We continue to encourage everyone to use the client portal for the safest transfer of documents, but are happy to be able to provide alternatives to accommodate what works best for you!
Sending Us Hard Copies of Your Documents?
Priority Mail is best! The U.S. Post Office offers free tracking with Priority Mail, and has the best rates for anything under two pounds. We do NOT recommend sending via FedEx. Our FedEx delivery person often leaves packages in the main building lobby rather than bringing them to our office.
Reminder:We do not need your medical receipts, only the total you spent if you think you have enough to deduct.
Paperless Bill Payment
Did you know you can pay your Business Bookkeeping Services invoice online? We have a secure payment gateway which can be accessed from the homepage of our website for your convenience. You can pay your invoice by credit card through this link instead of writing a check! Easy.
Your paycheck holds a lot of important information, but for most people, as long as the money is coming in, the actual paystub is out-of-sight and out-of-mind. The fact is, your paystub can be the difference between a tax refund or bill at tax time, as well as a playing a key role in getting a loan, or even verifying your identity in the fight against tax fraud. Below are the Top 3 Reasons why it’s a good idea to make sure you have access to your paystubs, either online or in hardcopy, and why it’s important to check them periodically.
Getting a Refund vs. Owing Money at a Tax Time: Changes in tax laws, marital status, or even a slight bump in your income that puts you in a higher tax bracket can unwittingly leave you owing money at the end of they ear when you used to see a refund. The best way to prevent this from happening is to periodically look at your paystub to see exactly how much is being taken out of each one based on your “withholding allowances.” Unfortunately, withholding is one of those things that is usually set up on the first day of a new job as part of the paperwork, and never looked at again. There are basic guidelines about who should claim how many allowances based on your number of dependents, Head of Household status, but with so many people working second or part-time jobs, or joint filers with spouses who work, the standard guidelines don’t always make sense if you want to avoid owing money at tax time. See our previous post about where on your paycheck you’ll find your withholding elections, and if too much or too little is being taken out every month, you should fill out a new form W-4. The sooner you do it, the smaller the adjustment needs to be to rebalance your tax debt to your preference.
Identity Theft & Fraud Prevention: With the widespread tax fraud across the country this year—particularly with respect to unemployment, paystubs have taken on even greater importance. As efforts increase at both the state and federal level to guard against tax fraud, paystubs are among the documents being requested to verify identity. For this reason, we are urging clients to make sure they have a copy of their last paystub of the year readily available—either electronically or in hard copy. We have seen instances where processing tax returns has been denied until these documents are produced.
Income Verification: There are seemingly mountains of documents that lenders require when applying for a loan—whether it’s a mortgage, Home Equity line of credit, or a personal loan. Paystubs are just part of the equation, but lenders want to know that you’ve got money coming in so you’ll be able to pay them back for the money going out. Depending on the frequency with which you get paid, they may ask for two or more paystubs, but regardless how many, they must be the most recent ones. Having easy access to your paystubs is one step toward making the process easier.
Another strange tax season is upon us, and with a keen focus on keeping our staff and clients safe and healthy so we can continue working, we have put safety measures in place for folks who need to visit our office to drop off their documents. We thank you in advance for your understanding and patience while we all await a time when we can see each other face-to face.
In the meantime, if you must come to our office, kindly follow the protocol below:
Please put on a mask before you come in to our building.
When you enter our office space you will immediately see a table with a box, some pens, 9 x 12 envelopes, and instructions.
If you have questions, please put them in writing and include them with your documents. Staff will not be able to answer any questions at drop off.
If you have brought your documents in a folder, please put them in an envelope, seal it, write your name on the outside and place it in the box.
If your documents are already in an envelope, just make sure your name is on the outside and place it in the box.
The drop box will be emptied, and the area sanitized, every half hour.
Staff will not be available to assist you at drop off, so please do not go past the table or enter any of the offices.
Kindly be patient. Once we have your information, you can rest assured we will contact you to address any issues, or to arrange for you to sign and pick up as soon as we can.
We appreciate that it can be frustrating if you just have a quick question you need answered, but we ‘ll be much better equipped to address your specific question after we have reviewed all of your information for this year. For now, avoiding any in-person contact between clients and staff is the best way we can provide you with the service you deserve by keeping everyone safe so we can stay open.
As recently as January 13th, 2021, IRS updated the IRS Operations During COVID-19 page with details about ongoing service delays. Specifically, the page opens with:
“We’re open and processing mail, tax returns, payments, refunds and correspondence. However, COVID-19 continues to cause delays in some of our services. Our service delays include:
• Live phone support • Processing tax returns filed on paper • Answering mail from taxpayers • Reviewing tax returns, even for returns filed electronically”
In other words, pretty much everything is delayed, and trying to get answers will continue to be difficult for the foreseeable future, particularly as processing this year’s returns gets underway.
With many IRS employees continuing to work remotely, the mountains of paper mail delivered to their regular locations have continued to pile up. the few employees allowed in those buildings are doing their best to address as much of the backlog as they can, but it’s slow going without the manpower on site. as It’s kind of like the sports stadiums we are seeing designed to hold tens f thousands of people, with only a few hundred in the stands.
There are other helpful resources available through the IRS website, however, including a page dedicated to stimulus payments, and, when the time comes, the “Where’s my refund?” link.
We’ll be keeping up to date with IRS communications as they are released and sharing relevant information we find for you this tax season.
