TaxCoach Briefs:    January 28, 2010

Volume 5, Number 4

• Client Alert: Haitian Relief
• New Resource: "CHIC" Mini-Presentation
• Testimonial of the Week: Most Valuable Seminar Ever
• Did You Know: What's New
• Member Call-in: Billboards, Foam-Rubber Suits

****Attention All-Stars and Press Club members ****: Our next webinar will be on Tuesday, February 9. Our topic will be Marketing During Tax Season, with a focus on drawing maximum marketing advantage from every contact during the season. We'll also update you on new developments with Section 7216 that affect using client information to market throughout the year, plus talk about how to book radio and television appearances to build visibility and credibility. If you're not an All-Stars or Press Club member, click here for more information.

****Attention Certified Tax Coach™ members ****: The final two segments of the on-line certification course are now available, as are playbacks for the last three continuing education (CYCE) webinars, a list of future CYCE webinar dates, and a link to register for the next one, on Feb. 22. You'll find all of this in the CTC™ Toolbox within TaxCoach.

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CLIENT ALERT (EAL)
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TAX BREAKS FOR HAITIAN RELIEF

The recent earthquake in Haiti reminds us all to count our blessings. Even in today’s lousy economy, Americans are finding ways to give generously to ease the disaster.

We've prepared a new Client Alert with basic information on charitable deductions for earthquake relief. And Washington has just authorized accelerated deductions for contributions made before March 1, 2010, letting clients treat them as having been made in 2009. So the letter is especially timely right now.

When you click on the 'Client Alerts' button in TaxCoach, you'll see a list of alerts, with this latest on top. The file 'HaitiQuake' contains letters addressed to each of your clients entered into the system. You can download the file to your computer, and print on your letterhead using MS Word, or any word processor. You'll find instructions on the Client Alerts page.

Many of your clients have already made donations for earthquake relief. They may even know about the accelerated deductions. But they still appreciate hearing it from you.

Press Club and Hall of Fame members, remember that this information already went to your email list on January 26. However, you may still want to mail the Client Alert to take advantage of the greater impact that tangible mail delivers.

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MEMBER RESOURCE (EAL)
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"CHIC" MINI-PRESENTATION

Last year, we announced a series of "mini-seminars" on specific tax topics based on those we created for the Obama election and stimulus package. We don't really see them being used for large groups, but we do see them as useful resources for walking individual clients through specific strategies, at your desk or in your conference room.

We've previously rolled out two of these mini-seminars:

• The S Corporation presentation walks clients through the ins and outs of S corporations: how to establish and maintain them, how they minimize employment tax, how they lower audit odds, and even how they affect future Social Security benefits.

• The Medical Expense Reimbursement Plan ("MERP") presentation walks through this uber-popular strategy, especially for married sole proprietors who can hire their spouse and deduct their families' medical bills as business expenses.

Now we've added a third presentation on closely-held insurance companies, or "CHICs." We're confident you'll find the new presentation to be a valuable tool for presenting this high-impact strategy to your clients.

You'll find the new mini-seminar in the Playbook, under "Seminar Kits."

We're planning to roll out similar presentations on meal and entertainment deductions, car and truck expenses, and home office expenses. We trust you'll find these to be helpful as well. That's because they'll help you look good by giving clients the money-saving concepts and strategies they really want from a true proactive tax professional.

And we're looking for your suggestions too! What specific concepts and strategies can we help you deliver to your clients?

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MEMBER TESTIMONIAL OF THE WEEK (KAV)
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Dominique got this message last week from a new Certified Tax Coach member who just graduated the CTC™ on-line certification course:

Although I had planned to complete the coursework over a couple of weeks, I found it interesting enough where I completed it over a weekend. I commend you and Ed on putting together the single most valuable accounting-related seminar that I have ever participated in."

Tom Panagiotou,
TJP Financial, LLC
Round Rock, TX

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DID YOU KNOW . . . (KAV)
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WHAT'S NEW

. . . that TaxCoach can tell you the very latest updates to the planning system, content, and features? Once you sign in to TaxCoach, you'll see a button on the left (blue) side of the Home Page, labeled "What's New?" This button takes you to the list of updates to the system, with the most recent on top. If an update has been made within the last seven days, the "What's New?" button shows red on the Home Page, same as with Client Alerts.

The weekly Briefs are always your best source for info on changes to the system. But you'll always know that when you "see red," something's up.

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MEMBER RESOURCE (KAV)
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MEMBER CALL-IN WITH ED AND KEITH

We had heavy attendance and another great discussion this week. In addition to the usual strategy and marketing questions (we're going to start culling the more recurring of them from the log for this column), we also had some lively discussion on a couple of obscure topics as well: billboard advertising, of all things, and the value of "bottom-up marketing" — having guys in foam rubber suits dance around outside your tax office and eyeball drivers to wave them in. That plus a lot of pros and cons on various third-party providers for helping clients incorporate.

