How to accomplish your most foundational marketing tasks

It’s the first Monday of the month, which means it’s time for Jassen to post up this month’s Done For You articles for use in prospect emails and blog posts.

If you’re a current Tax Resolution Academy® Titans member, you can get these emails/articles here. (Trouble logging in??? Reply to this email.)

If you’re NOT a Titans member, then you can learn more about the benefits of our Titans tier here.

So, what exactly are these?

Let me start with two foundational truths that you probably already know, but just in case:

  1. Posting new content to your website on a regular basis is important for both SEO and social media marketing purposes.
  2. Sending emails to your leads, prospects, and clients on a regular basis is important for conversion and retention.

Again, I know you already know these two things. At this point, it’s most likely well-ingrained marketing knowledge that everybody comes to the table with.

But…but! Despite knowing it, most tax and accounting pros still aren’t doing it. Tsk, I say. Tsk!

Come on, repeat after me…

I will do email follow ups and blog posts.

I will do email follow ups and blog posts.

I will do email follow ups and blog posts.

OK, sweet. Now we’re all on the same page.

In order to make these two foundational pillars of your marketing strategy occur, you basically have four options:

  1. Write it all yourself, post it all yourself.
  2. Pay for the content, post it all yourself.
  3. Write it all yourself, pay for the posting.
  4. Pay for the content, pay for the posting.

In other words, it’s some combination of work by you and outsourcing. You can just learn how to do it all yourself (which I actually encourage, even if you ultimately hire it all out). At the other extreme, you can hire an employee (such as a social media manager) or an agency (such as TaxProMarketer) to just do it all for you.

Kind of in the middle, there are a variety of services out there that provide the content to you, which you can then edit to your heart’s content and post yourself. These services exist because many business owners are perfectly capable of handling the posting part, but have a hard time coming up with stuff to write about.

Even further, by at least having something to start from, it’s often easier … Continue reading

Tax Resolution Hot Sheet™ #6: Tax Pro Account, Data Security and Sharpening the Saw

In this issue:

  • Tax Pro Account – A new version of something old
  • Data Security – Are you taking it seriously?
  • Time to Sharpen the Saw

This is Dan this week. I am going to keep it short as today is my 27th wedding anniversary and I am going to spend a wonderful day with my wife.

Tax Pro Account – A new version of something old

The IRS released recently that tax professionals can input a Form 2848 and gain immediate access to a client/taxpayer’s tax account. You can access the Tax Pro Account page at irs.gov with this link.

If you already have an eservices account, then there is nothing special for you to do.  Just login like you were accessing your online eservices account.

The trick here is that your client also has to have an online IRS Account, which they can do here. If they cannot access an IRS online account, you have to do it the old fashioned way.

This new access is an offshoot of the old DA (Direct Authorization) system, where we could access our eservices account and input directly the Form 2848 and have immediate access to IRS transcripts.  The IRS took this away in 2015 due to the risk and potential for fraud.  Glad to see there are bring this back, in a new form.  Only time will tell to see how successful (or stressful on us) this will be.

I suggest you read the info on the Tax Pro Account page as well as the online IRS Account page in grave detail so you understand the process. It will make life so much easier if you can access the transcripts now than waiting for the CAF to process your POA or waiting hours to talk to PPS.

Data Security – Are you taking it seriously?

I have been attending the IRS Tax Forum for almost the last 13 years. As an experienced tax pro, I don’t learn a ton of new things, but I do get a few good nuggets of information each year. There are also a number of topics that you see year after year that you have to get the feeling they are trying to tell you something.

Data Security is just one of those topics. If you are not already getting enough emails (yeah, I know that is an LOL moment), then I suggest you sign up for … Continue reading

Tax Resolution Hot Sheet™ #5: IRS Levy Procedural Deviations for ACTC

In this issue:

  • Three procedural deviations on levy action in relation to ACTC, Recovery Rebates, and RRF Payments
  • Are you meeting the needs of your clients?

A Trio of Procedural Deviations in Relation to Certain Levies
Two IRM procedural deviations were issued on July 13, 2021, to join one that was issued March 18, 2021, in relation to levy action taken against tax debtors that receive certain federal payments. These are of no surprise to any tax pro, of course, but it’s nice to see the Service still paying attention to such small details that can directly impact the lives of millions of Americans.

These SB/SE Collection memos can be found here:

Each memo says more or less the same thing, just in relation to a different source of funds. In short, the procedural deviations stipulate that the IRS must release levies that attach to any account containing funds from one of the three sources. Also, IRS personnel should not issue levies against bank accounts that are known to contain such funds.

If a Collection employee believes that such an account should still be levied, each memo specifies that such levies must be run up the flagpole to either an Area Director or Campus Director before commencing with levy action or refusing to release such a levy.

For 1040 tax debtors with children in particular, this can, for all intents and purposes, provide a get out of levy free card. Since levies should not be issued on accounts to which Advance Child Tax Credit funds are deposited until the conclusion of such monthly payments in December 2021, a shrewd taxpayer representative can effectively “shield” one client bank account from levy action through the end of the year. If your client is eligible for ACTC payments, but is foregoing them to avoid having to deal with potential issues in 2022, it might be worth rethinking that.

Protecting clients from levy action is one of the biggest benefits that a tax pro can bring to a tax debtor, and this can now provide a short-term avenue for doing so, thus giving you time to correct the other underlying issues that got the taxpayer in trouble in the first place.

Ready to learn more about levy releases? Check out CTR-161: Levies & Levy Releases for 2 CE/CPE hours, inside the Tax Resolution … Continue reading