'Tis the Season....Tax season, re-looking at which CPA to use

[Dave S.]

Last year was the first time that I filed taxes for my rental portfolio. Call me lazy but I ended up using the CPA which was being used from one of the previous owners of a property I had purchased. I didnt look around and figured that they were decent as another "investor" was using them. How do i gauge that the "tax guy" is doing all that they can for me and taking full advantage of the real estate tax law, especially now with all of the new laws? Any recommendations for CPAs in or around the lehigh valley?

[Brandon Hall]

Agree with @Jay Hinrichs. Negotiation skills shouldn’t matter. We filled our capacity by mid-December for 3/15 and 4/15 and I image the other awesome tax pros that contribute to BP are in the same boat.

A CPA who can take you on at this point: (1) is new and doesn’t have enough clients to be at capacity at this time of year; (2) doesn’t have a good operational model in place; (3) just hired fresh talent that has expanded capacity; or (4) is willing to give other clients a bad experience if you pay them enough.

On points #1 and #2, I know because I’ve been there with building my own firm. It leads to awful tax seasons and lots of angry clients. Only once did we figure out #2 did we realize that we really need to plan and fill capacity in Novemeber and December each year. And then our client experience shot through the roof!

#3 is possible. But generally it takes a while for a new employee to get integrated into the firm operations

#4... yikes.

Here’s what I’d suggest:

1. File for an extension. 

2. Pay any amount owed to the IRS by 4/15 to avoid penalties. That means you’ll have to estimate your outstanding tax liability (if any).

3. Interview CPAs after April 15 if you’re serious about building a long term relationship with the right team.

Hope this was helpful!