Just got off my first ever IRS webinar about...hmmm...what was it?....EITC and Due Dillettantes/Diddlin' ...sump'n like that.
Quite interesting -- they're emailin' me a one-hour CPE certificate and it wasn't all that hard. In fact all I had to do was sign up and check in. Watching the video was apparently optional, but I sat through the whole thing (virtue is its own reward) and was duly enlightened.
They said that:
23% of EITC returns are bogus -- $11 billion lost.
70% of them are done my professional preparers.
and that we should:
Conduct a thorough interview!.
Ask probing, relevant questions
Avoid Yes or No questions; make them open-ended: Who is...? What do...? Where are...? Why don't...? How...? When...?
Know the law and explain it to clients (can't figure out how -- I don't quite understand it myself).
Get all the facts.
Ask the right questions.
Document their answers as you go.
Do NOT ignore incorrect, inconsistent, incomplete answers (it's gonna be hard 'cause that's the same kind of questions I ask).
All in all a well-rounded agenda and they're strongly encouraging us to do a good professional job (AKA "Grill their a**!") I get the feeling they wish they had some people like us workin' for them instead of ourselves.
Quite interesting -- they're emailin' me a one-hour CPE certificate and it wasn't all that hard. In fact all I had to do was sign up and check in. Watching the video was apparently optional, but I sat through the whole thing (virtue is its own reward) and was duly enlightened.
They said that:
23% of EITC returns are bogus -- $11 billion lost.
70% of them are done my professional preparers.
and that we should:
Conduct a thorough interview!.
Ask probing, relevant questions
Avoid Yes or No questions; make them open-ended: Who is...? What do...? Where are...? Why don't...? How...? When...?
Know the law and explain it to clients (can't figure out how -- I don't quite understand it myself).
Get all the facts.
Ask the right questions.
Document their answers as you go.
Do NOT ignore incorrect, inconsistent, incomplete answers (it's gonna be hard 'cause that's the same kind of questions I ask).
All in all a well-rounded agenda and they're strongly encouraging us to do a good professional job (AKA "Grill their a**!") I get the feeling they wish they had some people like us workin' for them instead of ourselves.