When celebrities, or high profile individuals are in the news for a criminal case against them involving tax related charges, people often shake their heads and wonder how this could have happened, and why it happened. Taxpayers also often hear many horror stories in the news, or from family members and friends who have either had a bad experience themselves, or heard of one. Although each individual case and circumstances are different, one of the biggest fears people have in life is getting in trouble with the Internal Revenue Service for an issue with the integrity of their tax return. To make matters worse, taxpayers must deal with these fears every year when tax time comes around. Choosing a company to prepare a tax return is an important decision; however, finding Income Tax preparation in New York City with a reputable company is not as complicated as taxpayers may believe. Here are four basic things to look for when selecting a tax preparer to help make the right choice.
1. Tax preparers must have credentials, and they must have a certain amount of education they must complete before they can work as a tax preparer legally. Always ask a tax professional if they are in compliance with rules set by the Internal Revenue Service regarding their education requirements and ask if they use a preparer tax identification number assigned to them to prepare tax returns.
2. Make sure all prices for basic tax preparation services are clearly displayed in the tax preparation office. Prices will vary according to the complexity of each return and the amount of forms that must be filed for each tax return, but there should be a general outline on display.
3. Ask the tax preparer how they store their customers tax return information. By law, tax returns must be stored in a locked filing cabinet in a secure location.
4. Ask the tax preparer how many years they have been preparing taxes. This is especially important for customers who have complex tax returns.
Although these guidelines may appear to be basic, many taxpayers never ask these questions. If a tax preparer is qualified to prepare taxes, charges a fair price, keeps their customers information secure, and has experience preparing complicated tax returns, this is a good place to start to weed out those who are not qualified to provide Income Tax preparation in New York City.
