We wanted to inform you that we will soon be changing our company name to Sound Tax Consulting, Inc, nothing else is changing. Our phone numbers, personnel, and address all remain the same. Our existing email address will forward to the new email addresses to make the transition easier for you.

We decided to make the name change for a few reasons. When we selected our company name in 2004 our business model was somewhat different than it is today and people were just starting to use smart phones .
Our firm has been very fortunate and has grown over the years. In addition to helping individuals and businesses solve their tax problems, our firm prepares tax returns for individuals and businesses that do not have any tax problems, set up corporations, and provide payroll and booking services. The old company name only described the tax problem portion of our business.

Millions of people now search online via their smart-phones for
IRS phone numbers, to request missing W-2s, ask the IRS about refunds, and numerous other questions about their tax matters. When they search for the IRS on their phones, Google and other search engines highlight the first three letters of IRS/State Tax Relief Associates in our company name and our phone number; the user clicks on our number, resulting in hundreds if not thousands of calls. You can imagine how happy our receptionist is about the
name change.

We thank you for your business and look forward to continuing to help you as Sound Tax Consulting, Inc.

Remember tax season is just around the corner, contact us if you have any questions.

Are you up to date about the Heavy Highway Vehicle Use tax, Form 2290, for the tax period beginning July 1, 2011? Special provisions still apply through November 30 for filing your return and/or registering your vehicle.

Updated as of November 1, 2011
The Form 2290 is available now. If your truck was first used in July, August, September or October 2011, you are required to file Form 2290 by November 30, 2011. You will not be liable for any late filing penalty or interest if you meet this due date. Beginning November 1, 2011, IRS will provide a stamped (receipted) Schedule 1 to those who file and pay their tax.

e-filing and Paying Your 2011 Excise Tax
IRS e-file for 2290 is now available for the tax period beginning July 1, 2011. Contact our firm to e-file.

An Option for Getting Your Tags and/or Registering Your Vehicle
You can get your tags for the tax period beginning July 1, 2011 because existing regulations require states to register a heavy highway vehicle when the application for registration is received between July 1 and November 30, 2011. If you have your receipted Schedule 1 for the previous year’s taxable period, in this case, July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011, states can continue to accept it as proof of payment through November 30, 2011.

An Option for Registering Your Newly Acquired Vehicle
Through November 30, 2011, states also must register newly acquired heavy highway use vehicles without proof of tax payment if:

you present the original or a photocopy of a bill of sale showing that the vehicle was purchased by the owner during the 150 days before the date the state received the application for registration; and,
the vehicle has not been registered in any state subsequent to the date of purchase.

I am writing this letter to express my sincere gratitude to both Sound Tax Consulting (IRS/State TRA)for their help. Because of their expertise, we saved over $23,000!

In February, we had our taxes done by the same local tax service we had counted on for years. Except this time, they said we owed over $26,000 in State and Federal taxes! We were devastated and could not understand how this could happen. After I was able to collect myself a little bit, I did some research and found IRS Tax Relief. I called their 800 number and Jeff answered. We talked for over 1/2 hour, he was very professional…and patient! I was impressed from the start. We sent our information from 2009 and 2010 as requested. They started contacting me with questions right away. They are so very thorough!

After a few weeks and many conversations/emails, Jeff called and we were informed that we had to pay back $3800 State and Federal from 2009. For 2010 we were getting a refund of $4000 from Federal and had to pay $800 to State. We also had approximately $1800 in penalties and interest due to the error in 2009 and delay for 2010. So we went from $26,000 (plus penalties and interest) to approximately $2800!

First there was an $8,000 correction as a result of Ali instituting appropriate accounting practices for a construction company (which we incorrectly counted on our original book keeper to know how to do this) The remaining difference was the result of an error on our 2009 tax return. Our small business had $47,000 in business expenses and our previous tax preparer accidentally reported it as $17,000. That little documentation error made a HUGE impact on our taxes!!!

It is hard to describe the immense relief we felt when they called with the news. We were ecstatic to say the least! I must have thanked them two dozen times over the phone and via email and that still doesn’t feel like enough!

Needless to say, Jeff and Ali will be handling our taxes from now on! As far as we are concerned the are the best in the business and we highly recommend them.

