How to be Tax Ready

We want to meet your expectations. Please follow these guidelines to help ensure that we can do that.

1. Keep your documents organized throughout the year. If you have rentals or a business(es), keep them separate. We recommend that you have a designated file to store all your tax-related documents as they come in during the year.  Increasingly, our clients are scanning their tax documents and maintaining an electronic tax file. Either way, doing it throughout the year is always easier than waiting until the tax season.
2. Keep the originals, send us electronic copies. When uploading electronic documents, please send them in a PDF file format rather than as photos taken on your smartphone.  Photos of your tax documents are often difficult to read and require extra time to convert to a usable format. If you’d like to use your phone, we recommend using Microsoft Lens (iOS, Android) or Adobe Scan, both free apps which will allow you to convert your photos to PDF’s. If you have an iPhone, there is scanning availability in your notes app. Documents must be scanned in black and white only.
3. Use the organizer. We use an uploading service called Safe Send. Click here to learn how to upload your documents to SafeSend. New in 2023, some of our clients will be using Client Collaboration to complete the organizer and upload documents. Click here to learn how to upload your documents to client collaboration. Please upload all your tax documents to either Safe Send or Client Collaboration with your organizer. If we do not file your personal return and only your business(es), upload your tax documents HERE. Do not use any special characters when saving your documents, as this makes it impossible for us to download. We email these organizers in January, they are pre-filled with your tax information from the previous year.
4. Complete the questionnaire that accompanies your organizer. While it is not necessary to complete the entire organizer in detail, we do ask that you complete the questionnaire. This helps us better understand your situation and allows us to identify any issues or changes from the prior year that may need to be addressed to complete your return. If you also have businesses, click HERE to fill out this questionnaire for each of your businesses (link coming soon).
5. Keep your business and personal documents separate. When sending in documents, for document clarity, please separate all personal documentation and all business documentation by business.
6. Our document upload portals are secure. You do not need to password protect your documents. In fact, it makes it more difficult and sometimes impossible to download them if they are password protected.
7. We do not require receipts. While receipts are necessary in the event of an IRS audit, we do not need them to prepare your returns. Please provide your deductible expenses in a spreadsheet or another organized format.
8. Bring in all documents at one time. To the extent possible, please transmit or bring us your tax documents all at once rather than as you receive them. We do realize that in some cases you might have a few outstanding items that may not be available until later.  If that is the case, simply get us what you have and let us know which items are outstanding and when you might expect to receive them.
9. Bring us your tax information as early as possible. If you have all your information ready, get your documents to us right away. Once we have your information, this puts you in our queue so we can quickly begin the tax preparation process. We also appreciate the opportunity to complete tax returns early in the season.  If you wait until the last few weeks of the tax season, we may not be able to complete your tax return without going on extension.

If you have any questions or would like to set up an appointment with one of our Operations team members to help walk you through the process, please email office@dpwcpas.com or call us at 503-362-9152

When your Tax Return is complete

1. Appointments may be limited as deadlines approach. As the accounting industry and world adapt to a hybrid working schedule, face-to-face appointments become increasingly limited. However, we are able to jump on the phone or even have a virtual face-to-face conversation to provide quick and easy communication. You may consider requesting an appointment for after-tax season if you wish to discuss your tax situation further.
2. We use Safesend to deliver your returns to you electronically. Safesend allows you to review, sign and pay your tax bills online. You will also have access to these returns for 7 years, allowing you to download them at any time. It will also send you reminders when you have payments due.
3. Review your tax return. We do our best to prepare an accurate and complete tax return from the information you provide, but we still ask that you review your tax return carefully. Ultimately, it is your responsibility to make sure everything is reported correctly. If you do see an issue or have a question, don’t hesitate to contact us and we will address it immediately.
4. Make your tax payments to the IRS and other applicable taxing agencies. If you have a balance due, you will have to take care of that on your own. Links for how to pay IRS and ODR can be found within your SafeSend account or can be done online. How to pay IRS HERE. How to pay ODR HERE. We encourage setting up your online accounts with the IRS and ODR as soon as possible. It can be hard to access their websites the closer we get to the deadlines.
5. Notices from the IRS, ODR, or other taxing agencies can be scary. Don’t panic. Provide us a copy of all pages received and we will take a look and get back to you with the best course of action. It’s important to get any notice to us immediately, as they are time-sensitive.
6. Don’t shoot the messenger. No one likes a surprise tax bill, so if that happens to you, please keep in mind that we have already done everything we can within the law to minimize your tax liability. We will be happy to work with you to reduce the chances of any surprises going forward during our tax planning meetings that begin in September. If you’d like to be on the calendar now, email office@dpwcpas.com or call 503-362-9152.