Tax pros, vent here!

January 18, 2009

Tax preparers are about to be seriously bogged down as filing season kicks into high gear.

And in many cases, these folks also are going to be fighting the urge to tell off some of their clients.

Why? Because too many folks head to their tax pro's office totally unprepared.

Since it's unprofessional for you customer-dependent tax pros to light into these annoying clients, I want to give you the chance to do so from a safe distance. You can vent here!

Drop me an e-mail (the link's about midway down the right column) or add a comment to this post about what you
want (or wish) your clients would do. I also want to hear about what they do that drives you crazy. And if you have any gold-star clients, tell us why they get that rank.

I'll compile the rants, raves, any kudos and general venting in an upcoming blog post.

I put out this call to financial professionals on Twitter and already have some good examples of accountants' filing season hopes and more examples of bad client behavior.

But in the interest of presenting as complete a picture as possible, I'm opening up the ol' blog for additional tax preparer, accountant, CPA and tax attorney comments here, too.

So tax pros, let me hear from you!

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The More Tax Posts tab at the top of this page will take you to, well, more tax posts. You also can search below for a tax topic.

TAX-SAVVY WAYS
TO WRAP UP 2026

It’s over! With October’s extended filing deadline behind us, it is now time to focus on year-end moves to reduce your 2026 tax bill.

You’ll find ways to do just that on the Tax Tips page (see the More Tax Posts drop-down menu at the top of the blog), as well as the separate tax tip pages for each month, notably October through December. If you’re on the Tax Tips page, you’ll find a monthly list at the end of this column. If you’re on another blog page, you can head straight to the October tips; at the bottom of that tips page you’ll find links to all the other 11 months’ collections of tax advice.

Not to spoil what you’ll find in that tax advice, but it does cover such things as tax deductions for charitable donations, investment moves that could reduce tax due, and ways to max out your tax-favored retirement savings.

Finally, as the year winds down, things get hectic. There are lots of other things to occupy our time, like the much more fun upcoming holidays. But don’t lose sight of taxes, since timing is key. To be of use, most tax moves must be made by the end of the tax year. That’s Thursday, Dec. 31, which also is the last business day of the year.

So that you don’t miss that final tax year deadline, also keep an eye on the countdown clock below. It will keep you on top of just how much time is left to make important, tax-saving moves. (Note: I’m in the Central Time Zone, so adjust accordingly for where you live.)

Credits/Deductions

Disasters

Family

Filing and Paying Taxes

Politics/Laws

Refunds

State Taxes

Tax Brackets/Inflation

Tax Tips

Comments

Jan Dillaha

18 years ago Reply

I LOVE my clients and I LOVE what we do….
Please, please, please read my letter that comes to you with your return. When I say that “please keep us informed of any significant changes in your financial affairs.” I don’t mean that you should wait until March 20 when you call for appointment to tell me that your Aunt Lydia died last August and you got 140k from her IRA accounts in October.
I am here to help. Please call me when things happen so that we can offer strategy instead of making the best of bad decisions.
end rant

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Tax pros, vent here!

Jan Dillaha