Here's an excerpt of questions and comments raised by callers this week, straight from the call log. Names have been changed to protect the guys in foam-rubber suits:

• I recently completed the CTC seminar and there was a discussion about some court cases that might potentially limit S Corps for realtors. Have these cases been resolved? Is there a risk to recommending S Corps for realtors?
  • What is easiest way to find if realtors can be paid through an S Corp in my state?
• have you ever used a billboard to advertise during tax season, this is a high traffic location and i can get if for $500 for tax season, any thoughts
  • have the billboard use lead generation advertising...they need to offer a widget or free report...the seven things you need to know...why using a franchise store will cause business owners to overpay their taxes etc...
  • What about using the billboard for tax planning after tax season?
  • Would their be a way market it to the higher end? Maybe clerverly written or presented
  • I tried billboards several years ago. Rec'd lots of comments that boards had been seen, but was exclusively from friends & family. No new clients from the boards.
• Do you know of a source for formula/guidelines to use for Roth 2010 conversion
  • [A:FYI we're working on a TaxCoach module to address the myriad complexities of the Roth decision.]
  • I have had several cases where the taxpayer had negative taxable income and money in a regular IRA. It was an easy decision to convert the IRA to a ROTH IRA to use up the otherwise unused potentially lost deducations.
• Any suggestions about how to work around the passive loss limitations when the taxpayer’s income is too high to take the limited deduction and they do not qualify as a real estate professional.
  • Don't have losses. :-)
• Any Comments on 1099/1096 Processing for clients - we've found it a good niche market to establish relationships with new business clients and then over a period of time converted them to strategic planning clients. (we're in the middle of 1099 season -- we also handle some large processing 3,000+ 1099s) through an affiliate company in Ohio.
• What strategies are available for bona fide professional gamblers. Are there any types of retirement plans they can use to set aside money pre-tax?
  • Don't' have losses. :-)
  • recent case law limits ability for gamblers to aggregate wins/loses... so this question is a very critical question for active gamblers... exactly like traders (in more ways then one).
• Is there any special deduction for any contributions to Haiti.
• I saw a reference to the New Orleans Super Table. I may have missed any discussion of this event. Could you describe the intended focus and content of this event?
  • what date is that in new orleans?
  • [A:For 2010 RoundTables, we're returning to the single, national event format rather than multiple smaller, regional events. We like both formats, actually, and after all, "variety is the spice of life." It's called "SuperTable" because it's like one big, honking RoundTable. We expect to host it in the old New Orleans US Mint, although the venue plans are not finalized. The dates, are, however: May 5-7, 2010, with one day of basic, a full day on pricing, and a third day for advanced tax planning, with an afternoon CTC™ members-only session on advanced topics. Mark your calendar now, and keep an eye on the Briefs for details. We'll look forward to seeing you in "The Big Easy" in May.]
  • Call N.O. roundtable - Accountants Gone Wild
  • Tax Coach New Orleans - The Big "1040EZ"
• I was thinking of targeting small business clients using the certified tax coach strategy, make it nice and professional, and try to draw traffic to my website
• what do you mean by bottom up advertising re: franchise tax stores?
  • The foam rubber suit does work. I own two franchise tax offices completely separate from my own practice.
  • I own franchise offices for tax prep for the masses. My personal practice that I work on is zeroing in on tax planning for business owners.
• I was wondering about peoples' collections from clients and if accountants are being strung out for collection
  • My work doesn't leave without payment.

If you're looking for clarification on TaxCoach strategies or additional ways to profit from TaxCoach too, join us for the next call, on Wednesday February 3, at 1pm Eastern. Enter a question or just listen in on the repartee. Check the "Contact Us" button within TaxCoach for registration instructions.

While we're happy to answer questions on TaxCoach marketing, concepts, and strategies, we can no longer continue to analyze detailed case studies. Specific client scenarios generally involve detailed factors outside our knowledge, and we've determined (along with some not-so-gentle prodding from our attorneys at Crane, Poole, and Schmidt) that we aren't comfortable addressing those scenarios. Unfortunately, we're just not set up to act as an "on the fly" research service. (If you're looking for that sort of support, take a look at the Certified Tax Coach™ program.)

Members occasionally ask if we can record and archive these calls. The answer is that we want to keep them as informal and uninhibited as possible. For example, we’ve discussed outside tax software and marketing services (both good and not-so-good), and we don’t want to put ourselves on record with those comments. Member Call-Ins are intended to be casual discussions among peers – and we don’t want recording them to threaten that chemistry.

While our elite members (All-Stars, Press Club, and Hall of Fame) can still schedule time directly with Ed as part of their coaching programs, we simply cannot answer marketing and tax-strategy questions via email or unscheduled calls.

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We can answer questions on using TaxCoach system features anytime. (Save marketing and tax strategy questions for Member Call-Ins.) For best response, email support@taxcoachsoftware.com. If we think the answer will be useful to all of our members, we'll publish it (anonymously) here in the 'Member Q & A' section of TaxCoach Briefs.

Regards,

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