Don’t Use a Tax PREPARER and Don’t DIY Online -- Use a Tax PROFESSIONAL

Your financial stewardship is too important to trust to a tax preparer (someone who only fills out tax forms) or a do-it-yourself tax software.

A true tax professional views the preparation of your tax returns as a final, relatively simple step. Well before that time the professional serves you with forward-thinking strategies for your financial health. This is true whether you are a year-after-year Form W-2 employee earner or a business owner in an ever-changing financial landscape.

Families whose primary sources of income are reported as Form W-2 wages have both before and after year-end tax opportunities that tax pros use to serve their clients and to offer services that more than pay for themselves.

Examples:

• Planning ahead: Your tax professional simply reminds you that your daughter will turn 17 next year—that’s typically a $1,500 hit to your wallet. BUT when your tax pro asks and then understands that she is also starting her college education next fall, your advisor reminds you that a tax credit will more than offset the $1,500 loss.

• Last minute no brainer: Your tax pro warns you that you’re going to have $2,600 to repay due to a Premium Tax Credit you took on your health care coverage last year. BUT up until April 15^th you can still add some money to your Health Savings Account and knock that $2,600 down quite a bit.

Entrepreneur families enjoy the same and even greater potential gains from engaging a true tax professional. We’re not trying to say that a store-front tax preparer or a software program cannot submit an error-free return. Rather, it’s a matter of financial stewardship over one of most business owners’ largest year-after-year costs—federal and state income and self-employment taxes.

Examples:

• Planning ahead: December projections of your final current year income and deductions lead your tax professional to believe you’ll have a significant balance due to pay next April 15^th. But, unless you feel like paying it earlier than necessary, you are advised to have the cash available when the deadline arrives. Your tax pro doesn’t stop there because he or she also knows that April 15^th is the due date for the first quarterly estimate payment for the new year—and with your growing profits it’s going to be even more than last year. You don’t necessarily like the news, but you’d rather know in December that a big tax bill is coming rather than having a tax preparer or DIY software deliver the late-breaking, back-breaking news.

•  Last minute no brainer: You are in business, so there ought to be some benefits—right? And there are. You bought some new office or production equipment last year. Now is the time to decide just how much to write off as a deduction. Your tax professional will assess current year and multiple year benefits before making the current year decision.

These few examples are just that—a few of the many ways that tax professionals can serve you. MinistryCPA tax professionals find particular delight in serving employee and entrepreneur families’ needs. We demand of ourselves a thorough knowledge both of current and future activities and objectives. No client’s stewardship is too inconsequential nor too overwhelming for us to roll up our sleeves and engage our training and experience to serve. We will be thankful for the opportunity to discuss with you whether MinistryCPA should become your tax professional.

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