March Newsletter

Its officially Tax Season!

We have been busy processing returns and getting ready for those that haven't come in yet. Some important dates to keep in mind:

• March 15th: if you want a guarantee that we will complete your personal return by the April 15 deadline, we need your completed organizer and your documents in our office by this date.
• March 30th: If we receive your organizer and documents between March 15th - March 30th, we will make every effort to complete your return before April 15th, but we cannot guarantee it will be completed by the deadline.
• April 1st: Organizer and documents receive on or after this date will have an extension filed on their behalf. Returns will be completed as quickly as possible

If you know that you will not be ready to have your organizer and documents to us by April 1st and you want to volunteer to file an extension, notify the office before March 15th and we will waive the $50.00 extension fee. Please keep in mind, even if you turn in your documents after March 30th, we are going to make every effort to complete your return by April 15.

But what if:

• I have everything but I am still waiting for a 1099 or K-1? Please upload or drop off all of your other items. Just add a note regarding the item you are waiting on and once we receive the item, we can add it and finish up your return.
• I am out of town, or I just can't get it all together before March 30th. What does it mean to file an extension? Extensions simply give the firm and you a little more time. If your return is fairly straightforward, we will likely get it completed within the month. If you owe on the return, that payment will still need to be postmarked by April 15th, or penalties and interest may be applied. There are no penalties for filing an extension, and your return will not be flagged or unduly scrutinized because you have done so.
• My return has been filed, but I haven't received my refund yet. How do I know when it will be deposited? The IRS has a Where's My Refund page on their website. You can find out where your refund is by using their tool. Click on this link to our website to get more information on where to find that page and more. Jellison CPA Resources
• I know I am going to owe and I want to wait until the last minute to file? Your payment does not have to coincide with when we e-file your tax return. Your payments simply needs to be postmarked by April 15th no matter when your return is e-filed. So feel free to turn in your documents now, and send your check in April.
• I don't know if I did the organizer correctly? The most important part of the organizer is answering the custom questions and clicking the finish button on all the sections. After clicking finish, you should not be able to get back into that section of the organizer. Making sure you hit finish on all sections notifies us that you are ready for us to start processing your file.

Tax Returns

Here are a few Best Practices in regards to your tax return:

• Try and review it within the first 48 hours of receiving it. That way if you have questions, it will be fresher in the preparers minds and they will be able to get you an answer quicker.
• Be sure to sign your authorization forms as soon as possible. There are many variables that can interfere with our ability to get returns e-filed... power outages, illness, abnormal weather conditions. Things that are out of our control but can impact our ability to do our work. As much as we can, we want to avoid e-filing at the last minute. When applicable, authorization forms should be signed and returned to our office by April 8th. This will give us plenty of time to get them e-filed and correct any errors that may come up.
• If you are receiving your tax return through SafeSend, download it to your computer for your records. At the same time, copy the link for SafeSend. You will always be able to go back into SafeSend to see the return, make federal or state payments, or send a copy to another entity.
• While you are in the return, you will be invited to send your return to your financial advisor. Do that! You just need to add their email address and a secure copy of the return will be sent to them. It will save you time later.

We appreciate working with all of you during this busy season. Please stop by the office for one of our fan favorite cookies!