In the previous post I reported that the Treasury Department was warning taxpayers of another fun-filled season of refund delays, poor phone service, and mail backlog. This filing season, in combination with the previous two and the effects of the pandemic have resulted in major shifts in the way tax and accounting professionals do business—and… Read More
Last Monday, Treasury Department officials took the preemptive step of warning taxpayers that the upcoming tax season, which begins on Monday, January 24 and runs through April 18 (as of this writing), will be messy and could see delays. Pointing to staffing shortages and paperwork backlogs, officials said taxpayers will likely face frustrations similar to… Read More
After almost a year, I’m back on the blog. Heading into the third pandemic-affected filing season, much has changed here at Tax Therapy. First, I am working from home for the foreseeable future. That means the practice has transitioned from mostly office-based to mostly virtual. The only clients I will be seeing in person are… Read More
I’ve fired a couple of clients already this tax season. If you are a taxpayer you may be scratching your head. It’s important to understand that some #taxpros work on a retail, volume-based business model where typically any paying client is a good client. Those are what I refer to as “transactional” tax shops. Others,… Read More
This post is brought to you by The TaxGirl herself, Kelly Phillips Erb. She is now happily ensconced in her new gig writing for Bloomberg Tax but she’s also still tweeting. A few days ago she tweeted out a list of resources for taxpayers who may not be able to pay for professional tax return… Read More
And not all tax people are interchangeable. This is my Dad’s car. Imagine that this car is having an, as yet unidentified, engine problem. Here’s a short list of items that make this car special: It’s old It’s foreign (specifically German as opposed to Japanese) It’s considered a “performance” or “sports” car It was… Read More
A couple of weeks ago I was talking with some colleagues about being forced to watch videos to learn features available in new software and just how much I didn’t like that. The videos are slow. I can read faster than that and I comprehend better as well. Usually, I’m going to want to read… Read More
The two most beautiful words I heard on #TaxTwitter this weekend were “seller’s market.” What does that mean? It means that good #taxpros are in demand. Good #taxpros. I’m seeing loads of newbies on FaceBook who have passed a test or taken a few classes and decided to open a tax practice asking for advice… Read More
That’s me in super sneaky spy mode. At the end of the day yesterday I was mailing some paperwork to a couple of clients (yes, we still do that here, especially for clients with limited internet access). I had to create mailing labels for the envelopes. We have a dedicated label printer to help with… Read More
This post is based on actual conversations that have occurred in the Tax Therapy office. Mid-March 2019. The phone rings and I answer it. Me: Tax Therapy, this is Amber. Caller: Hi, yes, I was wondering if you could do my taxes? Me: Well we are taking new clients. Caller: When can I get an… Read More