Northshore Tax LLC

Serves Slidell, LA

35244

Hired 13 times

1 employee

15 years in business

Not yet available

4.8

This pro accepts payments via Cash, Check, and Credit card.

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Introduction

Hi. I'm Dave. I would love to prepare your tax returns. In selecting a tax preparer, people want someone knowledgeable, honest, experienced, & available; someone to keep you out of trouble & be available to answer tax issues during the year. I retired from a 35 year career with GE as a engineer, sales and marketing manager. My tax background has spanned 40 years, living in 10 states, with personal experience using most IRS Forms & Schedules and reporting on them. Life’s lessons have taught me to get lots of experience. When I retired, I started as a tax prep volunteer at the church. I also worked for a franchise as branch manager for 1 tax season, then 2 years for a CPA checking taxes. I've taken the H&R Block tax preparer's course, and the Liberty tax preparer's course twice. This year I'm also working for TurboTax Live as one of their remote Tax Experts. Education, Quality, Due Diligence, and taking the time to do the job right are important. I’ve taken my time in continuing education to become an Enrolled Agent. EAs : • Are the only federally authorized tax practitioners, • Who have demonstrated a high level of competence in tax, • Licensed to practice by the United States government. (CPAs and attorneys are state licensed). Enrolled Agents have unlimited rights of representation before the IRS. EAs prepare tax returns for individuals, partnerships, corporations, estates, trusts and other entities with tax-reporting requirements. EAs also advise and represent taxpayers who are being examined by IRS, and / or are unable to pay taxes, or are trying to avoid or recover penalties. EA’s are unlike tax attorneys and CPAs, who may or may not choose to specialize in taxation. EAs specialize in taxation and are required by the federal government to maintain their professional skills with continuing professional education. The National Organization of Enrolled Agents calls EA’s “America’s Tax Experts!” The last 10 years, I've worked in my own business, out of my house, also as an instructor and volunteer for the AARP / VITA / TCE program at the church helping with returns there. I've worked on > 5,000 returns in the last 10 years. Tax clients tell me I am detail oriented. I'm sure it's due to the engineering background. I will not sign off on a return to submit until it's complete, researched, and checked. That may mean it takes me a while longer to complete a tax return. But it's done correctly with your interest in mind. Prices are fair; usually way less than franchises. I keep costs down working out of a home office & pass the savings on. $195 is base price / year for personal returns. $550 is base price per year for entity returns. Price can go up or down based on bookkeeping, stock transactions, accounting, and additional work required. To start, it's helpful to see your last completed return, W-2s, 1099s, 1098's, 1095 health care info, SS cards & drivers licenses. Enrolled Agents are America’s Tax Experts. Google Enrolled Agent to find out more. Dave Saari, Enrolled Agent I enjoy sinking my head into complex tax and financial problems; payroll, bookkeeping, and tax returns. I am a one man company and do not plan to add employees. I have capacity to expand this business, but I'm not interested in growing the business past my capability to satisfy client interests. I take on enough returns to keep mentally challenged and able to provide a quality product, without being workload stressed.

Q&A

What should the customer know about your pricing (e.g., discounts, fees)?

Prices are reasonable and affordable. I get clients, and repeat clients, because I'm very good with taxes, and keep clients out of trouble with the IRS,

What is your typical process for working with a new customer?

Most new clients come from referrals from existing clients. In some families, I do tax returns for 3 generations of family members. First we understand your situation, then outline a plan of action.

What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?

A CPA takes 1 or 2 college courses in tax their entire college career. I have attained the Enrolled Agent status with the US Department of Treaury and IRS. Enrolled Agent - Google it !

How did you get started doing this type of work?

I love this question. In retirement, you have to use your mind, and your body. I took up tax preparation full time when I retired from GE to keep my mind active. The opportunity allowed me to work primarily in the winter, have most of the summer off, to work with computers, software, to do a lot of math, to go on business trips for tax training, and to give back in community service. I can pick who I want to work with, and for, and generally choose my own hours, and days to golf or vacation. It's basically the same reason I took up being a basketball and football referee. I get exercise in a very fun and entertaining way while contributing locally in the community.

What advice would you give a customer looking to hire a provider in your area of work?

Shop around for the right tax preparer that you know, like, and trust. It's not a good idea to switch tax preparers. There are items that carry over year to year that need to be captured on a following year's return. I was a Turbo Tax guy for years. I learned a lot. I invested lots of time in my tax learning. I had my personal returns audited by a CPA every 5 years to make sure I was doing it right. The 5 times I had it done by a CPA, they did not find one thing to change or help improve my situation.

What questions should customers think through before talking to professionals about their project?

Paid preparers prepare ~60% of all tax returns and are required to have a practitioner tax identification number (PTIN). There are no federal regulations on education or experience required to call yourself an Income Tax Preparer. Ask about your Tax Pro's experience, background, training, availability, how does he or she stand behind their work. There are different levels of competence in tax return preparers. As the sophistication of your tax return increases, different knowledge, training, and experience are required to provide competent results. Tax franchises hire and train new people every year. The level of expertise you could get is solely dependent on the questions the preparer asks, the keystrokes of the preparer, and software they use. CPAs, Certified Public Accountants, have college accounting degrees, experience working for another CPA, and passed a rigorous exam on accounting, audit, financial analysis, and tax. CPAs are state certified and take ongoing Continuing Education. Yes, they can prepare tax returns. They can also be auditors, payroll specialists, or - - - EAs, Enrolled Agents, have earned the privilege of representing taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service by either passing a comprehensive IRS test, or through experience as a former IRS employee. EAs are federally certified and take ongoing Continuing Education. EAs tend to be tax-only specialists that work in tax preparation or taxpayer representation. CPAs, EAs, and attorneys are unrestricted as to which taxpayers they can represent before the IRS, what types of tax matters they can handle, and which IRS offices they can represent clients before. All that said, it is a consumers responsibility to select the tax preparer that can handle the taxpayers situation. Ask questions related directly to your return. Does your preparer have experiences in issues affecting you? Or will you be his first test return?