Category: Taxes
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Obamacare adviser blues
Some of the telephone and email requests I receive for professional help with Obamacare include phrases like: My theory is … I heard that… My brother-in-law says that … I have a hard time expressing in a socially acceptable manner that as a professional. I cannot and do not have any significant regard for what…
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Should a CPA help a delinquent taxpayer? a criminal? a drug dealer?
A CPA posed a question online about whether he should help a person who had not filed income tax returns for years but now wants to come clean and catch up. It was surprising to me that almost all the CPAs who responded said they would not help. Many had strong logical arguments for their…
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How to market a new tax practice
This is not one of those “how to” posts that provides advice by a person presuming to have some expertise. This post is about me asking questions about how to market my new tax practice. I face the challenge of relaunching my solo tax preparer practice over the next few weeks. I was drawn back to this…
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Overview of tax related bank products for tax preparers
E-Collect is a fee-withholding service from EPS Financial that allows your customers to have your tax preparation fees withheld from their tax refund. E-Collect offers three different refund disbursement methods to your clients: a paper check, direct deposit, and a prepaid card, all for the lowest cost in the industry, including a no cost option.…
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Pricing of 2015 tax services announced
This pricing is now out of date. I put a lot of effort into pricing my tax services this year since this is my first full tax season after 8 years away from private practice. The advice I received on this topic is that a sole practitioner CPA should not base rates based on a…
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CPA Tax Rates for 2015
Until now, I have used negotiated flat fees for all accounting services – including tax services – under an approach commonly called “value pricing”. These fees should have some reasonable basis and market rate or competitive pricing may be one input into this basis of pricing. We presume that there is social value in having consumers…
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Annotated copy of “Death and Taxes for Zombies”
This is my annotated copy of another writer’s work used for noncommercial purposes. DEATH AND TAXES AND ZOMBIES Adam Chodorow† The U.S. stands on the precipice of a financial disaster, and Congress has done nothing but bicker. Of course, I refer to the coming day when the undead walk the earth, feasting on the living.…