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Exemptions to the Obamacare Penalty

The public debate over the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a Obamacare) continues to rage, despite the fact that the law has already kicked in.  While businesses have been granted an extension for complying with the law, individuals must be in compliance by having health insurance from the beginning of 2014 forward.

In this post we discussed the penalty called the individual responsibility payment; since many think it’s only $95 (hint: it could be more).  This penalty is assessed against a taxpayer who failed to obtain health coverage and was “required” to.  However, this penalty has a number of exemptions that will permit numerous people to avoid actually paying it.  Listed below are the three broad exception categories.

Hardship.  Examples of situations that apply to the hardship exemption include a recent bankruptcy, the death of a family member and having medical expenses you were unable to pay within the past two years.  Thus, if you’ve experienced a hardship that kept you from obtaining insurance, chances are you will qualify for the exemption.

Statutory Exemptions.   The penalty won’t apply if your income is too low to require you to file a tax return, or if you’ve been uninsured for less than three months out of the year.  You can also avoid the penalty if the lowest priced health insurance that is available to you would cost more than 8% of your income.  If you’re an expat, and not lawfully present in the United States, then the penalty also will not apply.

Exempt Persons/Groups.  Members of federally recognized Native American tribes, members of recognized health care sharing ministries, and members of recognized religious sects with religious objections to insurance are not required to obtain coverage.

With these extensive exemptions available, combined with the fact that the ACA prohibits the IRS from using it’s otherwise extensive collections authority to actually collect the penalty, it’s unclear how much of this penalty money the government will actually collect.  For a full list of exemptions available to you, check out this link.

If you need assistance with determining whether or not one of the exemptions applies to your particular situation, be sure to give us a call at 773-239-850 or shoot us an email at the address below.

By |2014-07-06T20:38:29-06:00July 6, 2014|Categories: Tax Talk|Tags: , , , |Comments Off on Exemptions to the Obamacare Penalty
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The Obamacare Penalty

A few days ago we got an email from one of the big tax chains telling us how the Affordable are Act (a.k.a. Obamacare) was going to be a game changer next tax season. It said we should consider joining their team because their world class organization was going to be prepared to deal with the fallout.

This email contained a video with a tax preparer talking all this “mumbo jumbo” to a client who was convinced that he only had to pay a $95 penalty for not having health insurance. The reality is that many taxpayers think that is the case. They are DEAD wrong! In this post we wrote about how the ACA’s penalty worked, but  figured it may be beneficial for you if we just gave a quick recap in this one.

The most misunderstood part of Obamacare is the individual mandate that every American not covered by Medicaid, Medicare, or health insurance must purchase health insurance or pay a penalty known as an “individual shared responsibility fee.”   This penalty, however, has a number of exemptions that will permit numerous people to avoid actually paying the penalty.  We’ll outline those exceptions in an upcoming post.  Now back to the penalty…

For tax year 2014 the penalty is the GREATER of $95 per adult and $47.50 per child (up to a maximum of $285 per family) OR 1 percent of taxable income. For 2015 it is the greater of $325 per adult and $162.50 per child (up to a maximum of $975 per family) or 2 percent of taxable income. For 2016 it is the greater of $695 per adult and $347.50 per child (up to a maximum of $2,085 per family) or 2.5 percent of taxable income.

Thus, let’s say that you are single and make $100,000. Your penalty for tax year 2014 for not having health coverage will be $95 or 1 percent of your income; which would be $1,000 in this example.   You can learn more on how the penalty is calculated and see further examples here.

Not every tax preparer keeps up with the law, nor will they be prepared to deal with this come next tax season. Also, many will struggle to explain to their clients WHY their refund suddenly decreased.

We, on the other hand, will be thoroughly prepared to deal with this. If you have an ACA related question, feel free to give us a call at 773-239-8850 or shoot us an email via the link below. Taking good care of OUR clients is just one of the ways we stay ahead of the competition!

