TAX RESOLUTION SERVICES

Offers in Compromise Aren’t for Everyone

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How much can the client pay?

By Eric L. Green
Tax Rep Network

No IRS program is more interesting yet misunderstood than the IRS’s offer in compromise program. For taxpayers who owe money to the IRS, between 15 million and 20 million of them, the thought that they can settle their back tax debt for less than the amount owed is an answer to many of their prayers.

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Many people have seen the late-night television ads or heard the satellite radio spots: the taxpayer, who seems just like them, owed huge sums of money to the IRS and was being abused by the callous tax machine when the advertising company came to the rescue and settled that tax debt for “pennies on the dollar.”

Are these ads telling us the truth? Can taxpayers really settle their tax debt for little to no money? The answer is yes, they can, but it depends upon their financial situation.

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Annual Criminal Tax Conference Set for June 4

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The one-day online conference features IRS leaders and top tax attorneys and eight CPE credits.

Hosted by Eric Green

Key IRS leaders and nationally recognized criminal tax attorneys will convene June 4 for The Fourth Annual Criminal Tax Day 2021, a one-day online conference hosted by Green & Sklarz Foundation Trust that provides educational CPE/CLE sessions for CPAs, EAs, and attorneys on the hottest criminal tax topics. All proceeds go to charity.

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How a Few of the Wealthiest Skate Around the IRS

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And the IRS is looking the other way.

By CPA Trendlines

The Internal Revenue Service isn’t supposed to consider a taxpayer’s income or wealth when prioritizing Taxpayer Delinquent Accounts. Rather, the Service is supposed to focus on balances due, pursuing collection of higher amounts.

MORE: Pros Tackle 49% of E-filed Returns | Survey: Tax Season Swings into the Red | Another Tax Season from Hell? | Pros Process 44% of Tax E-filings | Tax Professionals Report Tough Slogging | Busy Season 2021 Gets Off to Weak Start
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Obviously, many of those higher balances are owed by taxpayers (or tax dodgers) in the higher adjusted gross income brackets, and the IRS believes that pursuing high balance dues effectively addresses high AGIs.

But the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration says that focusing on the balance due is increasing the risk of high earners skipping out on what they owe.

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173% Increase in IRS Correspondence Backlog

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Who knew?

By CPA Trendlines

We all know how the IRS works. They send a letter to a possibly delinquent taxpayer who, in quivering fear, returns a response that is slipped through the mail slot in the IRS door, where it falls into a shredder that feeds into a massive onsite incinerator. The letter’s ashen remains are then loaded onto a rocket and shot toward Alpha Centauri, never to be seen again.

MORE: Hunker Down: The IRS Backlog Isn’t Going Away Anytime Soon | The IRS Studebaker Bomb | Imagine IRS ‘Concierge’ Service. Just Imagine. | IRS Has Recruiting Problems, Too
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Actually, that’s not entirely true. In 2019, IRS Compliance Services Collection Operations managed to respond to 25 percent of its “inventory” of Taxpayer Delinquent Account correspondence. The other 75 percent was considered “over-aged” after not being dealt with within 45 days of receipt.
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New Leads Aren’t Top Priority

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Ignore your existing leads at your peril.

By Jassen Bowman

The most successful professional services firms in America put their marketing efforts on autopilot.

MORE: Don’t Waste Your Investments | You Fixed Their Tax Issues, Now What? | 11 Steps for Handling Client Complaints | Office Safety and More: Checklists for Your Tax Resolution Setup | How to Build a Tax Resolution Business
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Whether you have a full-time marketing assistant, do all the marketing yourself or distribute duties among your staff, using checklists to systemize your marketing is really the only way to go. Using checklists ensures that your marketing gets done properly and completely.
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Don’t Waste Your Investments

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Three checklists for office communication.

By Jassen Bowman

Communicating with your clients and prospects is more important than ever.

MORE: You Fixed Their Tax Issues, Now What? | 7 Checklists for Scheduling, Petty Cash and More | What You Tell Yourself Matters | Hiring, Firing and the Checklists You Need | Focus On Your Ideal Clients | The Secrets of Multi-Hit Marketing
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Use the following checklists to verify that your phone system and website are up and functioning properly each day.
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You Fixed Their Tax Issues, Now What?

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Businessman with laptop and papersPlus client management checklists.

By Jassen Bowman

Your ability to successfully manage a large client volume is directly related to your enforcement of procedural compliance upon your staff.

