American Society of Tax Problem Solvers

Hi, I'm Larry Lawler, CPA, EA, CTRS, NTPI Fellow, and ASTPS National Director. Along with educating you, I plan to give you bits of random information on no regular basis as they occur to me. Generally, they will relate to tax problem resolution, but no guarantee. Random thoughts are, well random. Hopefully they will be useful, entertaining or both. If you are on our email list, you will receive them automatically so you don't have to refer to this page. Click HERE and sign up for 2 FREE very valuable reports on tax problem resolution which will automatically enter you into our email list.

- Face-to-Face Appeals

Experience has convinced me that appeals hearings should be done in person whenever possible. In person allows you to:

a.) Demonstrate that you are fully prepared,

b.) Respond immediately to document requests,

c.) Use your powers of persuasion,

d.) Use negotiation skills.

As an example of effective use of negotiation skills: you might have a difference of opinion on an item you consider important. At an in person meeting it's easy to suggest setting it aside while discussing other items, Return to the contentious item after you have agreed to other less important items. Research has proven the likelihood of prevailing in whole or part is greatly improved with this approach. You will find the time to get a case closed will be reduced by the face-to-face approach, but only if you are prepared and mentally rehearse the meeting before you get there. Always ask yourself what you want to come away with.

- Choose Your Words
Think about the words you use during initial interviews with prospective tax problem resolution clients. Subtle changes can make the difference between being hired immediately and them leaving "to think about it." Instead of "How much do you owe?" try saying "How much does the IRS claim you owe them? The second example is not judgmental and conveys that you don't just assume they are wrong and IRS is right. Prospects will hire you readily when they decide you are on their side.

- Tax Court
It's often a bad idea for an accountant to represent a troubled taxpayer when they have prepared the original returns.you never know when the best thing for your taxpayer is to toss the former accountant, or original preparer, under the bus. This lesson came through again in a recent Tax Court case where the sole owner of an S. Corporation did not want to make routine tax deposits. Therefore, he paid himself his full salary at year-end while taking periodic loans to live on. His CPA told him no payroll taxes were due because the loans had to be repaid. Despite the fact that the CPA's advice was wrong, the Tax Court waived the late payment and deposit penalties because the owner wasn't a tax expert and his account and gave him wrong advice. I wonder if this result would have been achieved if the taxpayer had been represented only by the CPA who gave the original advice.the case can be found under Ken Ryan, Inc., TC Summ. Op. 2010-18.

- Who Said It?
I have always been a fan of intriguing thoughts and ideas and hopefully you will enjoy some that have piqued my interest. I'm buying a Starbuck's for the first person to identify the speaker of the following quotes. You are on your honor. No Googling, it's only a coffee, be fair!

- You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
- You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
- You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
- You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
- You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
- You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence.

Enjoy!

Larry Lawler, CPA, EA, CTRS,
ASTPS National Director

- Customer Service and Disservice
I was getting ready to depart for San Diego recently for the ASTPS Advanced Seminar. My flight was at 8:05 the next morning. So, as usual, my time was a little tight. Included in my preparations to leave was a stop at Johnny’s Dry Cleaners at the end of my street. Three business days earlier, I had taken the shirts I wanted for San Diego to Johnny and got his firm assurance they would be ready.

You can see it coming, can’t you? I stopped at 2:00 to be told the shirts were not there, but should be on the 4:00 truck from the shirt laundry. Still unconcerned – after all I have been using Johnny’s for years and have even become friendly with the aging owner – I returned for the second time at 5:00 to be told they did not have the shirts. By the way, Johnny was off that entire day, but I did tell the 60-plus woman behind the counter that he had promised the shirts and that he was aware of the need to have them today. Her response was, "He should not promise that kind of turn-around and that he did it with the best intentions. However, the shirt laundry closed at 5:00 and you are out of luck." I’m sure you can guess how cheerfully I received her response.

Having been dismissed by Mrs. 60-plus, I was leaving with my new plan to buy some dress shirts, which I really did not have time to do. At the door, 22 year-old Aaron, who also worked for Johnny and who had overheard the problem, asked if he could have my cell phone number, "just in case." He also asked when I planned to shop for the new shirts. I told him it would be in about an hour as I had a meeting and then would otherwise have headed home to pack.

An hour later, as I walked out of my meeting, Aaron called me on my cell phone. It seems he tracked down the owner of the shirt laundry and convinced him to return to his business to launder and press my shirts. Aaron was on his way to pick them up and bring them to my home. When he appeared in my driveway, I learned the shirt laundry was a forty mile round trip and it was now well past Aaron’s normal work hours.

Aaron refused to take any gas money or to let me pay for the shirt laundry. He said it was, "Johnny’s way of apologizing for the inconvenience they caused." What was truly inspirational was my call to Johnny the next morning; he had no idea what had happened. Then it was apparent that Aaron had acted entirely on his own instincts. Aaron is destined for success regardless of the field he pursues after college. I will be at the head of the line to offer him a job when he graduates from college next year. Mrs. Sixty-plus will be receiving no job offers.

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