By |2020-09-18T11:20:03-06:00June 30, 2014|Categories: Tax Talk|Tags: , , , |Comments Off on The Obamacare Penalty
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Taxes & Cashing In Your Life Insurance Policy

Cash-value life insurance, such as whole life and universal life, build reserves through excess premiums plus earnings.  These deposits are held in a cash-accumulation account within the policy.  However, when a cash value policy is cancelled (surrendered), some of the proceeds that you receive may be taxable.

Some of the tax consequences that you want to consider are:

  1. Cash-value withdrawals are not always received income-tax free. For example, if you take a withdrawal during in the first 15 years of the policy and the withdrawal causes a reduction in the policy’s death benefit, some or all of the withdrawn cash could be subject to taxation.
  2. Withdrawals are treated as taxable to the extent that they exceed your basis in the policy. Ones basis is the total premiums paid for the policy less any refunded premiums, rebates, dividends or underpaid loans that were not included in income.  Thus, if you are thinking of cashing it out you will want to know how much you invested in terms of premiums over the course of the policy.
  3. If your policy has been classified as an Modified Endowment Contract (MEC), withdrawals generally are taxed according to the rules applicable to annuities – cash disbursements are considered to be made from interest first and are subject to income tax and possibly the 10% early-withdrawal penalty if you’re under age 59 1/2 at the time of the withdrawal.

If you’re looking for the IRS guidance on how to determine how much is taxable, we suggest looking at at the “Life Insurance” section of Publication 525 or taking a look at Rev. Rul 2009-13.

By |2014-06-28T14:38:20-06:00June 28, 2014|Categories: Tax Talk|Tags: , , , , , , , , |Comments Off on Taxes & Cashing In Your Life Insurance Policy
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Tax Debt and 10 Year Statute of Limitations

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Many taxpayers, and some practitioners, are unaware that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by law only has 10 years’ time to collect a tax debt.  This is referred to as the statute of limitations or in IRS speak, the Collection Statute Expiration Date or CSED for short. This post will talk about what the CSED is, how to obtain it, what can change its date and how to stop paying taxes once it expires.

How Long Can the IRS Collect a Debt?
Per Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 6502, the limit on the IRS’ ability to collect a debt is 10 years. However, as we discuss below, most of the “popular” legal methods used to deal with tax debt also stop the CSED “clock” from running. In some cases it actually makes more sense for the taxpayer to just let the clock run.

When Does the Clock Start?
The 10-year period begins to run with the date of the “assessment” of the tax, not the tax year for which taxes are due. For example, if a return for 2012 is not filed until 2014 and the tax is assessed in 2014, the 10-year period begins to run in 2014 and expires in 2024.

The date of assessment is the date the tax liability is assessed on a particular form at an IRS Service Center. When the applicable form is signed by an IRS official, the 10-year period for that tax liability starts to run. When interest and late payment penalties (as well as other penalties) related to that tax year are tacked onto the underlying tax debt, they too must be collected within the same 10-year period.

If you never filed a tax return, but the IRS filed one for you (i.e. using a Substitute for Return or SFR), then the statute of limitations began to run whenever that assessment was processed by the IRS on your behalf.

How Can I Find Out My CSED?
To determine when the CSED began for a particular liability, the best approach is to obtain a transcript of the taxpayer´s IRS account. Transcripts should exist for each tax year and provide basic information such as the date of assessment, date of filing, and tax liability.

Taxpayers can request account transcripts on their own behalf by filing IRS Form 4506-T or requesting them online.  You can then attempt to analyze the data, perform the necessary calculations and hope you arrive at the correct answer.

Another method of calculating the CSED is to look at the “Date of Assessment” for a particular tax period if you have received IRS Form 668 (Y)(c) – Notice of Federal Tax Lien.  You would then calculate out approximately 10 years from this date to see when the CSED expires.

My Tax Debt Is Older Than 10 Years But The CSED Hasn’t Elapsed. Why?
While the IRS only has ten years to collect a debt, there are certain factors that can extend or pause the CSED. This is known as “tolling the statute of limitations.” Events that stop or “toll” the statute of limitations include:

  • Filing Certain Appeals – in most cases, the statute also doesn’t run the entire time an IRS Appeal is pending.
  • Filing an Offer in Compromise (OIC) – the statute of limitations does not run the entire time your Offer is under review, including any Appeals that you exercise, plus an additional 30 days.
  • Filing a Lawsuit Against the IRS – the statute of limitations does not run while litigation against the IRS is pending.
  • Filing Bankruptcy – the statute of limitations does not run the entire time you are under the protection of the bankruptcy courts or for the six months following the discharge or dismissal of the bankruptcy.

