Remembering important tax deadlines can be key to avoiding costly mistakes down the road. If a deadline falls on a weekend, the deadline will automatically be extended to the following Monday. In addition, if you are unable to meet a deadline, you may be able to petition for a 6-month extension or a 5-month extension for LLC returns.

Tax return deadlines in the State of California are as follows:

• W-2 and 1099 Forms - Must be mailed by employers before January 31st
• Personal Returns - April 15th
• Business Returns - March 15th
• Partnership and LLC Returns - April 15th
• Self-Employed Tax Returns for Business Tax Renewal - Last day of February
• Employer Payroll Forms & Taxes - Required every quarter on April 30th, July 31st, October 31st, and January 31st

For income tax preparation, please bring all of the following if relevant to you. Note that prior to your appointment, we’ll provide you with specific information about the paperwork and records you’ll need.

Income-Related Records:

• W-2 forms from your employer(s)
• 1099-INT (interest) and 1099-DIV (dividends) forms
• 1099-MISC forms (if self-employed), 1099-B forms (for brokerage trades in stocks and bonds)
• K-1 forms (if profits from a small business, partnership or trust)
• 1099-SSA form (if you received Social Security payments)

Income-Related Records:

• Receipts, canceled checks or spreadsheets for any tax-deductible expenses.
  (Examples include: medical expenses, real estate taxes, charitable contributions, self-employment and business expenses, childcare costs, moving expenses, college expenses, contributions to your IRA, etc.)
• 1098 form (if you paid interest on a mortgage)
• 1098-E (if you paid interest on a student loan)
• If you made estimated tax payments throughout the year, bring a summary of those payments and your canceled checks.

Generally, returns are completed during your initial appointment of about an hour. Sometimes, we find additional information is required and will send you home with homework. Depending on your homework, you may be able to drop it off for completion as our schedules allow, or you might wish to schedule a short follow-up appointment for completion. Complicated returns involving businesses or many rental properties may take longer and may require dropping off the business information before your appointment so we can prepare that portion of the return in advance.

The IRS used to publish a list of dates correlating filing dates with refunds. For a variety of reasons, this has changed. Starting in 2017, by law, the IRS cannot process refunds for people who claim the child tax credit or the earned income credit until February 15 at the earliest. This can mean the actual refunds are delayed until February 27 or later. For persons not claiming these credits, the IRS is stating that roughly 90% of filers with refunds will receive them in 21 days or less. You can track your refund once it is accepted by the IRS using the “Where’s My Refund?” tracker on the IRS website or the IRS2Go app for your smartphone.

Get the letter or notice to us as soon as possible. We will review the notice for accuracy, give you detailed instructions on how to respond, and advise you of our fee to respond on your behalf, if you so desire. These notices are not always correct. Common notices, such as the CP2000 notice, suggest changes to your return, and if not addressed, become bills with penalties and interest applied. Generally, there is a 30 day response time. In the event that you wish to have us handle the matter for you, we will need signed Power of Attorney documents. These Power of Attorney documents are limited in scope to matters dealing solely with your taxe, and are limited to just the forms and time periods specified on the documents. Generally, these documents do not allow us to sign anything on your behalf. In fact, if you wish to have us sign certain IRS documents, and we are willing to take on this responsibility for you, a special area of the form needs to be addressed.

YES! We strongly believe in the benefits of electronic filing. Electronic filing is the fastest, safest way to file your return. According to statistics previously provided by the IRS, there is nearly a 20% error rate on mailed in returns keyed into the system by the IRS, while electronically filed returns have less than a 1% error rate.

The Internal Revenue Service can audit back three years, and the State of California Franchise Tax Board can audit back four years. Both agencies can go back additional years, should they desire, if they find errors on the returns they audit and wish to inspect prior years for the same issues. In the case of fraud or suspicion of fraud, both agencies can go back an unlimited number of years. For these reasons, we suggest you keep all records required to support your tax returns for at least four years past the date of filing. Because certain items have an impact on tax returns far beyond this time span, any items being depreciated, as well as records supporting assets, such as your house, should be kept until at least four years beyond the filing date for the year in which you dispose of the item. If you have any carry forward net operating losses or credits, you should keep all returns and records supporting these figures for at least four years past the filing date of the last return to claim any of these figures.

In the event that any of your tax deductions should be questioned, having proof of documentation will be key to avoiding serious inspections or audits. We suggest that our clients always keep records of bank statements, credit card statements, cancelled checks, invoices, and receipts. Mileage logs, meal expenses, and other records for business purposes can also be important. Donations or non-cash contributions, such as clothes or other property, should be verified with proof of receipt or acknowledgement letters from charities.

Very few people actually enjoy filing their own taxes. Even with the help of computer software programs, the risk of running into problems still exists. In addition, computer software programs are not formulated to take into account special circumstances or your unique financial portfolio. Not only are we prepared, trained, and licensed to take on complex tax issues, but we also offer personal and ethical tax services that can help our clients maximize their returns while minimizing the risk of unnecessary IRS involvement.