Find a Tax Preparer that is right for you
When opening your mail in January and February, you probably will receive a lot of documents with descriptions and/or warnings about this information being “Important Income Tax Information!” Soon you will have to decide how to deal with last year’s income tax situation.
So, do you try to prepare and file your own income tax returns, or are you thinking about hiring a tax professional?
If you are thinking about hiring a tax professional ask yourself “why would or do I need a tax preparer”. If you feel that you need a preparer there are four basic needs for tax preparation services:
1. speed,
2. accuracy,
3. creating a customized tax strategy, and
4. managing a complex tax situation with accuracy and professionalism.
Everyone wants their tax returns to be accurate. All tax professionals, even those at national franchises, should guarantee the accuracy of their work.
If you have a particularly complicated tax situation, you should seek a tax professional with substantial experience to help you.
If having your taxes done quickly is most important, you’ll probably go to one of the nationwide tax franchises. Although I don’t recommend this, the employees at these companies are trained to get your taxes done quickly. Every year I hear from new clients and non-clients who are/were dissatisfied at the level of accuracy and professionalism encountered there.
Tax laws can be complicated and usually change from year to year, so it’s important to find a preparer who has the knowledge and experience to prepare your returns correctly. A lot of states do not require tax preparers to be licensed; however, many preparers are licensed, certified, and belong to professional organizations that require a certain level of education. Find one of those.
Also, services vary considerably from preparer to preparer, so you’ll also want to find one who offers the services you need.
Before you hire a preparer, call around to a couple of tax offices and take the time to ask these questions:
What kind of formal tax training do you have?
Do you hold any professional licenses or designations, such as certified public accountant (CPA)?
Do you belong to any professional organizations?
Do you take continuing professional education classes each year?
How long have you been preparing tax returns?
Have you ever done a tax return dealing with my situation?
Are you open for business year-round?
Have you ever been disciplined by any government authority for malpractice?
Are you authorized to and will you represent me in an audit or collection matter with the IRS or state Department of Revenue if necessary?
How much do you charge, and how do you calculate your fees?
Ask what their price range is. Prices for tax preparation will vary depending on how complex your tax return is. Some professionals charge by the hour, or by how many tax forms you need to fill out, or even a flat fee for all work.
Ask about any guarantees the tax preparer offers. The tax preparer should be willing to guarantee the accuracy of the returns, be willing to amend the tax return if there was a mistake in the tax prep, and be willing and able to assist you in an IRS audit.
Also, be careful of tax preparers who claim to know “the secrets” of obtaining unusually large refunds. Most preparers charge rates based on their time or the complexity of your return, and you should avoid anyone whose fees are based on a percentage of your refund. (This practice is illegal.) Incase questions arise after your return has been filed, find out if, and where, your tax preparer can be contacted in future weeks or months.
Never sign a blank tax form for any preparer.
Remember that you are ultimately responsible for your tax return, so be sure to choose your tax preparer carefully. If you want to find competent, licensed tax professional I suggest you visit The IRS web site Authorized IRS e-file Providers for Individuals then/or go to Search the NATP Member Directory, then call around and ask questions.
Friends and family can be of additional assistance.
What You’ll Need:
◊ All your current year tax documents
◊ Photo identification
◊ Social Security cards for yourself and your dependents
◊ Checkbook for direct deposit of your refund/direct debit for any amount due
◊ Copy of last year’s tax return
Tip: Little known fact is that local CPAs and EAs and other Tax professionals charge only slightly more than a franchise service and will provide much more personalized service.
Tip: Be sure to ask if your preparer is an enrolled agent (EA), CPA, or has received advanced tax training.
Tip: All tax professionals specialize. Find a CPA or EA who has the experience, knowledge, and skills you are looking for.
Tip: Some franchises will try to sell you an enhanced guarantee to cover additional taxes and penalties in case of an audit. This is practically a guaranteed profit for the franchise.
Some more Tips:
¤ A CPA is a professional accountant licensed by the state. Best for corporate accounting, tax audits, and business consulting.
¤ An Enrolled Agent is a tax professional licensed by the IRS. Best for complex tax issues, tax audits, and responding to tax collectors.
¤ A Tax Preparer may be registered by the state. Best for straightforward tax returns.
¤ The national Tax Franchises are H&R Block, Jackson Hewitt, and Liberty Tax. With offices nationwide. Often fast, courteous, and convenient. But some employees will be less trained than others. Be sure to ask for a senior-level tax preparer.
Expect to pay from $150 to $450, depending on how complicated your tax return is.
Without A Guarantee!
Without A Guarantee!
This is another addition to the series “Mistakes made when choosing a paid tax preparer”.
I already touched on the topic of guarantees earlier, but since having one or more guarantees is so important – especially when it comes to filing your taxes with the IRS – I thought I better go into a little bit more detail just to make sure you are clear on what should be expected of a tax professional in this area.
In my assessment, the more guarantees, the better. So you know, I’m talking about IN WRITING guarantees, NOT some tax professional verbally telling you, “Oh, yeah – you’ll never have a problem if I prepare your taxes, but if you do, I guarantee I’ll fix it. No problem.”
