Thank you for your patience.

ANSWER: That’s terrible!

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You are running a business and tax season is just one part of it although concentrated into a highly intensive, pressure-filled period.

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E-filing by Tax Pros Slows for Third Straight Week

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

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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 →