Tax Preparation

Today’s tax laws are so complicated that filing a relatively simple return can be confusing. It is just too easy to overlook deductions and credits to which you are entitled. Even if you use a computer software program there’s no substitute for the assistance of an experienced tax professional. We prepare all kinds of returns including:

  • Individual
  • Farm
  • Small Business
  • Partnerships
  • Corporation (S-Corporation and C-Corporation)
  • Estates and Trusts
  • Non-Profit
  • LLC’s
  • Amended Tax Returns

Tax Planning

Planning is the key to successfully and legally reducing your tax liability. We go beyond tax compliance and proactively recommend tax saving strategies to maximize your after-tax income. Businesses and individuals pay the lowest amount of taxes allowable by law because we continually look for ways to minimize your taxes throughout the year.
We recommend Tax Saving Strategies that help you:

  • grow and preserve assets by keeping Uncle Sam out of your pockets.
  • defer income so you can keep your money now and pay less taxes later.
  • reduce taxes on your income so you keep more of what you make.
  • reduce taxes on your estate so your family keeps more of what you’ve made.
  • reduce taxes on your gifts so you can give more.
  • reduce taxes on your investments so you can grow your wealth faster.
  • reduce taxes on your retirement distributions so you can retire in style.
    Here’s just a few of the Tax Saving Strategies we use:
  • Splitting income among several family members or legal entities in order to get more of the income taxed in lower bracket.
  • Shifting income or expenses from one year to another in order to have them fall where it will be taxed at a lower rate.
  • Deferring tax liabilities through certain investment choices such as pension plans, contributions and other similar plans.
  • Using certain investments to produce income that is tax exempt from either federal or state or both taxing entities.
  • Finding tax deductions by structuring your money to pay for things you enjoy, such as a vacation home.

Remember, we work for you not for the IRS. Many of our clients save many times the fee in reduced tax liability through careful planning and legitimate tax strategies.

Tax Problems

IRS letters can be confusing and intimidating. We can help sort things out and correspond with the IRS.

Nothing strikes fear in the hearts of people more than receiving an IRS Audit letter in the mail. Audits take significant time away from your business and family, requiring you to gather mounds of records substantiating each and every item reported on your tax return and develop a comprehensive understanding of tax law. The IRS leaves no stone unturned in its mission to determine the accuracy of your tax return. If you don’t comply with the Auditors’ wishes, the IRS will recalculate your tax and send you home with a hefty tax bill as your parting gift. Many taxpayers decide to handle a tax audit themselves, and discover they may have been “penny wise,” avoiding a representative’s fee, but “pound foolish,” because they received a substantial bill for a significant tax deficiency.

You see, IRS Auditors are trained to extract more information from you than you have a legal obligation to provide. IRS Auditors know that most people fear them and are ignorant of their rights. As a result, they know they can use that fear and ignorance to their advantage.

Rarely do our clients even have to talk with the IRS. We handle it all for you so that you need not take time off of your business or job to handle the bureaucracy and paperwork of the IRS. No lost wages or business. You simply forward notification of an audit to us and we handle it.

You have filed your returns but didn’t have the money to pay what was owed. You may think, “Oh well—I will catch up next year.” Before you know it you find yourself several years in arrears and suddenly there is a notice from the IRS, stating that you owe three or four times the original amount.

It’s truly amazing how fast tax penalties and interest add up. Now you have a choice, you can write a big fat check and pay the full amount, including interest and penalties. Or you can just keep ignoring them while the penalties and interest keep piling up.

The IRS views failing to pay payroll taxes as the cardinal sin of tax delinquency because a large portion of the payroll taxes are your employees’ withholdings. Not paying your company’s payroll taxes is tantamount to stealing your employees’ money in the eyes of the IRS. As a result, penalties for failing to pay your payroll taxes and filing your payroll tax returns on time are much more severe than other types of penalties. They can drastically multiply the amount you owe in a very short time.

If you are behind on paying payroll taxes for your company, watch out! The IRS is extremely aggressive pursuing collection of this type of tax. They would rather seize your business assets, close you down, sell your assets at auction, and put you out of business than allow you to continue amassing additional payroll tax liabilities.

If you are behind on your payroll taxes, DO NOT meet with the IRS on your own. How you answer their initial questions can determine whether you stay in business or not. It is critical you hire a professional representative who knows how the IRS operates.

You received an IRS Notice of Intent to Levy 30 days ago and you forgot or ignored it. Now it’s Payday. Expecting a check, you open the envelope and find that the IRS has taken most of your money. What’s left is not enough to pay the rent, car payment, buy groceries, or pay the rest of the bills. This action will continue on every check due you, until the tax owed is paid in full. Now you’re in big financial trouble. No matter how hard you plead with your employer they cannot give you your money. Once a wage garnishment is filed with your employer, your employer is required by law to collect a large percentage of each of your paychecks.

We can help negotiate the release of IRS wage garnishments by arranging a payment plan. The payment plan negotiated by us is always more favorable than any IRS wage garnishment. It allows you to receive your whole paycheck without fears of future wage garnishments.

Did you know that you can settle your debt with the IRS for just pennies on the dollar with their Offer in Compromise program? The program allows taxpayers to settle with the IRS on tax debt that has been incorrectly assessed or for liabilities they cannot afford to pay.

The IRS Code states: “We will accept an Offer in Compromise when it is unlikely that we can collect the full amount owed and the amount you offer reasonably reflects the collection potential…” (Internal Revenue Code section 7122). Often it is possible to fully and completely eliminate the taxes you owe – including all penalties and interest – at an enormous discount. There is no preset bottom limit that the IRS will accept to settle your debt especially if your offer is done right. If done correctly your debt may be settled for only 5-15% of what you presently owe. The key is to determine the least amount that the IRS will accept from you before you make the offer.

If you don’t qualify for the IRS Offer In Compromise program, a payment plan may be the way to resolve your problem. Setting up a payment plan with the IRS gives you a little more time to pay off your tax debts. Unfortunately, penalties and interest will continue to be charged on your outstanding balance as you pay the debt off. You are required by law to pay the interest on your tax debt.

Did you know that you can get out of the tax debt due to the misdeeds or fraud committed by your spouse? Innocent Spouse Relief was designed to alleviate unjust situations where one spouse was clearly the victim of fraud perpetrated by their spouse or ex-spouse.