FAQs
- What should the customer know about your pricing (e.g., discounts, fees)?
I typically expect to prepare a 1040 plus one State Income Tax return. My basic fee for the most basic return is $125. As various Schedules are needed, I have varying prices, depending on the Schedule and the particular circumstances of a client.
- What is your typical process for working with a new customer?
For all clients, I will send out a Tax Organizer to help me help them. I want to get a full picture of your past Tax Year. For new clients, especially, I prefer to see the past three years of returns. I do this for several reasons: 1) I may pick up an opportunity you missed and could amend to increase your refund/get back an over-payment; 2) Some clients have "carry-forwards" of items that are needed to correctly file for the current year; 3) It gives me a more complete picture of your circumstances and may help me make suggestions for future tax planning.
- What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
In addition to 6+ years of experience preparing returns professionally (and 10+ years of preparing my own taxes after finding mistakes made by one of the national Tax companies), I have continuously improved my training every year I have been in business. I voluntarily became first a Registered Tax Return Preparer (until the IRS ended the program), then began participating in the Annual Filing Season Program, and finally finished the process of becoming an Enrolled Agent. This required additional studies, plus passing three comprehensive exams. I am a member of the National Association of Enrolled Agents (NAEA)--and the NY and NJ NAEA Chapters--as well as the National Association of Tax Professionals (NATP). These are the oldest organizations for each part of the profession and have stringent Ethical and Educational requirements (on top of the IRS' requirements). Now that I am an EA, the IRS requires me to earn an average of 24 Continuing Professional Education (CPE) hours every year. The NAEA actually requires at least 30 CPEs a year, and I hope to average a minimum of 40 hours annually to keep up with current Tax laws and become a better preparer for all of my clients.