Can You Work 15-Hour Days and Be Ethical?

Enrolled agents, and the tax community as a whole, work too much during tax season, and it puts taxpayers at a disadvantage.

I know you may not want to hear this because it is contrary to your business model of jamming eight to 15 tax returns per day into your schedule, six to seven days per week, for all of tax season.

I know you may not want to hear this because it is the “the way I’ve always done it” and you believe you make good money that way.

Overwork is our form of professional hazing and some flaunt it as a badge of honor. We need to do better. Not only does overwork damage our physical, mental, and emotional health, it damages our clients’ overall outcomes from the tax return process.

Circular 230 is the enrolled agent’s guidepost not only for ethical considerations in practice but also best practices that ultimately protect both the client and tax administration. Here are some key Circular 230 areas implicated by a culture of overwork:

§10.21 – Knowledge of client’s omission

• If you note a prior year error, do you have the time and capacity to properly explain the issues to the client and amend, if needed?

§10.22 – Diligence as to accuracy

• Do you have the mental energy after 12–15 hours of work to do a completely accurate and optimal return for a client?
• Do you do a second review of all returns prior to filing to look for errors and possible planning opportunities?
• If you have a new client, do you have time to review the last two prior returns and ask good questions about the taxpayer’s situation to ensure accuracy, or do you simply copy the prior year return assuming it is correct?

§10.35 – Competence

• If a return is beyond your scope of knowledge, do you refer to an expert, even though you may give up that revenue and have lost preparation time?
• Do you have time to properly research tax law, take additional education, or seek expert advice for an unfamiliar area of tax law on a client’s return?
• If the tax law changes during tax season, do you stop to learn it so that you can properly advise your clients, or do you wait for off-season, potentially allowing clients to miss tax benefits and planning that would help them?
• Do you have the time and knowledge to do actual tax planning with clients that need it, or do you simply give quick tax tips during an appointment?

If you cannot answer all of the above questions in a way that is in your client’s best interests, I challenge you post-tax season to reevaluate how you operate so that you make your clients your first priority, have a healthier work-life balance during tax season, and earn the fees that you deserve.

As always, I continue to challenge you to contribute to your profession by writing content for EA Journal. If you have an article idea, contact me by email to discuss it. I am here to help you.