If you exercised any of these options in the past, there was probably a period of time when the statute was not running.  Said another way, during any time period in which the IRS is legally unable to pursue you for collection of the debt, the statute of limitations is not running.  For a complete list of tolling events and the associated time, check out IRS Publication 594 and look at “How Long We Have To Collect Taxes.”

Will the IRS Notify Me Once the CSED Elapses?
No, the IRS is not required to notify you once the debt has expired.  However, they are not legally allowed to pursue collection of the debt.  Thus, you will usually just stop hearing from them if your debt has expired.

My CSED Has Elapsed – Now What?
If the CSED has elapsed, congratulations! All that remains is cleaning up the chaos that your tax problem left in your life. You will need to ensure that a TC 608 credit to zero out the debt has been entered into the IRS system. You should also ensure that a Release of Federal Tax Lien is filed so that you can begin the process of repairing your credit.

My CSED Has Not Elapsed – Now What?
If your CSED hasn’t elapsed, but it is getting close, the best thing to do might be to get a plan in place with the IRS to ensure you’re protected from aggressive collection action.  This may include entering into a monthly payment plan or negotiating for your account to be placed into currently not collectible status (a “temporarily” status where you aren’t required to pay the IRS).

Do YOU Need Help With Your IRS Debt?
While you could go through the hassle of calculating your CSED, do you really want to?  For a flat $150 fee, and us filing a few forms with the IRS (with your consent), we’ll look at however many years you want to analyze, and provide you with a comprehensive report that will include:

  • Total tax assessment, penalty, interest and accrual amounts for each year (so you know how much you really owe)
  • CSED calculations for each year requested
  • Tolling events (if any) and the days your CSED has been extended
  • All IRS notices sent/received for each year
  • IRS account activity by year
  • And much, much more (we promise)

Call us at (773) 239-8850 or click our email address at the bottom of this screen to get started.

By the way, this post (the one you’r reading) is by far the most viewed on our site.  Why?  Because many people have tax issues that they want to resolve.  If you have old tax returns that need to be filed or want to learn how a professional can help you with your situation, why not visit our sister site File Old Tax Returns?  You might be surprised to learn that we may be able to help you out for less than you are thinking.  Plus, hear some valuable information on your taxpayer rights from the IRS Commissioner himself!

By |2024-07-03T09:03:31-06:00June 19, 2014|Categories: IRS Talk|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |Comments Off on Tax Debt and 10 Year Statute of Limitations
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10 Things Dad Taught Me

In honor of Father’s Day, I thought I would take some time and reflect on my Dad.  In this post a while back, I talked about what it means to be a Father.  This time, I wanted to share some of the lessons that he taught me growing up.  I think that there is value in them all, and even though some of them centered around “being a man” I think they will be shared with my daughter Pilar.  So what did pops teach me?

It’s not what you make, but what you do with what you make.  Growing up, my dad worked for a bank.  He once told me a story about how he was a supervisor, but he kept noticing a guy who made less than him but was always nicely dressed.  At some point he asked the guy how he was able to wear such nice suits on his salary.  “Mike, it’s not what you make, but what you do with what you make.”  Moral: Don’t waste all your money on frivolous things; save some of it. 

Buy good shoes if you can afford to.  If you invest in a good pair of shoes (i.e. ones that can be resoled), they will last you for years to come.  If you buy cheap shoes, you will always be replacing them.  Moral:  Quality products are worth the investment. 

All a man has is his word.  You can lose your job, house, spouse and everything else in your life.  But if you have your word, people will help you start over.  Moral:  Reputation is worth more than all the material possessions in the world.  So once you build a good one, don’t ever tarnish it. 

