Checklist for the Upcoming Tax Season
- February 1, 2019
- Category: Dispute Management
Of the 65 percent of taxpayers expecting a refund in 2018, 49 percent said they would put it into savings, while 35 percent would pay down debt, according to an annual tax refund survey released today by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics.
Connecting with debtors around refund time and persuading them to lower their debt using their tax refund is not just good for collections, but also helps the long term financial situation of the borrower.
How can your company take advantage of the tax season?
- Make sure your staff members are trained and are ready to make calls
The last quarter of the previous financial year and the first quarter of the new one are the best times for collectors to stay in continuous contact with customers, encouraging them to make good financial choices with the anticipated refunds.
But before your collectors get on the phone to make calls, they need to be trained and tested on the latest changes to the laws, regulations, and client requirements.
Conduct a refresher training and testing company-wide.
- Make sure that the complaints/disputes on high performing accounts or potential accounts are resolved before tax-season outreach
To ensure compliance with regulations, companies must ensure that the complaints and disputes are closed before making any further collection efforts. This is a great time to analyse complaints and drill down to get insights from them. Closing complaints to the satisfaction of both collector and customer ensures that future outreach is welcomed.
Resolve customer complaints before the outreach effort.
- Make sure you have your SOPs and Policies updated and your staff members are certified
In an environment of frequently changing tax regulations, it is imperative to have Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and Policy documents updated and current. Tracking certifications of staff members on the documents is also a must. With the number of call-baiting cases rising, documented policies and procedures can serve as bona fide error defence.
Keep SOP and Policy Documents updated and available to employees. Stay on top of employee certifications.
Provana’s IPACS compliance management system can help employees stay current with any changes to company-wide policies and procedures as well as operate modules to train employees and track their certifications. In addition, Provana’s ICAP Speech Analytics software can monitor and track customer communications during the stressful tax-time call period to ensure customer concerns are being handled in a respectful, efficient, and compliant manner. Let us know if we can be your partner during tax time.