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BUSY SEASON MANAGEMENT

2 Ways the EITC Error Rate Is High

Line graph
Source: National Taxpayer Advocate Annual Report to Congress 2018 [click for larger image]
And 6 contributing factors.

By CPA Trendlines Research

The Earned Income Tax Credit is considered one of the most efficient federal programs for sustaining people with inadequate income. Part of the EITC’s efficiency results from the lack of an intermediary checking the qualifications of those who receive it.

MORE: Who’d Like a Friend in the IRS? | Hello, IRS? Anybody Home? | Tax Season 2019 Serves Up a Taste of the Future | The Demise of Schedule A? | Tax Refund Fury Roils Busy Season
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The tax return itself is the application for EITC. There is no other process, no pre-return vetting, no social workers. The closest thing to an intermediary is the tax preparer who makes sure the correct income is reported and the correct forms filled out.
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SURVEYS & RESEARCH

SIX-MINUTE SURVEY: Top Business Strategies for After Busy Season

After Busy Season, which STRATEGIC ACTIVITY will be your TOP PRIORITY?

Check one to launch the survey and get the results.

b. Focus on marketing and getting new business

c. Learning from Busy Season ’19

d. Investing in new technology

e. Adding, cutting, or upgrading staff

f. Adjusting pricing strategies & billing rates

g. Changing jobs or getting a promotion

h. Fire some clients

i. Other

Yes, the survey should take only six minutes. (We timed it.)
And you’ll be the first to get the special topline executive summary, just for participating. As always, confidentiality assured.
CHECKLIST

The Five Rules of Smart Tech

How the best managing partners stay on top of technology.

By Marc Rosenberg
Quantum of Paperless: The Partner’s Guide to Accounting Firm Optimization

The duties of managing partners encompass a long list of critically important management functions. Certainly, one of these is to ensure that technology has an optimal impact on the firm’s success, profitability, and efficiency.

More Quantum of Paperless: Firms Need ‘Best Practices’ Manuals  |  Optimize Scanning Procedures  |  Why a Digital Tax Workflow System is Vital  | How Long Do You Need That File?  |  Don’t Underestimate Document Management  | Digital Communications Unify Messaging  | Hotspots the Answer for Field Access  | Check Your Bandwidth  | Remote Access Requires Planning  | Proactively Manage Application Updates  |

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This can be quite challenging because, unlike most managing partner duties, managing the technology function is a highly technical skill that most managing partners don’t have. So, they need to be smart. They need to know what they don’t know and rely on experts, both inside and outside of the firm, to guide them.

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BUSY SEASON MANAGEMENT

Is the IRS about to Get Beefed Up?

TODAY’S BONUS QUESTION: Lessons from Tax Season to apply to 2020?

Trump proposes 5% boost to the IRS budget, reversing years of cutbacks and declines.

BUSY SEASON BAROMETER
TODAY’S BONUS QUESTION: What are firms learning from Tax Season 2019, that they’ll apply in 2020?
Join the Survey. Get the Results.

By CPA Trendlines Research

After many years of increasing austerity—and some would say crippling austerity—the IRS may have bottomed out. Despite broad cuts proposed in the overall 2020 federal budget, President Trump has included an additional $362 million—a five percent increase—for the agency that gathers the funds that keep the United States in business.

MORE BUSY SEASON: Tax Season Funnies: April Fool Is When?  |  Wanna Change the Tax World?   |  How the IRS Hides Its Legal Decisions  |  Tax Season 2019 Serves Up a Taste of the Future  |  The Biggest Reason Fraudsters Run Rings around the IRS  |  The IRS Free-File Flop  |  Protect Your Clients’ Assets  |  The Demise of Schedule A?  |  Tammy’s Tale of Tax Season Tardiness  |  How Effective Project Management Makes Your Life Easier  |  Survey: Busy Season Goes Sour   |  When Clients Cash Out: Four Smart Financial Moves

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If Congress approves the budget as proposed (and that’s bound to be an exciting story), the IRS can begin—just begin—to recover some of what has lost over the last decade or so.

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POLITICS & GOVERNMENT

Who’d Like a Friend in the IRS?

Four recommendations for Congress.

By CPA Trendlines Research

Do you dare dream the impossible dream? Try dreaming this one: You call the IRS.

MORE: Hello, IRS? Anybody Home? | Wanna Change The Tax World? | Tax Season 2019 Serves Up a Taste of the Future | The Big Free-File Flop | The Demise of Schedule A? | Survey: Busy Season Goes Sour | Lessons Learned: How the Federal Shutdown Hit Busy Season 2019 | Tax Refund Fury Roils Busy Season
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On the second ring, an operator answers. You tell him you’re a tax preparer. He hears your question and immediately passes your call to the right person in the right department.
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