Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Everyone wearing a green face mask? Good.
Legend has it, Saint Patrick banished all snakes and other reptiles from Ireland. Today, when many of us would normally be teasing each other about an absence, or abundance of green clothing/accessories, many of us at bars or parades or some other type of revelry, we find ourselves in a weird spot. It’s a brave new world and it seems like everyday the goal posts are being moved.
I’m a natural-born contrarian, so I was ready to call this much ado about nothing, but the more I learn, the scarier this thing gets, and I agree with the authorities on the best way to fight this is through social distancing to flatten the curve. Here is a link to an excellent article in the Washington Post regarding the exponential spread of infections and four scenarios, clearly showing Social Distancing as our current best tool in our tool box to fight the spread of this virus. All of our collective actions count dramatically at this point and that is so painfully made clear by the actions of one person in South Korea: “Don’t be Patient 31.”
Many people are going to be tremendously impacted health-wise and financially. GGT is not in the business of meaningless platitudes, rather we are in the solutions business, and currently that solution is doing our part to keep our clients and our staff as safe as possible.
To that end, effective immediately, we are conducting all of our tax appointments online. We will no longer be offering in-person tax appointments for the foreseeable future. We are quietly optimistic and hoping that this passes soon and a return to normalcy comes. When that happens, we will once again be offering in-person appointments, but until that time, we must insist for the protection of our clients and staff, that all tax appointments be done remotely.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience but are pleased with our remote solution. We have decided to utilize Go To Meeting as a real-time screen sharing solution. We can review your source documents and the tax return in a phone call. We are not utilizing the video component of this application and currently only sharing our screen. You don’t have to sign up or purchase anything. We send you a link to join the meeting approximately five minutes before the meeting.
If there are documents you just cannot get scanned, please feel free to come in and drop them off in person. Our client portal, Canopy, works very well on a computer. For mobile access, I strongly suggest downloading the app, which works very well.
Lastly, for those of us in the GGT family that are experiencing financial distress, please don’t put off your tax filing due to economics. Talk to us. We’re happy to work with you. In the meantime, stay safe. Be mindful. Check in on your loved ones. Don’t be an ass and load up on a year’s supply of TP.
Sincerely,
Baruch and the GGT Team