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Tax Prep Dispatch: Alternative Service Delivery Tips!
Editor's Note: This edition of the Tax Prep Dispatch was written by Justin Chu, Senior Program Associate for Prosperity Now. This Tax Prep Dispatch was also curated from submissions from the Creative Service Delivery Working Group. Big thank you to our Working Group members!
Second Note: The Taxpayer Opportunity Network team wants to hear from you! The filing season has certainly been thrown for a loop to say the least. Answer our survey [[link removed]] on some of the new delivery methods you've been trying, level of disruption as well as any questions you have for the Taxpayer Opportunity Network team. We're going to collect your responses and share them as best in a peer-to-peer call-in session later this month so stay tuned!
The word of the month around the Prosperity Now "office" surely is "virtual." Virtual meetings and Happy Hours abound! Even our office is now virtual! If you're like us and dealing with the new implications of virtual world, trying to set up a virtual community tax preparation site is first and foremost in your mind. The Taxpayer Opportunity Network team and our Creative Service Delivery Working Group have some tips and insights to help you get started on your process!
Intake, Intake, Intake
The Intake process is more than just a greeting. It's a look into the taxpayer's financial situation. This is particularly valuable in the alternative service delivery model. If the intake form is incomplete, or completed incorrectly, then the return becomes significantly challenging to finalize.
Beyond the normal intake questions, your process will need to also cover e-file information and other tax-specific questions like self-employment or retirement income. Be sure to add any supplemental questions that you'll need for a state return. For our colleagues on the border of one or more states, be doubly sure to cover those neighboring states.
Keep It Clear
Any unclear policies and procedures you have in your virtual process are avenues for confusion, frustration and errors. Build out your policies to help answer your volunteer's questions that will come up most often. For example, keep an area for notes, questions, and answers for each part of the return. What is most important, however, is that your process is fully uniform, and easy to understand for both volunteers and clients.
Keep it clear for yourself and allow time to review and update your processes with your volunteers, and any potential stakeholders, before setting out delivering services!
Balance the Risks
Maintaining proper security for virtual taxpayer information is challenging. As you navigate this challenge, you'll need to balance helping taxpayers protect their identity with providing the most efficient service. What you'll need to do is take a step back and build out the volunteer training to ensure this balance. Make sure your volunteers and staff receive online security training, and that they secure document storage and taxpayer identification verification. Be sure to check that you're all set with the Quality Site Requirements [[link removed]] for any platform you'll be using. Also, keep an eye on Publication 4299 [[link removed]] to think about building out your security measures!
Stay Connected
The traditional VITA process can be lengthy. Once you consider the initial wait, the interview, core preparation, follow-up and the quality review, the minutes certainly add up. Even if you're not face-to-face with your clients, you're not off the hook for the time spent with your clients. As mentioned above, building out a robust intake and interview packet will help offset some of these questions. However, you'll need to find a way to stay in contact with them as much as possible to make sure your information is correct. The contact information you collect from them can vary but you need to make sure to stress to the client that this information gathering process is part of the tax preparation deal so their contact information is vital to a successful and correct tax return.
Get Approval
Be sure to get the approval of your local IRS SPEC representative before you put any of your plans in place. You need to talk through all aspects of your plan to outline any questions, concerns and feedback to improve your plan to meet any necessary guidelines.
You can also check out the newly updated IRS SPEC guidelines around FSA [[link removed]] and Virtual VITA [[link removed]] processes to find out more.
Balancing all of these rules and tips with implementing something new can be daunting. But, don't worry. Take your time, and create policies that have a positive impact on your clients while protecting their identity for future filing. Utilize the Taxpayer Opportunity Network's Alternative Tax Prep Options page [[link removed]] to access resources, along with approved virtual delivery plans, to create the model that's right for you.
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