REQUIRED CHECKLIST

 

The following checklist IS REQUIRED to be completed prior to appointment time and all documents required to file your taxes be attached and brought in at your appointment time.

 

______Bring a prepared list of simple questions to ask during your appointment time regarding deductions, credits, or tax law changes 2023 & 2024 and beyond. Tax planning meetings can be scheduled after May 1st - Dec 31st of each year.

 

______Please have all your receipts added up by category BEFORE coming to expedite the time involved in the tax preparation. Don’t bring the receipts, bank statements or any back-up information to your appointment or drop off; I only need to have the totals per category. That is bookkeeping and we charge $60/hr. to add receipts.

 

______Appointment times are scheduled from 1 hour to 2 hours, unless there is additional time required for your preparation. If you have unusual or difficult first-time situations this year and you are not sure of what to bring, please call the office and discuss this before making your appointment. Some of these situations are: Can I claim an office in home, I sold a rental house, I sold my second home, I sold stock, I sold my primary residence, I bought a primary residence. It is a very costly proposition for you if we must make additional appointments or if your appointment runs into the next client’s scheduled time. You may be asked to reschedule and/or you will also be charged an additional sitting fee at my hourly rate.

 

______Mailing, faxing, e-mailing, or dropping off your tax return information is acceptable. I understand that gas is expensive, and traffic is always bad, we want to be accommodating to you as much as possible. Please let us know when you are sending us the information and we will let you know when we receive it. Please send in a PDF format and we can return your completed return in the same format for you to print and put together before mailing or for your copies. There will be a fee to mail your returns to you depending on the weight ($5 and up).

 

______All W-2’s, 1099’s for misc. income, social security, and all other income items such as 1099 INT, 1099 DIV or 1099B (broker statements from investment companies). If you sold stock, please provide a cost basis or what you paid for the stock sold. If a stock purchase plan, ask your company or broker what the cost basis is. Also including unemployment compensation, rental income, self-employment, retirement, or pension 1099 R.

 

______ If you have a business (Sch. C or LLC). Please print out before you arrive for your appointment a profit & loss statement and a balance sheet, or if you do not use computer software, then at least have totals by category such as income, cost of goods or materials, contract labor, supplies, phone cost, & etc. listed on a sheet paper.  You can always use my newsletter or if requested, we can mail you an organizer with last year’s amounts listed and all you do is insert the current year’s amounts. A simple spreadsheet will work with totals, but the “memory factor” or the back of my wall over my head is not the appropriate method. This is the highest area for audit by the IRS and the most difficult to win in an audit without receipts and good records.

 

______Standard deductions were raised again for 2023. Single $13,850, Head of Household $20,800, Married Filing Joint $27,700, Married filing separate is $13,850. An additional $1,850 for 65 and older and/or blind, and singles) and married filing joint $1,500 each. These are your thresholds whether you need to add up all your expenses/deductions for the year. Itemized deductions include medical expenses which consist of doctor bills, dentist, eyeglasses, insurance premiums, prescriptions, and any other related medical expenses. Don’t forget to include mileage for medical-related travel.

 

 ______ All real estate taxes on your home and property, personal property taxes on all vehicles, boats, motor homes & motorcycles.

 

______Do not forget your charitable donations, cash and noncash.  Important reminder, you must have all receipts to prove in an IRS audit & detailed list and values placed on all items ( which are to be in good usable condition, or not deductible. Political donations are not deductible as charitable donations.

 

______Mortgage interest statements  on forms 1098 need to be included . If you have refinanced, purchased, or sold a home or any other property during the year please bring all closing statements, refinance paperwork for each property and date when you purchased or sold the property.

 

______So, do I need to itemize or take the standard deduction? If the amounts added together for deductible medical expenses, taxes, charity deduction, and mortgage interest do not exceed the above amounts for your standard deduction then it is not necessary to give me all the itemized deductions. But how will you know unless you add them up, so if they do not exceed standard deductions amounts- don’t give them to me. 

 

_____ If you or your dependent had education expenses, then I must have the 1098-T to fill out the form for the education credits for this year plus cost of books and fees. There will be more questions and compliance questions to be filled out on this year’s form 8863 and attached to the return. If not attached, there is a preparer penalty of $540 for each failure and I, of course, have no intention of paying any penalties. If all this does not match IRS information, this can and will delay your refunds.

 

______If you and your family are covered under ACA for health insurance (Obamacare through the Marketplace). Then I will have to have the form 1095-A from the Marketplace. The form 1095-A from the Marketplace should be sent out by January 31 to complete your returns or call the marketplace for the 1095-A form. If you do not have it, I won’t be able to complete the return correctly & it can and will delay your refund. Additional fees will be charged for redoing returns and forms and responding to IRS letters,

 

______When your tax return is finished, you are given a copy for your files, and we can send the tax return to you in a PDF file for your records after tax season (May or June).  If additional copies or faxes are necessary, there is an additional $25 - $100 fee for larger or business returns. Before you call the office asking us to send you a copy of your return to someone or make you another copy per year, please look for your copy. I will need that request in writing along with the additional fee before I can make any copies, or fax or email any returns. Time and organization are the key.

 

______If you have received letters from the IRS or NC throughout the year and you have not previously notified us, please let us know. We ask that in the future you let us know as soon as they are received because most of these are time sensitive. You could lose your refund if you delay. There could be additional fees for us managing these letters depending on the subject matter. CP2000 letters from the IRS means you left off income and that is an automatic time charge, at a minimum of $125 charge and then billed by my hourly rates or form rates.

 

______EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: All tax returns and work prepared by my company and myself must be paid for when completed and picked-up. There will be no exceptions to this rule. We will be accepting Debit and Credit cards this year as well as several main banks within walking distance of the office. There will be a 5% processing fee assessed for all Debit and Credit card charges. Don’t use the old “I forgot my wallet, or I will mail a check.” I could already have retired if I had all the money owed to me.

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