That is not the kind of ‘guarantee’ I’m talking about. I’ve heard too many horror stories about taxpayers getting a letter from the IRS, then take it to their accountant, and then the letter sits on a desk gathering dust. Or the stories about the CPA who makes some calls on your behalf, but you get charged an arm and a leg in the process. Or sadly, a taxpayer doesn’t get any help from the person who prepared their taxes for them so they go it alone and call the IRS themselves and figure out what to do and not to do during this normally ugly IRS correspondence. This can be a nightmarish!
Don’t go down this road! In your case, just make sure the paid tax practitioner you are working with has guarantees, in writing, for you to hold on to if ever needed. And make sure the guarantees include stuff you want guaranteed! Let me give you an example:
I’ve seen some accountants guarantee they will file your taxes for you by April 15th or they will file an extension for you. Well, whipy skipy dipy do! That sure makes you feel good in the morning, doesn’t it?
Other weak guarantees I’ve seen in the tax industry are, “We guarantee we will begin preparing your tax return the same day we meet with you.” That means nothing. Most don’t care when I start preparing their taxes. They want to know how long it is going to take me to finish it and do so without leaving out silly errors I know I should have caught.
But truth be told …
If you got to sneak a peek behind what ‘REALLY’ goes on in most tax professionals’ offices, you’d be SHOCKED!)
So let’s pretend you knew what was really going on once you left your accountant’s office. I GUARANTEE you’d be saying (or thinking) the following:
· … you barely looked at my return because you were too overloaded with other tax work and you didn’t hire enough competent employees to help you during tax season …
· … you don’t trust other tax preparers doing your returns, but since you get so tired doing everything yourself, stupid mistakes become common place and you hope no one notices (kind of like an ostrich with his head in the sand)
· … if I decided to take my taxes and go somewhere else, you won’t care for very long because you’ve got too much going on, getting so many different files mixed up, you don’t have time to even notice …
The moral of this story is:
Protect yourself and file your taxes with a tax business that’s been around for a long time and can back up everything they do with multiple guarantees. And remember: the guarantees should be in areas you care about, like:
· Tax Return Accuracy …
· Speed of Service …
· Most Money Legally Yours …
· Ongoing IRS Protection For Years After Filing …
These are the things YOU care about! Make sure the tax professional you choose stands behind these critical areas of tax filing so you get the most out of your tax filing experience!
Again, I want to invite any and all guest post on this subject. I want to hear from all bloggers or just readers with their own input. Let’s see what you see I am missing. If you have some words of wisdom on this subject please let us share it with everyone, if it is something that has already been covered, so what, I am looking for others to tell what they know or have learned about finding a paid preparer.
Paying Too Little OR Too Much. . .
Paying Too Little OR Too Much When Filing A Regular Middle Income Tax Return!
This is another addition to the series “Mistakes made when choosing a paid tax preparer”.
Don’t pay to little or too much when filing your income tax return. That might have sounded odd to you?
Why would you not want to pay too little to have your taxes filed with a tax professional? Well, let me explain. What’s too little or too much? It depends. Let’s start with the “paying too little” for filing a middle income person’s tax return. Who is it do you think are the tax professionals charging the least amount or advertise the lowest fees for tax preparation? Some of these folks are the “fly-by-night” tax preparers. Yeah, they may know a thing or two about filing some tax forms. What they don’t know, they try and figure out as they go along. These may be nice people for the most part, but getting them to be your tax representative with the IRS might not be the wisest decision.
What about paying too much when filing a tax return? Did you know to some people, paying the most money to file their taxes is like a badge of honor? (Or if you want to know the secret truth — it makes the person feel important [like a "somebody"] because they paid $500.00 or $700.00 or $1,200.00 to have their taxes filed!) I’m a rich important guy, “I paid my accountant $600 bucks to file my taxes this year!” as he sips his ‘shaken not stirred martini’ at the country club.
No thank you!
Yes, you’d probably be surprised, but in a lot of cases, when someone in the middle income tax bracket wants to be sure they’ve filed correctly with the IRS they (very foolishly) go pay too much at some CPA’s office with the leather couch and fancy plants and wall hangings, and after they write the check to the accountant for $500 bucks or whatever, they feel pretty good, but their gut tells them something is wrong.
Well, there usually is something wrong. It’s called overpaying when you don’t have to!
Regular retail tax offices with nice, clean working environments are just fine. Getting a quality preparer with multiple guarantees backing up their work, ongoing support and year round access to a manager or person in charge is all you need. Do you need to pay $500.00 or $1,000.00 dollars for that? Actually, on most middle income returns, you can pay in the $150 to $250 range and be just fine. Some high-priced tax professionals will charge you $500 or $600 for the same forms and schedules.
My advice is to find a tax professional who charges by the form so he/she is not pulling fees out of thin air. If he adjust the price that is on him. Like I said, you can over pay or actually under pay – either way, both will come back to bite you in the preverbal end.
Getting the best value for your money is always the right way to go!
Again, I want to invite any and all guest post on this subject. I want to hear from all bloggers or just readers with their own input. Let’s see what you see I am missing. If you have some words of wisdom on this subject please let us share it with everyone, if it is something that has already been covered, so what, I am looking for others to tell what they know or have learned about finding a paid preparer.
Prepare your taxes on-line With L & R Tax Preparation
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