Dear clients,
Effective October 1st 2022, we will be making some significant changes to our practice. Please read through carefully.
Over the course of the last several years, the amount of tax changes, client questions, and individual requests has grown exponentially. In the interest of providing a better level of customer service, we are going to be changing our fees and requirements for clients moving forward.
The goal is to reduce the number of current clients and provide more value while increasing the level of service available to each of our remaining clients. If the updated fees no longer work for you, we understand. You will need to seek another tax office moving forward. If you are going with another firm please download your last two years tax returns from your SmartVault as soon as possible. Requests for access mid-season will have some delay.
PRICING
The minimum fee to engage our services will be $350. More complex returns will cost more. Once you submit your documents, we will review and provide you a quote for work. Once you approve that quote, we will begin the work. Get a basic quote with our fee calculator.
We will be breaking up services into categories moving forward…
- MAINTENANCE SERVICES
- CONSULTING SERVICES
- ADVISORY SERVICES
Maintenance – This includes Tax Returns, Bookkeeping, Payroll, and any additional compliance work that needs to be done through out the year.
In the case of maintenance…
- You submit the requested documents
- Your Tax professional will reach out to you regarding questions needed to make sure the work is done correctly.
- You will have an opportunity to review the return and ask any questions related to the tax year.
- If you have additional questions that fall outside of us getting the tax return completed, this falls under advisory services below.
Maintenance Pricing – All maintenance work will be quoted annually based on documents submitted. Our minimum engagement for tax preparation is $350. This will be for personal tax returns. Once your documents are submitted, we will review and give an accurate quote before proceeding. Any previous discount %’s will still apply.
Additional Fees:
- Extensions – $75
- Estimated Payments for tax extension – $75
- Rush Fee: $250. This will be applied to any last minute requests. Any tax files started less than 1 month in advance of the deadline will be considered late.
Consulting – Many of you have “one-off projects” that need attention; new business questions, rental real estate questions, business write offs, etc. We will do this work for an hourly rate, which is now $250/hour. We have put together more formal advisory packages that may also fit your needs.
Advisory – This is tax education. Many of you want to learn about taxes. This is great and I wish I could give this to everyone for free. With the complexity of the tax code and the amount of requests, each ‘Quick Question’ or ‘Advice’ request adds up to a lot of time. If you wish to dive deeper into tax planning, wealth planning, budgeting, and/or business consulting. We will be offering ‘Advisory’ packages based on your needs. These are specific based on your situation, please ask your tax professional for more information and they will build out a proposal.
Expectations From Clients
Taxes can be stressful. For both the client and the preparer. The key to avoiding this stress is preparation, communication, and patience. Please abide by the following protocols to help our team serve you better.
Remote Service: It helps us substantially when you submit your documents online, and handle review sessions via zoom. In person meetings are available on a case-by-case basis. Please consult with your preparer.
Submitting documents –It is important that you submit your documents at least 7 – 10 days in advance of your appointment if you are expecting to review tax return work. Failure to do so will lead to a cancellation of your meeting. Please submit the bulk of your documents in one upload. Wait until you get most of them, and upload at once. Sending them to use one by one over time creates opportunity for missed information. We need your documents before March 15th. If you are waiting on a final document or two, send us the majority of what you have and let us know you are still waiting on additional items.
Extensions: If you know you need an extension, let us know sooner than later. Extensions require work. We charge a minimal fee.
Response Times: Please allow up to 72 hours for a reply. E-mailing us every 24 hours asking for updates does not help anyone. It is more work for us and slows down the actual work we need to do.
Late Filings: We no longer have the capacity to stay up 16 hours a day rushing through tax returns where information and documents are submitted days before the deadline. If your documents are submitted after March 15th, expect to be extended. If it is necessary to get your return done in time and you submit information last minute, there will be significant rush fees added as you will be skipping in front of people who have submitted their documents earlier that are in the final stages of filing. Rush fees start at $200 and could go up based on the nature of the request and scope of the work.
Thank you for reading and understanding these changes.
Look forward to working with you
Team Taxman