What You Can Expect as a Tax Client

TaxSmart MD offers tax preparation and filing, but the core mission of the service is tax reduction through proactive planning. Our service is relationship-based, rather than transaction-based. We only work with a limited number of clients and do not base our business model on volume.

From January through April, we are pretty busy with the duties of tax season, but during the rest of the year, we are dedicated to tax planning.

We offer two planning meetings during the year. The first is a meeting up to 60 minutes in the middle of the year (as early as May, but as late as September), during which we can strategize for the best ways to reduce your tax liability for the current year. The second meeting, lasting up to thirty minutes, will take place in the last three months of the year. This meeting is intended to identify any last-minute moves that would benefit you (such as, for instance, deciding how much to contribute to your solo 401k to get you out of the child tax credit phase out, or whether it would be worth bunching charitable donations). Life can change quickly, and this would also be an opportunity to review the impact of any changes in your income or personal situation on your taxes for that year.

S Corp clients are eligible for an additional mid-year planning meeting, as they often have additional complexity and planning opportunities.

The diagrams below illustrate what you can expect throughout the year. We encourage clients to sign up for our service before tax season, so that we have plenty of time to implement strategies before the end of the tax year. The sooner during the year you sign up, the more time we have to optimize your taxes for the current year. Clients who sign up after the end of the year can expect to start the tax preparation and filing process first, before transitioning to the planning phase after the tax deadline in April.

We make every effort to get your taxes filed on time, but if we do not have all the documents we need, there are times when an extension will be necessary. Please see the FAQ for more information about extensions. Generally, filing an extension is no big deal as long as you have a good estimate of your total taxes and pay any amounts due by the regular tax deadline. There are also other circumstances when filing an extension will be in your best interest (for instance, if you need additional time to contribute to your solo 401k for that tax year).