I Still Haven't Good Enough at Preparing
Taxes to Do Them by Mind-Reading
Volume 13, Number 11
Issue 611
I Still Haven't Gotten Good Enough At Preparing Taxes To Do Them By Mind-Reading
During the closing days of each busy, I find myself saying more and more "if you don't know, I don't know." Old-line clients smile at this remark because they have heard it before and understand why I say it. New ones need it explained to them.
I continue to say this "one-liner" in response to inadequate and non-responsive answers that clients--mostly new ones--often give to my substantive and objective questions about facts and figures that I need the answers to in order to prepare a proper and correct tax return. 95% of the time the non-responsiveness is innocent and is just part of the process. Sometimes, though, it is the sign of unwillingness or something even worse.
Evasive and non-responsive client "I don't knows" are sometimes given to my questions about stock cost basis, stock options, refinancing situations, mileage and business records, charitable contributions and personal property taxes.
Some of the more difficult "I don't knows" are often said to me when people ask me to "get them an extension." When I respond that an extension of time to file is not an extension of time to pay and advise that extensions must be supported by the payment of any balance due, I often have serious confrontation with the "I don't knows."
"I don't knows" hinder my success. It is part of my job to make every single "I don't know" turn into a specific and objective answer that ultimately makes itself into a line on a tax return. Every single "I don't know" is an item that keeps me a step away from issuing a completed return ready for signature.
As a professional that serves the public, I am constantly amazed about how the general population thinks that professionals magically have all the answers that they are searching for and can give answers even when they are not given basic facts. Regretfully, some of the worst client "hard feelings" that I've ever made came from me simply asking questions. If I ask them at too detailed a level, I am "coming on too strong." If I ask them at too elementary a level, I am "condescending."
Sometimes I think people mask their own insecurity by searching out professionals while being purposefully unarmed with basic facts to discuss their problems. Then, the professional fails because they (the customer) can't get basic questions answered (such as cost basis, financial records, business history) and then blame is shifted to the professional. By having "The Blame Shifter" as a client, the professional takes the fall for the client's failures.
If the taxpayer doesn't know, I'm not going to know. If I ask what charitable contributions were and you tell me that you don't know, I can't make something up. Any CPA that does is not doing their job. If you don't know your cost basis for a stock sale, I'm not making it up for you! If you don't know how much depreciation you have taken over the years on rental property that you have sold, I'm not going to know. Old-line clients know not to put me in these situations. Most new clients will know for future years. Some clients, though, are purposeful in their "I don't knows." These are the ones that set me up for failure. It's these clients that are a CPA's nightmare.
If you come to me with an aggressive attitude that is based on "I don't know and I don't care," we won't get very far. If a client's attitude is at all belligerent and uncooperative or hostile, we will not have fun and we will both have a horrible experience. These are the clients that I have to summon the courage to send packing at the first opportunity.
I do, in extreme situations, ask hostile clients to leave the building immediately. Every professional should. That sends a message to my staff that I uphold the principles about which I speak.
We can have the best and most pleasant tax preparation experience of your life, or we can have a bad one. I'll bend over backwards to actually make the process fun and enthusiastic. I will make sure that we work together towards the goal of you paying the lowest legal tax. You'll make mistakes and I might even make one once in a while, but we will get through it together as a team. That's the ONLY approach I'll tolerate. To do all this, you have to be prepared to be your own advocate while giving respect at the same time that you receive it.
David B. Robinson, CPA
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