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Raising fees, notifying clients, giving loyalty or other discounts, etc


JohnH

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I live in Tennessee, and my clients would not read a letter if I sent one. Or worse, they would call me to ask what it said. And I betcha they are about average. If a return stays the same year after year, I charge the same fee for about three years, then go up about 10%. More if good ole PITA is in play. I don't announce it, or even comment about it at all. Ain't nobody got time for that. I don't gouge, and they know I don't.

Nobody announces fee increases to me, they just happen.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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The reason I stress my fees and penalties is to let them know why I'm charging more for my service.

But, if you're doing your job correctly...you shouldn't be getting fees and penalties.

Please don't take this the wrong way....but this is what your statement sounds like:

"I'm willing to take a risk and do a return that might have issues. In order for me to take this risk...I need to charge you "insurance" to cover whatever fees and penalties your return may cost me."

Just use something like: Due to changes at the IRS each return requires more time and work to make sure it's accurate.

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I live in Tennessee, and my clients would not read a letter if I sent one. Or worse, they would call me to ask what it said. And I betcha they are about average. If a return stays the same year after year, I charge the same fee for about three years, then go up about 10%. More if good ole PITA is in play. I don't announce it, or even comment about it at all. Ain't nobody got time for that. I don't gouge, and they know I don't.

Nobody announces fee increases to me, they just happen.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I generally do the same, kept fees constant for 3 years then increase. of course the pita factor and sch d factor increases fees. I don't track phone calls per se but if the client is one of those that calls often they get an increase.

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When a client expects me to make a call to their broker to get cost basis, I remind them that I will charge the accordingly for my time on hold. I also tell them that the broker has the information to compute cost basis and if they tell the client 'your tax preparer can do that', I remind them that they have to pay for this time. This extra time is detailed on my invoice for the client to see.

My biggest gripe is the K1s from PTPs. I show the client the State schedule and if any of the states have a higher income, I explain that I have to research each state to see if I have to file a NR return.

Each year, I increase the base 1040 by $5.00. I evaluate the more complicated forms and sometimes charge by line. If they complain about the cost (I'm cheaper than Block, plus I give most of the clients a discount), I go through the invoice. I did fire one client last year because I was tired of his annual 'whine' about the fees and his other off color comments.

My biggest complainers are the one's that require many forms and usually end up owing.

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I will not research or get cost basis for a taxpayer. Too much risk for me because I have no idea when they purchased those securities, if they used dividends, wash sale etc.

I will at their request send an e-mail to their broker requesting a spreadsheet and specify the format.

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I will not research or get cost basis for a taxpayer. Too much risk for me because I have no idea when they purchased those securities, if they used dividends, wash sale etc.

I will at their request send an e-mail to their broker requesting a spreadsheet and specify the format.

*****************

I KWYM. I have one client who always has some sort of sale with Lucent/Alcatal/ATT. I've pretty much given up because he hasn't kept any of his statements, so his basis ends up being zero. I was lucky with the other clients (all from the same family) because I got the activity from day one, they were mutual bonds, so I just averaged them out.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've charged an hourly fee for preparation for over 35 years.

As I note the time for preparation, unusual or non-recurring items are noted in the description on the invoice, with time provided for that task.

As long as the preparation software performs as advertised and expected, I've not had any problems.

2012 software cost me over $ 25,000 in lost unbillable time.

We don't use loyalty discounts in our billings.

Reasonable rates with explanations of unusual items have not encountered negative comments.

PITA clients are charged additional time until they leave or I can't stomach them any longer, whichever occurs first.

I concur with gailtaxed that there are some clients we don't need in our practice or life.

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