tax season

congress: tax prep companies shared private data with google, meta for years

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former ftc chief says this data breach is a “five-alarm fire.”

by rick richardson
technology this week

a seven-month congressional investigation found that three of the biggest tax preparation firms in the country may have shared americans’ private financial information with google and meta for years in a possible violation of federal law. the information, in some cases, was used for targeted advertising.

more tech this week: the first police officer on the scene might be a drone | electronic skin that can sense touch will transform robotics | chatgpt passes cpa exam on second try | stanford scientists 3d-print heart tissue | four of today’s new technologies that will be tomorrow’s ‘norm’ | cyber insurance costs rise in health care as attacks soar

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the investigation’s findings reveal a “five-alarm fire” for taxpayer privacy that, according to legal experts, could result in public and private lawsuits, criminal penalties or even a “mortal blow” for some major industry players like taxslayer, h&r block and taxact.

“on a scale from one to 10, this is a 15 … this is as great as any privacy breach that i’ve seen other than exploiting kids. this is a five-alarm fire if what we know about this so far is true.”

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control your time: avoid ambush meetings and calls

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how much time do you lose to pop-ins and unscheduled phone calls? get it back.

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

ambush meetings and phone calls are unscheduled events. clients just walk in with a tax document and want to say, “hello.”

more: get clients to bring tax docs early…yes, early |you train your clients, whether you mean to or not | train your clients before they train you | why time tracking still matters | business owners face one of three exits | don’t let clients dictate tax workflow | make fewer mistakes, increase revenue and capacity | how small firms can win the talent wars | easy ways to avoid ‘done but’ tax returns | six ways to create a millennial-friendly firm | do you know your turnaround time?
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this morphs into, “quick question while i’m here. …” fifteen productive minutes escape your life, which is really 30 minutes when you consider the mental time you need to switch back to the task that was interrupted.
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four simple game-changers to modernize your practice

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focus on the client experience.

by blake oliver
with david leary

my mom is in her 70s and still gets the taxes organized for her household. she’s been using the same 10-partner firm for the past 30 years. like many small firms, hers had no succession plan, so it recently merged with a big firm – top 25. as you may imagine, her recent tax season experience was disappointing. she submitted all her documents on time and then didn’t hear anything from her new accountant for weeks. finally, she received a return to review and was shocked to see herself marked down as blind. my mom is not blind. there were other errors in her return, including a missing real estate transaction. clearly, it had not gone through a proper review process.

more: nine ways to measure client experience | how the pandemic changed firm mindsets | twelve clues it’s time to outsource or offshore | yes, you have the staffing for cas | why firms shy away from cas | hook your firm on cas | can you identify real cas prospects? | 8 ways to create your cas practice | do you value your cas value?
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my mind exploded, wondering how such a large, well-known firm didn’t have a better quality control process in place. i’m guessing they didn’t even have a workflow management solution. after sharing this story with several cpas at other large firms, i learned that my mom’s situation was not all that unusual.

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how tax practitioners became cybersecurity risks

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tax professionals are a hacker’s dream.  

by donny shimamoto, cpa, citp, cgma
on cybersecurity for accountants
center for accounting transformation

in 2015 the u.s. internal revenue service (irs) held its first security summit[i]. by creating a public-private partnership via the summit, the irs is seeking to protect more taxpayers and more tax dollars from tax-related identity theft.

more: how hacker-proof is your firm? | donny shimamoto: future firm growth requires a mindshift | ai, ocr, nlp & cpas: oh my!   |  accounting nerds, unlock your super powers  | early adopters gain an edge in audit | dustin wheeler: for serious cas success, hire tech teams | csr for cpas: the missing ingredient | donny shimamoto explains how ‘agile’ applies to cpa firms |  staff retention for remote workers | why the future is in risk advisory |  ready for non-cpa “cpa” firms?
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partners in the summit included the irs, state tax agencies and the private sector tax industry—for example, financial institutions, cybersecurity practitioners and tax practitioners.

the summit brought together people from the full value chain of tax compliance. taxpayers submit information to tax practitioners, who prepare the returns and submit them to the tax authorities.

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top tax vendors caught red-handed selling private taxpayer data

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taxslayer, h&r block and taxact have been passing on sensitive personal and financial data to meta, google and other big tech companies.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

q: since when did private tax returns become public information?

a: since some of the nation’s biggest tax preparers decided to share it.

more cybersecurity: jon baron: why the u.s. must act now to protect our online privacy |top tax vendors caught red-handed selling private taxpayer data | how hacker-proof is your firm? | it takes a village to stop cybercrime | one-third of cyber attacks involve small businesses | cyber insurance costs rise in health care as attacks soar | the why, what and how of cybersecurity for accountants | when cyber-crime hits close to home | cybersecurity for tax professionals |

more tax: irs embracing stakeholders | coming soon: new ways to pay the irs | irs sets milestones for radically new service | irs promises 12 customer service initiatives | should tax preparers be certified competent? | irs has big plans for its $80 billion | can’t irs tax pro accounts do more? | taxpayer assistance centers need upgrade
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

for all your concerns about protecting client information, it seems that taxslayer, h&r block and taxact have been passing on sensitive personal and financial data to meta, google and other big tech companies.
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