Always use a firm handshake and look a man in his eye.  This kind of piggy backs off the reputation thing above.  But basically, if you don’t signal to another person that you are trustworthy, don’t expect them to trust you.  Moral:  Always signal to someone that you’re the real deal and mean business.

There are only three ways things can go.  Often times after I would do something that was “marginal” in life I would get this lecture.  “Things can be wrong and turn out wrong.  Things can be right and turn out right.  Things can be wrong and turn out right.”  The key to the lesson was the last sentence.  Moral:  If you did something wrong but it turned out okay, be wise enough to know that you got lucky.  Also, do it the right way the next time! 

Admit when you are wrong.  I use to act like I was a know it all.  Yes, I knew some things, but there were things that I didn’t.  When you are wrong (in knowledge, action, treatment of another person, etc.) it takes a big person to apologize.  Moral:  Always apologize when you are in the wrong.  People will respect you for it. 

Life isn’t fair.  Sometimes bad things happen to good people.  It doesn’t mean that the devil is out to get you or that God has forsaken you.  Some people live to be 109 years old and some only live for 109 seconds.  Life isn’t fair.  Moral:  Don’t give too much credence to praise or criticism.  If you don’t, you won’t be rattled when you receive the opposite of what you expect. 

No one owes you anything.  I remember that when we wanted some extra money, my dad would tell my sister and I to go out and collect cans.  We would then take the cans to the recycling center and exchange them for money.  How come he wouldn’t just give us the money?  Moral:  You appreciate things much more in life when you recall how hard you had to work to obtain them.  This goes for just about anything.  So if you want something, go out there and get it. 

You can be whatever you want; so long as it’s legal.  My dad told me that I could be whatever I wanted to be in life, so long as it didn’t hurt anyone else.  Why didn’t he stress being a lawyer, doctor or business man?  Moral:  Don’t limit the ambition of your children.  Let them choose what will make them happy in life and then encourage them to follow it 100%. 

A man opens a door for a woman.  Chivalry seems to have gone by the wayside these days.  But I do remember a time when you opened the door for a woman, got her car door for her, let her out of the elevator first…the list goes on and on.  Moral:  Just like the code of medieval knights, one should strive to be loyal, generous and noble bearing.  You should tell the truth and respect the honor of women.  Always protect the weak and guard the honor of your fellow man.  Always obey those in authority and never refuse a challenge from an equal.

By |2014-06-14T23:02:35-06:00June 14, 2014|Categories: Who's The Boss?|Tags: , , , , , |Comments Off on 10 Things Dad Taught Me
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Time To Quit Your Job?

A few days ago we were talking to Jared about the various employers he worked for before heading up Wilson Rogers.  While chatting, we wondered what made him leave various employers.  From that, we learned that when he was a “young” professional, he would be very quick to make judgments and contemplate whether he should hit the door.  But as he became more “seasoned” in his career, he would tend to think about things a little longer before making his ultimate decision.   However, just because he took longer does not mean that he didn’t have to ditch an employer, or two, to make his life a little happier!

If you think it may be time for a new job, we suggest that you ask yourself the same five questions Jared would ask himself.  This will keep you from telling your boss off and security escorting you off the premises!

Do you truly hate what you do?  If the answer is yes, the next question is not should you quit your job, but when will you quit your job.  We have no idea what your financial overhead amounts to or what your debt is. What we do know is that even though life is short, doing something with it that you hate will only make it seem very long and very miserable.

Have you asked for a raise and the answer was “no?”  If you’re truly working your butt off week after week, month after month, and year after year, and you’re not getting raises or growing your income, something is wrong.   Even if you get just the national average annual raise (a little less than 3 percent), in five years you will have increased your income by over 15 percent. You need these increases to be able to keep your head above water financially. The increase in the cost of gas alone requires that you earn a raise.  However, and this is important, the key is that you earn it.

Do you work for a company you don’t respect?  If you’re not being paid well and not getting raises, and on top of that you don’t respect the company where you spend 40 hours or more a week, that’s a pretty amazing sign that it’s time to come up with a plan to quit.

So be honest with yourself right now: Do you respect the company you work for? Do you like what it stands for? Do you like what it does? Does it care about you and its customers? Does it have a plan for the future, or is it living in the past?

