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Tax Planning
Many people feel like their tax bill is too high. Maybe you do too. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be. When you work with an accounting firm like ours, we make your financial success a priority.
If Financial Success Is Your Goal, We Are Here To Help!
There is more to preparing your taxes than simply filling out forms at tax time. It's also about understanding our clients’ needs and helping them plan for a secure future.
What Is Tax Planning?
Tax planning refers to our review of your tax return to identify potential planning opportunities - both now and in the future - to keep your lifetime tax liability as low as possible.
This is different than tax preparation, which is focused on keeping you compliant with what the government thinks you owe each year.
Why Is Tax Planning Important?
Taxes touch every part of your financial life.
Your tax return is a financial fingerprint: it's completely unique to you, complete with valuable clues and information, all of which is buried in dozens of pages and hundreds of numbers.
Understanding your return equips us to have more
valuable and actionable conversations with you.
Additionally, we can demystify the world of income taxes and help you understand this important piece of your financial picture.
Everyone! Regardless of your income sources or filing status, nearly anyone who pays income taxes can benefit from having a professional review of your tax return to identify relevant planning opportunities.
At worst, we'll review your return and conclude you are currently maximizing every available tax saving opportunity.
That's great "peace of mind" news.
Alternatively -and more frequently - we'll identify a handful of tax saving opportunities, both in the current year and in future years.
Who Is Tax Planning For?
What Kind of Opportunities Might Be Identified?
We will evaluate a number of opportunities during tax planning, including topics like
Realizing Captial Gains
Next Year Tax Preparation & Assistance
Tax Deductions and Credits Optimization
Tax Compliance
Charitable Giving Strategies
Retirement Tax Planning
We can run projections to see how potential changes (e.g., filing status, dependents, the sale of a business, stock option exercises, etc.) may impact your upcoming tax liability.
Tax planning isn't just something to focus on at the end of summer. Just like regular health check-ups are essential for maintaining your well-being, annual tax check-ups are crucial for keeping your financial health in order.
As your financial situation changes over time, it's important to revisit key tax planning strategies each year. The following checkpoints can help you stay on track and ensure your tax plan continues to meet your evolving needs.
- Are you taking full advantage of your health savings account (HSA) contributions?
- How are you optimizing your charitable contributions?
- Should you adjust your W-4 withholdings?
- Have you contributed to a traditional IRA?
- Are you maximizing your contributions to a qualified retirement plan?
- Are you taking advantage of tax credits?
Here's How We Do It
- Based on careful analysis of your tax situation we make sure you take every tax credit and deduction you deserve on your tax return.
- We help you set up a recordkeeping system that meets IRS requirements.
- We work with you all year long, not just at tax time, to develop tax planning strategies that lower your tax bill.
- We review and adjust your paycheck withholding so it accurately reflects your tax situation and lets you keep more of your money (why give the IRS a free loan?).
- We help you understand how to defer tax liabilities through pension plans, retirement contributions, and similar plans.
- We make sure you take advantage of certain investments to produce tax-exempt income (federal or state or both).
Here at Tandy Consulting we have established some straightforward steps for tax planning. Part of our methodology is to understand early on if it makes sense for us and our clients to work together on a long-term basis.
7 STEPS OF TAX PLANNING
01
Deep Dive For NEW Clients
This is just as it sounds, and as annoying as you imagine it to be. Here we will take a deep dive into your personality, life goals, financial statements, assets, and spending habits. It’s important for us to understand your concerns, challenges, reservations, along with what’s important to you and your family and/or business.
There is a flat fee of $250 for 45 minutes to make this initial “deep dive,” after this deep dive we can decide whether it makes sense to continue.
The consultation is designed to determine if we are a good fit for you, provide instruction, and refer to other professionals if Tandy Consulting is unable to help you directly.
02
Pricing Package Options
All pricing is 100% transparent and is always available on our website for your viewing pleasure. Don't see something you need, feel free to email us.
03
Tax Plan Questionniare
Complete the Tax Planning Questionnaire, link below. These questions are just the starting point or conversation starters for tax planning. Everyone’s situation is unique, regardless of what a friend “said,” we will go down the path that makes sense for you, not them.
04
Supporting Documents
Upload all supporting documents into the portal.
- W2’s
- Projected IRA contributions
- Financial statements
- Assets for depreciation
- Additional notes
05
Tax Plan Engagement Letter
Sign our Tax Plan Engagement Letter. This is an annual agreeement outlinging what we will and won't do for you as well any what you should expect and timelines.
06
Submit Retainer Payment
An invoice will be sent to the email address provided on the questionnaire. Unfortunately, nothing will be started prior to the retainer payment in full. We NEVER expect the price to change, however, if the scope of our engagement changes or addtional "what-if's" arise, there can be additional charges.
07
Tandy Consulting Gets To Work
Sit back and relax! We will reach out to you once your plan is complete. The final details will be outlined in the signed engagement letter. We prefer to use email as the primary source of communication so that you can refer back to conversations as needed.
Frequently Asked Questions
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