Taxpayers Expect Secure, Digital Services from their Tax Pro 

Intuit’s 2022 Taxpayer Insights & Intelligence Brief summarizes the wants and needs of over 3,000 US taxpayers. Let’s take a deeper look at the core findings. 

How Do Taxpayers Prefer to Work with Tax Professionals? 

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic forced us to abruptly move to remote work, people have realized the benefits of digital collaboration. It’s not just about skipping the drive to the office (although that does save time and money) or being able to work in pajamas. One of the greatest benefits is accessing documents from wherever you are – whether you’re in a coffee shop down the street or on the other side of the country. This makes remote collaboration convenient and easy. 

And digital communication is what over half of taxpayers prefer. That means saying bye to in-person meetings, hardcopy documents, and snail mail – all things that require more effort and time than working online. 

If you’re hesitant, consider the growth potential: Opening your tax office to remote work means you can accept clients and hire staff from anywhere, not just those located in your city. Streamlined digital workflows also let you get more done in less time, so you’ll end up having more clients without increasing your workload to unmanageable levels. 

How Should Your Tax Office Share Documents and Data with Clients? 

So we know that most taxpayers want to work digitally, but what are their expectations around document sharing, storage, and security? Let’s see what the survey found: 

• 73% want a secure place to upload documentation to their Tax Pro throughout the year 
• 86% expect their tax documents and information to be stored with industry-standard security 
• 74% expect to send their personal, sensitive data via a secure transfer 

How can you meet these high expectations? It comes down to the accounting tech you use. Your accounting tech stack should include a cloud-based, secure document management system and client portal. These are two core parts of a robust tech stack, so it’s surprising that only 52% of tax pros use online document exchange, according to the report. 

What Digital Workflows Do Tax Clients Want? 

When you make it easy to work with you, not only does it increase client satisfaction and retention, but it also increases referrals. Here are some things clients expect their Tax Pro to offer. 

• eSignatures: Nearly 70% of respondents expect to sign documents electronically. E-signing saves time compared to in-person or mailed signature processes; however, there is a concern. Over 50% said they would be concerned if their Tax Pro was using an eSignature tool that didn’t comply with the IRS. Before you implement eSignature into your workflow, first confirm it meets requirements. 
• Online document requests and tracking: 72% of taxpayers appreciate having a list that clearly shows what documents they need to submit to their Tax Pro. This helps them stay organized and on schedule. Almost 75% of respondents said they want reminders from their Tax Pro on the next steps and other document-related tasks. When you choose a document management system and client portal for your tax office, confirm it will meet these expectations. 

Empower Your Tax Office and Workflows with SmartVault 

Used by over 2,000,000 people, SmartVault is a trusted document management system and client portal that helps streamline document workflows and increase client collaboration. It automates how you request specific documents by allowing you to send request lists to one client or many at a time. This provides a clear list of documents to your clients and allows them to upload everything right into the online portal. SmartVault also sends notifications to clients that gently remind them to complete the action item. You’ll also receive an automatic notification when documents are received and downloaded. SmartVault integrates with DocuSign for seamless eSignature processes.  

To learn more about how SmartVault can work for you, schedule a demo with us today.