Preparing for your first tax season can be a challenging task. While most have the technical
knowledge to do the work, they often lack the confidence that experience provides. To help
those facing their first tax season, I sat down with Erich Holmes, senior accountant in the Tax
Services Department at Rea & Associates in Medina, Ohio. Erich has four years of experience
in public accounting and he focuses on providing income tax services for individuals, partner-
ships and corporations.
Describe your first tax season experience.
Did the experience turn out as you thought?
If not, why?
Holmes: I worked about 60 hours a week
during my first tax season, mainly on individual tax returns, with a few corporate
returns thrown into the mix. As a first-year
staff accountant, I was able to interact with
seniors, managers and partners. Although
the interaction was sometimes intimidating,
Trying not to confuse the two
was even harder. Luckily for
our new people, we’ve created
consistent processes across all
offices.
know the answer, then ask the question.
How did the demands on your time affect
the work/life balance?
Holmes: During my first accounting class
at Mount Union College, I heard horror stories
time, I’ve come to realize that you can’t rely
on it to give you answers on more in-depth tax
situations you’ll encounter in the future.
Rea’s review process was also helpful, because it allowed me to learn from my mistakes and get feedback from the reviewers.
In addition, it helped me understand why
we had to treat tax items a certain way, and it
built my confidence overall in the tax preparation area.
What do you do differently now to pre-
pare for/manage the demands of tax
season?
Holmes: Mainly, I try to stay current on
different tax law changes. Knowing what is
going on in the current year helps me keep
an eye out for certain things that may change
in the upcoming tax season. This helps
me be more effective and efficient.
Tax season newbies: You will survive
By BRIAn SWAnSOn
A veteran preparer recalls the lessons of his first filing season
taxnews
What were some of the chal-
lenges you faced?
Holmes: It was challenging to
know what questions to ask and when to
ask them. You often hear the phrase, “There is
no such thing as a stupid question.” However,
when you are trying to prove your worth and
show others you know what you are doing,
you try not to ask questions you perceive as
“stupid.” At times I felt I couldn’t ask ques-
tions because I perceived them as stupid. I
felt I was supposed to know the answer, or
the person I needed to ask looked extremely
busy. Yet asking those questions is part of
the learning process. You have to ask them,
no matter how you feel about it. If you don’t
about how bad tax season is and how much
you have to work. By the time I finally got to
my first tax season, I was pretty prepared for
the long hours. Because I was aware of the
increased workload so far in advance, I was
able to balance my regular activities outside
of work with the increased time spent at work.
The demand on your time definitely forces
you to stay organized.
Brian Swanson is the director of marketing and business development for Daszkal
Bolton LLP in South Florida. Reach him at
(561) 953-1486, bswanson@daszkalbolton.
com or @DaszkalBolton.
What processes/tools did your firm offer
that you found helpful?
Holmes: The Quickfinder was my best
friend during tax season. It was easy to read
and comprehend. I relied on it for answers to
tax issues when I wasn’t sure of the answers.
Although it worked really well for me at that
What advice can you offer young ac-
counting professionals experiencing their
first tax season?
Holmes: Always remember you have an
excuse — it’s your first tax season — and that
just might get you out of a lot of trouble.
No, seriously, the best advice I can share is
to strive for continuous improvement, never
stop learning, have fun and enjoy the journey. While that’s part of “The Rea Way,” it is
sound advice for all new accounting professionals.
During your first tax season, you are given
the tools and support you need to get the job
done. The challenges most people face come
from insecurities of not having done it before.
Tax season is like any sporting activity you
participate in — you have a lot of nervousness
and butterflies before the game, but as soon
as the whistle blows, those butterflies disappear. It’s all business from there on out.
Good luck! AT
IRS LOOSENS RULES ON
USE OF TAXPAYER INFO
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Internal Revenue Service has issued a set of proposed
rules that would make it easier for tax
preparers to contact clients about tax law
developments, send out newsletters and
deal with liability insurance claims.
The proposed and temporary regulations, and related revenue rulings, pertain
to Section 7216 of the Tax Code, and
enable tax preparers to use or disclose
tax return information without explicit
taxpayer consent in certain limited circumstances. Tax preparers can contact
their clients regarding tax law developments that may affect them. They can
also disclose information in connection
with the potential sale or purchase of a
tax preparer’s business and during the
process of conducting client conflict-of-interest checks.
Revenue Ruling 2010-4 provides
guidance on whether a preparer is liable
for criminal and civil penalties when the
preparer uses tax return information
to contact taxpayers to inform them
of changes in tax laws that could affect them. The ruling also governs the
disclosure of information to third-party
newsletter service providers.
Revenue Ruling 2010-5 provides guidance on whether a preparer is liable for
criminal and civil penalties when they disclose to a professional liability insurance
carrier information required for coverage,
or for reporting or investigating claims.
IRS WIDENS DISCLOSURE WINDOW
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In Notice 2010-8,
the Internal Revenue Service has expanded the time window to 120 days during
which it may share a taxpayer’s tax return
information with third parties, based
upon a taxpayer’s written disclosure
authorization. The newly expanded time
window is retroactive to Oct. 19, 2009.
The old time window had been 60 days.
Forms affected by the change include
Form 4506, Request for Copy of Tax Return; Form 4506-T, Request for Transcript
of Tax Return; Form 4506T-EZ, Short
Form Request for Individual Tax Return
Transcript; and Form 8821, Tax Information Authorization.
