Visiting a Tax Preparer
There really is no secret or special process to visiting a tax preparer.
But just to maxamize your results and minimize your effort, here are
some simple steps. Each of these are a link to a page with more details or help.
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Prepare for the visit.
This assumes that you are coming in to have your tax return prepared.
(Actually, some people prefer to simply mail us their records and
we communicate concerning any questions using email or phone calls.)
Here are some handy check lists.
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Make an appointment
if you prefer not to mail us your information.
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Before we can assist you on your tax return, we must have a signed
Engagement
Letter. We suggest you print this in advance
because if you are married, both the taxpayer and spouse must sign it.
If you are mailing your informationto us, please include this.
Also, it refers to our
Privacy Statement that you should review.
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Effective January 1, 2009, a new law requires us to request your consent to
use your tax information and potentially disclose it if needed by your requested
use and we must obtain this before presenting you with a completed tax return.
So it would be helpful if you also reviewed, signed, and brought in both the
Consent to Use and
Consent to Disclose forms.
(Please note that there are optional boxes to check on these forms. The form is
of no value unless at least one box is checked. Multiple boxes may be checked
as the items apply.)
- Finding us.
Most people have a few concerns about what it might cost to visit a tax
professional. At one time we did too. This will be an issue in particular
if you have heard stories of people paying $500 to $1000 (or more!) for a tax
return. Sure, there are complicated returns that can cost that much, but most
are far less.
In reviewing individual tax returns for 2008,
our average price per return was just over $200.
We price tax return preparation based on the number of forms used and the
complexity of the return, so prices do vary.
We try to offer estimates when we can, but invariably there ends up being
items in the return that were not expained in the request.
Realize too that any effort to offer a low estimate will likely cause
displeasure if the return costs more than the estimate. Conversely, if
we guess a bit high to avoid that, then we are discouraging potential
clients with estimates that are likely more than the actual cost will be.
It really is a "lose-lose" situation for both of us.
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