Do you work for a company that doesn’t respect you?  The fact is that not all companies are created equal. There are bad, good, and great companies, and they all treat their people in radically different ways.  Does your company respect you? You pretty much know the answer, don’t you?  If they don’t respect you, then why would you want to pour all of your talent, emotion and drive into a place that probably isn’t going to reward these efforts?

Are you’re bored to death and not challenged?  This is the hardest sign to recognize because it can change over time. You may be one promotion away from new opportunities, but things can be pretty brutal if you’ve been bored out of your mind for years.

It can happen, by the way, even when you’re experiencing tremendous success, getting raises, and working for a great company. It can happen when you run your own business. It can happen when you’ve worked for 5, 10, 20, or 30 years and achieved all you ever dreamed of achieving. And, yes, it can happen even sooner than that.

Plan Before You Go
Often, we reach a point where what we do simply doesn’t work anymore. We’re not fulfilled. At that point, you have to ask yourself if it’s time to change where you are, or what you do where you are.  We’re not being cavalier here by suggesting that you simply quit your job today. What we are suggesting is that you think about these five signs. Ask yourself the questions. Talk them over with someone you love. If you already know that the answer is “yes, it’s time to quit,” then it’s time to start planning the “I quit” date.

Be smart, think it through, and once the decision is made, congratulate yourself for not settling on the status quo. Quitting a job often requires that you step outside your comfort zone – not always an easy thing to do. But once you’ve done it, new and exciting opportunities await. Good luck.

By |2020-09-16T11:07:49-06:00May 30, 2014|Categories: General Ramblings|Tags: , , , , |Comments Off on Time To Quit Your Job?
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5 Credit Card Essentials

Lots of articles steer you to the best credit card by categories – one if you want airline miles, another if you need to transfer a balance and a third if you are looking for the lowest interest rates.  This is not one of those articles.  The millionaire mindset does not want airline miles and doesn’t carry a balance.  And the sooner you start thinking like a millionaire, the sooner you will become one.

Principle number 1: The credit card company’s job is to make as much money as possible, and your job is to keep as much money as possible .  They are very good at their job.

Principle number 2: The defaults should all be in your favor.  Avoid any credit card that requires you to work against them.  They will win, and you will forget to do some important piece of work.

Putting these principles into practice, here are the five key features to look for in a credit card.

No annual fee.  No amount of rewards and bonuses can make up for an annual fee.  If you start $75 in the hole, you have to spend $7,500 and get 1% cash back just to break even.  No annual fee for the first year isn’t enough for whatever rewards are offered.

As much cash back as possible on everything you purchase.  Forget every other system of rewards.  With immediate cash back, you are definitely getting something valuable.  And you don’t have to decide to use the rewards; they are simply deposited in your account.  In the best of all scenarios, they are deposited into a savings or brokerage account.  An immediate 1% cash back on every purchase is the minimum you should settle for.  The best we have seen is if you can get 2% on everything.

Purchase protection, free extended warranty and return protection.  If you’ve had a store that has not given you a fair deal and then gave you a hard time, having made the purchase with a credit card can often help.  If the original U.S.  warranty is 5 years or less, some cards increase the warranty by up to a year.  And credit cards often allow you to return anything purchased in the United States within 90 days from the date you bought it regardless of a store’s policies.

In addition to these features, making purchases with a credit card can save you a tremendous hassle because a process is in place for disputes.

The dispute process is a powerful tool of leverage for the consumer, when you are in a back-and-forth with a merchant.  Merchants get knocked by their merchant providers for customers disputing them, so use it with caution — but it’s definitely a process which puts you in the driver’s seat.

Onetime-use credit card numbers.  This feature, called “ShopSafe” by Bank of America, allows you to create a unique temporary credit card number every time you make an online purchase.  This number acts exactly like your real credit card number except it has a lower limit and a quick expiration date.  For example, if you are purchasing a $35 item, you can create a temporary number with a $40 credit limit that expires in two months.

Merchants won’t know the difference, but if their lack of security compromises the number you use, the thieves will find themselves with $5 more credit on a card that may already be expired.

