RTS #068 Something on taxes for everyone

Last week, we talked about making sure taxes are on the agenda for every client as you go through your fall client meetings (aka fall Surge). I’ve been having these conversations for a long time, so I know there are at least some of you who read the email and thought: “Steven, that sounds nice in theory, but what am I supposed to do for my clients where none of that is relevant?” And because I get that question so often I want to make sure I get ahead of it and boldly tell you – there is something you can put on the agenda on taxes for EVERYONE!

I gave you a whole menu to choose from last week that didn’t even touch on business owners or advanced planning techniques, so the list of tangible tax planning is expansive…but let’s assume for a minute that none of those apply. There are still great ways to deliver value on the topic of taxes.

Before we get into some examples I want to make sure we’re clear on why this is so important. For most of your clients (especially ones who don’t work alongside the team at Retirement Tax Services), they don’t have a tax professional in their life who is regularly, or ever, looking to the future instead of last year’s tax return. That means if you don’t create a place for them to feel comfortable asking their tax questions, they’ll likely go unasked. You want to bring taxes up every year with your clients because taxes come back around every year. And as a client’s life and financial situation change so does their tax situation. So be that person in their life who is inviting the questions and helping facilitate the action that gets taken.

Back to what you can do:

• Help all of your clients set up an IRS PIN – this is a great identity theft protection step and is simple and easy to do. Your team should all have these so it’s great practice for them to do first before suggesting to your clients.

• Help all of your clients set up an SSA Account – this also doubles as an identity theft protection step but allows clients to review their earnings history to see if there is missing data or anomalies (yes, they do happen).

• Show your clients where the tax planning you did together in the past comes through on their tax return – even if there isn’t something new you are doing this year, make sure they are seeing the benefits of the work you have done in the past.

• Review your favorites from the IRS’s dirty dozen – this is an annual list the IRS puts out every year of common scams and issues taxpayers should be aware of.

• Share the types of questions and life changes you hear about from other clients that have a tax impact to make sure the client knows what is relevant to share on taxes – sometimes “tax” situations don’t come up until it’s too late because the client didn’t realize it was a tax situation at all (inheritances, gifting, change in filing statuses, etc.).

Whatever you choose the goal is to make sure the client knows you are committed to being part of the tax conversation and to try and stay ahead of changes in their life that could have an impact on the tax planning you have or will do. Keep it simple, keep it consistent, keep helping your clients NOT tip the IRS.

Happy Tax Planning!