MORE: 7 Checklists for Scheduling, Petty Cash and More | Difficult Phone Calls Are Opportunities | 11 Steps for Handling Client Complaints | What You Tell Yourself Matters | Use Checklists to Get New Tax Clients | Office Safety and More: Checklists for Your Tax Resolution Setup | Hiring, Firing and the Checklists You Need | What Your Tax Resolution Staff Must Do | How to Build a Tax Resolution Business | Focus On Your Ideal Clients | Are You Quitting on Leads Too Soon? | Why Lists Are Not Leads | The Secrets of Multi-Hit Marketing | Grow Faster, Be More Efficient | Your Sales Funnel Needs Systems | How Tax Resolution Works | 4 Tax Resolution Industry Flaws | Need a New Service Line? Consider Tax Resolution
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You should manage all internal processes systematically, and your staff should handle all client matters systematically as well.
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7 Checklists for Scheduling, Petty Cash and More

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Apply systems to the nuts-and-bolts chores.

By Jassen Bowman

Every office function should have a system.

MORE: Difficult Phone Calls Are Opportunities | 11 Steps for Handling Client Complaints | Office Safety and More: Checklists for Your Tax Resolution Setup | How to Build a Tax Resolution Business | Why Lists Are Not Leads | Your Sales Funnel Needs Systems
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Here are some miscellaneous but vital functions and how to handle each one.
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Difficult Phone Calls Are Opportunities

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What to say about fees.

By Jassen Bowman

If you are actively engaged in marketing your practice, it is inevitable that you will receive telephone calls with the dreaded, “How much do you charge for a tax return?”

MORE: 11 Steps for Handling Client Complaints | What You Tell Yourself Matters | Hiring, Firing and the Checklists You Need | Focus On Your Ideal Clients | The Secrets of Multi-Hit Marketing | How Tax Resolution Works
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What NOT to say …

  1. “We don’t provide fee quotes over the phone.”
  2. “Tell me a little about your tax situation and …”

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11 Steps for Handling Client Complaints

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They might come to you unhappy, but they don’t have to leave that way.

By Jassen Bowman

Unhappy clients are a part of doing business. While we strive to deliver the absolute best customer service, provide excellent value in our services and run a first-class operation, it’s simply impossible to please everybody.

MORE: What You Tell Yourself Matters | Use Checklists to Get New Tax Clients What Your Tax Resolution Staff Must Do | Are You Quitting on Leads Too Soon? | Grow Faster, Be More Efficient
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The key to properly and professionally addressing client complaints is to not be overtly defensive. Adopting a defensive attitude usually just inflames the situation.
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What You Tell Yourself Matters

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Why goals and affirmations are important.

By Jassen Bowman

Every day, you should go through your goals checklist.

MORE: Use Checklists to Get New Tax Clients | Office Safety and More: Checklists for Your Tax Resolution Setup | How to Build a Tax Resolution Business | Why Lists Are Not Leads | Your Sales Funnel Needs Systems | Need a New Service Line? Consider Tax Resolution
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Whether you do this just at the beginning of the day, or also at the close of the business or actual day, be sure to include

  • empowering daily questions,
  • affirmations and
  • goals.

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Use Checklists to Get New Tax Clients

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Don’t let marketing be an afterthought.

By Jassen Bowman

In an ideal world, every business day would feel like the movie “Groundhog Day.”

MORE: Office Safety and More: Checklists for Your Tax Resolution Setup | Hiring, Firing and the Checklists You Need | Focus On Your Ideal Clients | The Secrets of Multi-Hit Marketing | How Tax Resolution Works
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The same things would happen at the same times, day in and day out. Your business would run like a well-oiled machine that simply puts out marketing, takes in clients and cashes checks.
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Office Safety and More: Checklists for Your Tax Resolution Setup

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Woman turning door sign to "open"Everything from client interactions to office safety.

By Jassen Bowman

The setup of your office environment is important for three primary reasons:

  1. Ensuring workplace safety
  2. Creating a positive client experience
  3. Enabling maximum operational efficiency

MORE: Hiring, Firing and the Checklists You Need | What Your Tax Resolution Staff Must Do | Are You Quitting on Leads Too Soon? | Grow Faster, Be More Efficient | 4 Tax Resolution Industry Flaws
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The following checklists will assist you in making sure that your office is set up to achieve each of these three objectives.
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