We have passed the traditional end of “tax season”, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the tax filing deadline has been extended to July 15. Fortunately, we are open year round and provide tax services year round. Rarely is there a month in which at least one person does not come in to file taxes. As such the extension of the filing season does not directly affect how we operate. Where is does cause issues is that we are open 7 days a week, and I actually work 7 days a week, during tax season. I have come into the office every day since January, like I always do (I just have not been seeing clients the past few weeks like I always do). A couple years ago, I worked 105 straight days. I have declared that I am going to let that record stand, and I will be making no effort to chase it. As such, I am not planning to be open 7 days a week until July 15. That is not to say that I will not have evening and weekend availability to do taxes, or that my clients necessarily need it. As long as Massachusetts is shut down, I will be in the office every day. Simply put, I have no where else to go. Since my wife and my daughter also work here, it is the same as staying home. I have also been working late, for much the same reason. However, I will not be making any effort to be here by 10:00 on Saturdays and Sundays. In fact, I probably will not be coming in until the afternoon. I do come to the office on weekends, and often work nights, even when it is not tax season. We lawyers invented paperwork, and I have plenty of that to do. So I come in during off-hours to do that. I will be making evening and weekend appointments for taxes.
However, because we have complete remote capability, clients can drop of or send in documents at any time and we can complete the return and schedule a secure online conference. No one actually needs to be in the office for the conference! We offer everything from secure portals and secure links (just email us at office@attorneyhaskell.com and we will set that up) to our low tech secure portal (we cut a mail slot in the front door of the office). Fax and snail mail also work. When we are ready to review, or if we need to have an intermediate meeting to discuss issues raised in your documents or information we have not been provided, we have secure channels for that as well. We are still putting in place a secure videoconferencing system, but I do use the conventional, albeit not so secure, video channels such as Zoom in the meantime. I do not screen share with clients on Zoom. I do have a secure platform for that. As such, you can give me your documents at 4:00 on Sunday morning if you wish, and I can do the taxes that afternoon.
I discuss some of this issues in the following video:
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