Easily downloadable information.  Entering every transaction into a budget by hand is a great way to create good spending habits.  But once those have become routine, it is still wise to know what you have spent without all that manual labor.  Many credit cards allow you to download a file and import it directly into QuickBooks or other budgeting software.  Purchases from your usual vendors are automatically coded into their proper budgeting categories.  Only new vendors need to be assigned a category.

By |2014-05-25T18:10:50-06:00May 25, 2014|Categories: Accounting Talk|Tags: , , , |Comments Off on 5 Credit Card Essentials
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Understanding IRS Collection Procedures

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service is the single largest collections agency in the world.  According to the most recent statistics available, in 2013 the IRS spent $11.6 billion and employed just under 87,000 to collect more than $2.8 trillion in tax revenue.  Of those 87,000 personnel, over 19,000 are directly involved in enforced collections against taxpayers that owe back taxes.

While the IRS is one bill collector that can have a serious impact on your life, it’s important to understand just how they work.  So the first thing to realize is that the IRS is a slow moving bureaucracy.  It is highly driven by forms, written procedures and is resistant to change.  Their playbook is public record and they are required to follow it.  While this may not bode well for you resolving your tax matters expeditiously, it does give you some comfort in that you can figure out what is coming next.  Below we break the IRS collections process down into the 1040 notice sequence and the collections system.

1040 Notice Sequence
The IRS doesn’t start collections against you simply because you file a return with a balance due.  The process actually begins when they issue a letter called a Statutory Notice of Deficiency or SNOD.  This letter informs you of the IRS’ intent to assess a tax deficiency and informs you of your rights to dispute the proposed adjustment.  From here, the notice sequence progresses like this if you fail to respond at each stage:

  • Request For Payment
  • Form 668 – Notice of Federal Tax Lien Filing (for balances over $10,000)
  • CP501 – Reminder Notice
  • CP503 – Immediate Action Required
  • CP504 – Notice of Intent to Levy
  • Letter 1058 – Finial Notice of Intent to Levy

The CP503 typically comes about 4-5 weeks after the first notice.  The remaining notices will each come around 30 days after one another so it can take about 4 months from the initial letter until it culminates with a Letter 1058.  While the CP504 language sounds nasty, one may choose to ignore it.  However, there are two things to note about the Letter 1058:

  1. It is the first opportunity you have to file an appeal
  2. Thirty days after the letter, the IRS can levy you.

Does this mean that the IRS will levy you?  Not necessarily; especially if they don’t know where your assets are.  However, it would be wise to pick up the phone at this point and call the IRS as well as file Form 12153, Request for Collection Due Process Hearing (i.e. appeal).

Collections System
Now you may ask why understanding the “system” is even important to this discussion.  Well, it’s because some of the notices you get aren’t being generated by humans.  They are done on an automated schedule.  Thus, until your case winds up with a dedicated “human” at some point (i.e. a Revenue Officer) it can be hard/frustrating trying to get the notices to stop.  Thus, collections enter into the following levels of the system at varying stages:

  1. Collection efforts on each account begin with computer notices from a Regional Compliance Center.
  2.  If the efforts of the Compliance Center  don’t yield payment, the account is then assigned to the Automated Collection System (ACS). ACS attempts to collect the tax liability by initiating telephone calls to the taxpayer and others. Unless your case has special circumstances, you will usually stay assigned to ACS even if you accumulate 2-3 years worth of tax debt as an individual or 3-4 quarters of payroll liability as a business.  But once you reach these levels or you simply fail to respond…
  3.  The account is eventually assigned to a Revenue Officer for a field investigation.

When you are assigned to a Revenue Officer, the course of your tax case can take a sudden shift. Having an experienced, trained human being looking at your tax case, and passing judgment on you based on what’s in a file and thereby determining how they are going to handle your tax case, means a lot.  Unfortunately, due to current economic times, the waiting line for assignment to an RO is many areas of the country is growing longer and longer.

Similar to above, having a trained representative on your side working the case with the IRS can mean a world of difference.  If you are interested in assistance or just want to discuss your situation, we’d be happy to speak with you.  Simply shoot us an email or give us a call.

