TAX SEASON

10 Tips to the IRS for Beefing Up Staff

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Two businesswomen meeting in an office

Guess who has the federal government’s worst retention rate for employees under 40?

By CPA Trendlines Research

If you think it’s hard staffing a CPA firm, imagine the challenges at the Internal Revenue Service where

  • the pay’s not so good
  • laws limit bonuses
  • it takes three months to hire an applicant
  • federal bureaucracy gums up the process
  • the hiring process uses antiquated technology
  • only a remote office can authorize many hires

MORE: Eight Ways the IRS Can Speed Up Processing Tax Returns | IRS Plays Whac-A-Mole with the Phones | VCs Plunk $60 Million into AI-Powered ‘Autonomous’ Tax Prep | How Tax Practitioners Became Cybersecurity Risks
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  • the recruitment and retention budgets are austere
  • training programs, spaces and equipment are inadequate
  • more than 100 full-time positions need to be filled every day
  • over half of employees will be eligible to retire within five years

The Taxpayer Advocacy Service says the IRS needs to deal with these problems, and it’s going to take money, effort, technology and legislation to get it done.
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Eight Ways the IRS Can Speed Up Processing Tax Returns

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Businesswoman with headache at laptop

Some of the fixes will require software updates, but some are simpler.

By CPA Trendlines Research

National Taxpayer Advocate Erin M. Collins has determined that delays in the processing of tax returns is one of the most serious problems at the Internal Revenue Service.

Millions of Americans couldn’t agree more.

MORE: IRS Plays Whac-A-Mole with the Phones | Ten IRS Problems That Need Solutions | Treasury IG Sees Progress at IRS | VCs Plunk $60 Million into AI-Powered ‘Autonomous’ Tax Prep | Tax Pros Are Expanding and Earning More | With Fresh Funding, IRS Shows Service Improvements | How Tax Practitioners Became Cybersecurity Risks | Top Tax Vendors Caught Red-Handed Selling Private Taxpayer Data
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Collins’s 2023 report to Congress is more than a detailed kvetch. It’s also a buffet of solutions – some that the IRS could effect, some that Congress needs to legislate.

She offers several solutions to the problems with processing. Here are the main processing problems and their solutions:
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IRS Plays Whac-A-Mole with the Phones

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frazzled woman yelling at two phone receivers

What, just moving the resources around doesn’t work?

By CPA Trendlines Research

The Internal Revenue Service did a dismal job of answering phone calls in 2021, struggling to pick up the toll-free 1040 phone 11 percent of the time it rang. A year later, that number leaped to a still-dismal 29 percent.

MORE: Ten IRS Problems That Need Solutions | Treasury IG Sees Progress at IRS | VCs Plunk $60 Million into AI-Powered ‘Autonomous’ Tax Prep | Tax Pros Are Expanding and Earning More | With Fresh Funding, IRS Shows Service Improvements | How Tax Practitioners Became Cybersecurity Risks
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So Janet Yellen did what any Treasury Secretary would do: she gave the IRS a swift kick in the 1040 and committed the Service to answering at least 85 percent of calls in 2023 and cutting wait times in half.

And the IRS’s customer service representatives did it! Yay, right?
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Ten IRS Problems That Need Solutions

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unhappy man waiting on phone in office

How good is better than terrible?

By CPA Trendlines Research

Every year, America’s National Taxpayer Advocate – in recent years it’s been Erin M. Collins – presents an Annual Report to Congress. The report identifies successes and failures of and recommendations for the Internal Revenue Service.

MORE: Treasury IG Sees Progress at IRS | VCs Plunk $60 Million into AI-Powered ‘Autonomous’ Tax Prep | Tax Pros Are Expanding and Earning More | With Fresh Funding, IRS Shows Service Improvements | How Tax Practitioners Became Cybersecurity Risks | Top Tax Vendors Caught Red-Handed Selling Private Taxpayer Data
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This year’s report praises the IRS for its progress since the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it finds plenty of room for improvement.

“The year 2023 was one of extraordinary transition for the IRS and therefore for taxpayers,” Collins writes. “Despair has turned to cautious optimism.”
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Help Your Tax Clients, Help Yourself

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Beware the opportunity graveyard.

By Ed Mendlowitz
Tax Season Opportunity Guide

Many opportunities only come along once. The way to be successful is to not let them pass by without acting on them or taking advantage of them.

MORE ON TAX SEASON: What’s Your Value to Your Tax Clients? | Are You Excited About Tax Season?
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Spotting opportunities is quite easy if you are looking for them – and extremely difficult if you don’t have a clue of client needs or wants.
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Get Clients to Understand Firm Processes … or Say Goodbye

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woman in a business suit waving a red flag

With just a little advanced marketing, you can get paid year-round AND have more satisfied clients.

By Frank Stitely
The Relentless CPA

When I’m frustrated, here’s how I explain the importance to clients of letting us work our process:

“When you get your car repaired, you don’t look over the mechanic’s shoulder and tell him which wrench to use. The same principle applies to us. If you knew the best ways to prepare tax returns, you should become our competitor.”

MORE: Train Now Before It Costs You Down the Road | Keep Clients from “Balance Due” Shock | It’s OK to Say No to Clients (Even the Large Ones) | You Train Your Clients, Whether You Mean To or Not | Business Owners Face One of Three Exits | How Small Firms Can Win the Talent Wars | Do You Know Your Turnaround Time?
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Let’s be perfectly honest with each other.

There’s a reason you aren’t actively training clients to allow you to work efficiently. You’re afraid that you’ll lose clients.

I guarantee that you will.
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Reader to IRS: Stop Whining and Get to Work

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frustrated woman typing on laptop

An accountant has had enough of broken promises.

EDITOR’S NOTE: A reader shared with us an open letter sent to the IRS. We removed some capitalization, bold/italic type and extra punctuation, but every word is just as written.

Open letter via priority mail; delivery signature required

The Honorable Daniel Werfel, Commissioner
Internal Revenue Service
1111 Constitution Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20224

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RE: AICPA presentation 11-14-23. Please stop complaining about budgets. Focus on setting priorities, allocating resources, Taxpayer Bill of Rights and the strategic operating plan like the rest of us out here; stop whining and just do your job.
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