Sincerely,
K. in Michigan

We became aware of this problem today for Roni Deutch when a client of hers (crying on the phone after their bank account was levied) couldn’t reach anyone at her office this week. The client would call and be told “no one was in the office”, this client paid over $4,000 over a 16-month period, a quick review of the facts and it is pretty clear this client is an installment agreement.

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/04/20/3568022/state-ag-says-tax-lady-roni-deutch.html

Please, please don’t if you have tax problems, DON”T hire firms that advertise heavily on TV, Radio, et. The likelihood of getting positive result is slim. Due your due diligence

You might find this news story ABC ran on April 13, 2011 about Tax Masters informative. Always please do your due diligence and research any firm before you hire them. In many cases you do not need to hire a firm.

“The Minnesota attorney general says many of the company’s employees are skilled tele-marketers who have little knowledge of the complicated tax issues faced by people who have fallen behind in filing their returns or making tax payments.

“When you call, you think you’re talking to a tax professional,” said Swanson. “You’re really talking to just a salesperson who’s trying to get you to sign up.” ”

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/taxmasters-accused-fraud-deception/story?id=13364502

Why does CNN and Fox and local radio stations continue to run the commericals.

To be fair and ethical, the follow link is the response from TaxMasters to the news article.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/statement-tax-masters-founder-patrick-cox/story?id=13374548&page=2

Our firm was notified by the BBB on January 11,2011 that we had been nominated for the Better Business Bureau’s 2011 Business of year Torch Award. We are honored to be nominated.

IRS reported today: Generally, taxpayers who itemize their deductions by using Schedule A, who claim the higher education tuition and fees deduction or who claim the educator expense deduction must wait a few more weeks to file their returns. Based on historical filing patterns, the IRS anticipates the delay impacts about 9 million taxpayers; in 2010, the IRS received more than 141 million tax returns. While the delay impacts both paper and electronic tax returns, most taxpayers can file immediately. More details are available on IRS.gov.

In the last few days, a number of our client’s have reported that they received phishing emails claiming to be from the IRS, one was a CP 2000 notice and the other was an IRS Refund notice. The IRS doesn’t communicate by email to taxpayers. Never open or click on an email claiming to be from the IRS.

Taxpayer ID: They use your email address or business name here-00000103460456US
Tax Type: INCOME TAX
Issue: Unreported/Underreported Income (Fraud Application)
Please review your tax statement on Internal Revenue Service (IRS) website (click on the link below

The IRS has more information on other scams on their website.

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=170894,00.html

New IRS procedures. This is a positive step by the IRS to help those taxpayers who in the past couldn’t file an OIC.

IRS has directed IRS employees to consider a taxpayer’s current income and potential for future income when negotiating an offer in compromise. Normally, the standard practice is to judge an offer amount on a taxpayer’s earnings in prior years. This new step provides greater flexibility for the unemployed when filing an OIC. There is one potential catch, the IRS may also require that a taxpayer entering into such an offer in compromise agree to pay more if the taxpayer’s financial situation improves significantly. What, when, and how the improvement will be evaluated will be important to learn before moving ahead with an OIC.

Great article. I applaud her for her tenacity and the amount of time and effort she put forth to ultimately win her battle with the IRS. I do wonder where her tax preparer was during the audit, it is possible tax preparer may not have been experienced enough to representing her in the audit. There is also the question what emotional cost did she pay for her time, effort, and worry during the process.

If she had hired a firm to represent her when she first got the audit letter the story would not have been as compelling to read, but the same outcome could have occurred without the drama.

It is something to consider when hiring a firm to prepare tax returns. Will they or can they help if you ever get audited (random audit, or triggered by claims made by ex-spouse, disgruntled ex-employee)?

I recall in a meeting a few years back, where a CPA (medium sized firm) bragged that none of the clients in all their years had been audited. Two things struck me as he talked: First, I hoped that he would be wise enough to never consider representing one of his clients in audit, given his obvious fear of the IRS and lack of experience. Second, was his firm preparing returns with such fear and for their own goals, that their clients were being short changed in the tax preparation?

http://finance.yahoo.com/taxes/article/108550/nurse-outduels-irs-over-mba-tuition?mod=taxes-advice_strategy