Until next time…

By |2020-09-21T12:41:32-06:00May 16, 2014|Categories: IRS Talk|Tags: , , , , , , , |Comments Off on Understanding IRS Collection Procedures
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Happy Mother’s Day!

Being a parent is a hard job in general, but being a mother, that is the ultimate.  I was fortunate to have (and still do) two very loving parents in my life.  I also have very vivid and fond memories of my mother and all that she did for me throughout my childhood and adolescent years.

Like the times she fixed up my scrapes and cuts from my attempts at doing something insane.  Like the weekend nights she would play Anita Baker and Luther Vandross full blast on the stereo.  Like taking my sister and I to swimming class so we could eventually swim with the big kids in Lake Michigan.  The list is literally endless.

Yet if I was honest with myself, I know that I in no way thanked her even an inkling of what I should have for all that she did.  I’ll probably spend the rest of my life attempting to show her that she meant the world to me.  But in the meantime, I just want to say thank you Mrs. Tonia Rogers for being the bestest mom that ever was!

In 2009, the other Mrs. Rogers (aka Aaronita) joined the motherhood club with the birth of our daughter Pilar.

The reason Mrs. Rogers celebrates Mother's Day!

The reason Mrs. Rogers celebrates Mother’s Day!

There is little that I can do for Aaronita that will indicate the gratitude I have for what she does for Pilar.  Yeah, breakfast in bed is a nice gesture, so is a fancy piece of jewelry.  But in reality, those things pale in comparison to all the drop offs to school, pick ups each night during my tax season, the ballet classes, the story reading, family trips, etc.

Family fun in the California Sun!

Family fun in the California Sun!

But similar to the senior Mrs. Rogers, I will start by saying thank you babe for being an awesome mommy!

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there – regardless if you have biological children, adopted children, foster children or people whom you simply provide for!

By |2014-05-11T16:20:34-06:00May 11, 2014|Categories: General Ramblings|Tags: |Comments Off on Happy Mother’s Day!
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Our 3rd Tax Season

Funny how time flies; has it really been three years?   We’ve posted in the past how our 1st and 2nd tax seasons played out, so in keeping with tradition, this post will tell how this year went.

We’ve got some more analysis to do, but here are some of the successes that we are aware of:

  • Approximately 150 clients served
  • 50 new clients entrusted us with their tax situation
  • Revenue growth in excess of 20%
  • Processed returns in 20 states, which is a 18% increase vs. last year

Our Challenges
This year was not without its challenges.  Some of these were self imposed (i.e. possibly setting the bar a little too high) while others were outside of our control.  With that being said, here is what we faced:

Staffing.  In working to grow and serve more clients, you have to add infrastructure.  While we did a good job on the employee screening front, we encountered a issue mid season that required a personnel change.  The biggest problem with this is that it happened mid season so finding a replacement was a little challenging.  However, we successfully navigated that challenge and in this post, our first employee discusses their time working with us.

Testing marketing programs.  This year we went a little big on the marketing front and threw our hat into the ring on multiple fronts.  Problem with this is 1) it cost money and 2) you won’t know what doesn’t work until you test it.  Needless to say, we did find out what made the phone ring and people come through the door.  The downside is that we spent a lot of money to get that education.

Hey, who is that guy?!?!

Hey, who is that guy?!?!

Aggressive projections.  Last year we had a 3rd party source that brought us a sizeable amount of business.  Problem with that is that we based our projections for this year with that business in mind.  Unfortunately, we lost a nice chunk of that business (i.e. the clients didn’t repeat) which of course impacted our numbers.  But the lesson learned is that past performance is not indicative of future results.  So we’ll lick our wounds on that front and come back with a new plan for next year.

In the end, we continue to plod along and we continue to grow.  More clients come to us each year and tell us how glad they are to have found us.  This gives us hope that if we keep acting like the little engine that could, maybe one day we’ll make it to the top of the mountain!

By |2014-04-30T10:45:17-06:00April 30, 2014|Categories: General Ramblings|Tags: , |Comments Off on Our 3rd Tax Season
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