OUR FIRM HAS A NEW PROGRAM TO ACCESS AND RETRIEVE IRS FORMS

W-2 AND 1099-R AS WELL AS PRIOR YEARS TAX RETURNS

 FOR A $20 FEE PER REQUEST, PER YEAR.

BACKGROUND

UNTIL NOW, WHEN WE HAVE RECEIVED REQUESTS FROM CLIENTS OR FORMER CLIENTS FOR COPIES OF PRIOR YEARS WAGE FORMS (W-2) OR RETIREMENT DISTRIBUTIONS, IT HAS BEEN "HIT OR MISS" AS TO WHETHER WE CAN RETRIEVE AND THEN SEND THESE DOCUMENTS. IT HAS ALSO BEEN AN AWKWARD AND TIME-CONSUMING PROCESS.

OUR PREVIOUS PROCEDURES WERE STRICTLY SECURITY ORIENTED

THESE PROBLEMS EXIST BECAUSE NONE OF OUR DOCUMENT STORAGE SYSTEMS ARE DESIGNED FOR RAPID RETRIEVAL. THEY ARE DESIGNED FOR SECURITY. IN THE CASE OF A W-2, WE ARE NOT REQUIRED TO KEEP THESE FORMS UNTIL THE END OF THE YEAR IN WHICH THE TAX RETURN IS FILED. CONSEQUENTLY THEY ARE EITHER DESTROYED OR PLACED IN OUR SECURE STORAGE. ACCESSING THESE PAPERS INVOLVED A TIME CONSUMING TRIP TO AN OFF-SITE SECURE STORAGE LOCATION.

OUR NEW PROCEDURES ALLOW FOR RAPID ACCESS WITHOUT COMPROMISING SECURITY

EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, WE HAVE INITIATED ON-SITE SECURE STORAGE FOR ALL OF THESE DOCUMENTS, ALLOWING FOR RETRIEVAL OF ALL TAX RETURNS WE HAVE FILED BACK TO 2003, AS WELL AS A LARGE NUMBER (BUT NOT ALL) W-2 AND 1099-R FORMS BACK TO 2006. WE HAVE ALSO TAKEN STEPS TO MAKE RETRIEVAL OF PDF COPIES OF TAX RETURNS MORE READILY AVAILABLE FROM OUR SECURE SERVER. LIKE ALL CLIENT DATA, ALL OF THIS INFORMATION IS STORED IN A SECURE, PROFESSIONALLY OPERATED SERVER FACILITY IN DALLAS, TEXAS OPERATED BY RACKSPACE. RATHER THAN STORE OLDER DOCUMENTS IN INEXPENSIVE AND COMPACTED ARCHIVE FILES, WHICH ARE TIME CONSUMING TO ACCESS, WE HAVE PURCHASED ADDITIONAL SERVER SPACE ON WHICH THESE FILES WILL BE STORED IN A FULLY ACCESSIBLE FORM.

FEES

WE HAVE STRUGGLED TO MAINTAIN OUR COSTS, AND THEREFORE OUR FEES, AT A STEADY LEVEL (WE HAVE NOT CHANGED OUR BASE FEE FOR THREE YEARS). OUR FEES HAVE BEEN RESTRUCTURED IN THE LAST YEAR TO PASS THROUGH COSTS ONLY TO SPECIFIC CLIENTS WHO INCUR THEM, ALLOWING OUR BASE FEE TO STAY DOWN FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS AT A TIME. BY UPGRADING OUR ABILITY TO RETRIEVE IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS WHILE CONTROLLING COSTS WE WILL SERVE OUR CLIENT BASE THAT MUCH BETTER.

THE FEE CHARGED FOR EACH RETRIEVAL REQUEST WILL BE $20 PER REQUEST. EACH DIFFERENT TAX YEAR WILL BE TREATED AS A SEPARATE REQUEST.

PAYMENT FOR THIS SERVICE MAY BE ARRANGED BY CONTACTING PRACTICE MANAGER LYNN KELLY AT 800-259-3372. USING A CREDIT CARD IS THE FASTEST METHOD.

ALSO BE AWARE THAT PRIVACY CONSIDERATIONS PROHIBIT SENDING THIS INFORMATION OTHER THAN DIRECTLY TO THE CLIENT, UNLESS THE THIRD PARTY SENDS US A CONSENT FORM, SIGNED BY THE CLIENT, WHICH MEETS TREASURY DEPARTMENT REGULATIONS FOR DISCLOSURE.