Service
Personal Tax Preparation
Individual returns prepared by people who ask the questions first, with the international ones handled properly rather than skipped.
Who this is for
- Individuals and families who want a person reviewing the return rather than software
- Anyone with equity compensation, rental property, or self-employment income
- Households with income in more than one state, or a move part-way through the year
- Anyone who has outgrown DIY filing and knows it
What this actually involves
What you get that software does not give you
Consumer tax software is competent at the ordinary case and confident about everything else. It does not ask whether your rental should be reported on Schedule E or Schedule C, whether last year’s state move split correctly, or whether an election available to you was ever considered. It fills in what you type.
We ask the questions first. Most of the value in a return is decided before any figure is entered — filing status, residency, what has to be reported, and which elections are available.
Equity compensation
RSUs, ESPP, and options are where otherwise straightforward returns go wrong. Cost basis reported on a broker statement is frequently incomplete for RSU sales, which leads people to pay tax twice on the same income — once through payroll withholding at vest, and again on the sale because the basis was understated.
It is a common and expensive error, and it is correctable on prior years.
Multi-state situations
A move mid-year, remote work across a state line, or a rental in another state can each create a second filing obligation. States apply their own residency rules, and they do not always agree with each other about who gets to tax what.
Florida has no personal income tax, which helps clients here — but it does not eliminate an obligation to the state you moved from.
RSU sale with an understated cost basis
Deepa vests RSUs worth $40,000 during the year. Her employer withholds tax on the vesting, and the $40,000 appears in her W-2 wages. She then sells the shares a month later for $41,000.
Her broker reports the sale with a cost basis of zero, because the shares came from an equity plan and the basis was never transmitted. Taken at face value, that reports a $41,000 gain.
Her actual gain is $1,000. The $40,000 was already taxed as wages at vest.
What gets filed: The sale reported with the correct basis, so the gain is $1,000 rather than $41,000. Prior years are reviewed for the same error, which is amendable.
Illustration only — not a real client. Figures are chosen to show how the rule applies.
What’s included
- Federal Form 1040 and any state returns required
- Residency and filing-status determination before preparation begins
- Equity compensation reviewed, including cost basis verification
- Foreign account and asset questions asked and answered, not skipped
- Prior-year review where something looks wrong
- Encrypted document exchange and IRS-compliant electronic signature
How it runs
Intake
A short questionnaire covering the things that change the answer.
Documents
Sent by an encrypted route. Never by email.
Prepared and reviewed
You see the return and we walk through it before anything is signed.
Signed and filed
Electronic signature with identity verification, then e-filed.
What it costs
Fees depend on what your situation actually requires — the number of accounts, the number of years, and whether prior filings need correcting. A return with one W-2 is not the same job as six years of catch-up reporting, and quoting both the same way would be dishonest.
You get a fixed quote in writing before any work starts. No hourly billing, and no invoice that arrives larger than the number you agreed to.
Common questions
Can you file my state return as well?
Federal returns are prepared and e-filed for clients in any state — a federal return is the same return wherever you live. State returns are prepared for most states, so tell us which one and we will confirm before you engage. A small number of states operate their own preparer registration schemes, which is why we confirm rather than assume.
I have been filing my own return for years. Why change?
If your situation is genuinely simple, you may not need to. The point at which it stops being simple is usually equity compensation, a rental, self-employment income, or a move between states. Those are the areas where software fills in what you type without asking whether it is right.
Do I need to come to your office?
No. The practice runs remotely by design — secure document upload, video consultations, electronic signature with identity verification, and online payment. Most clients are nowhere near Florida.
Can you look at a return I already filed?
Yes. Prior-year reviews are common, particularly where equity compensation, a rental, or a state move was involved. Where something was missed it can generally be amended, and there is a window for doing so.
Talk to us about your situation
A short conversation is usually enough to tell you what your situation actually requires — and what it does not.