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a March 12th, 2013

  1. Talking to the Taxman About Poetry

    March 12, 2013 by admin

    tax-clip-artIt’s tax time again.  We don’t mind paying our fair share of taxes, but we do mind being billed too much to have them prepared.

    We have a pretty simple financial situation, and it typically takes less than an hour for an accountant to prepare our taxes.  Last year, we found ourselves paying over 25% the value of our refund to a nationally branded tax preparer.  And that didn’t sit well with us.  This year, we set out to find a new, cheaper way to file our return.

    We realize that we could do our taxes ourselves.  We know that tax software is cheap, or even free.  We also realize that many people have great success independently preparing their returns.   In the past, we’ve made errors on our forms and we’ve found ourselves completely frustrated by the entire process when attempting to file everything on our own.  We don’t wish to revisit that situation.  We are much more comfortable having a professional complete our taxes.

    So we began our research on local accountants.  We checked internet reviews and we asked a few friends for their opinions.  When we narrowed our list down to four contenders, we made phone calls to inquire about their rates.   We were pleased to see that 3 of the four offered estimates that came in well below the price we had paid last year.

    We set up an appointment with the company that seemed the most friendly, and most straightforward, during our initial inquiry.  Beckett Tax and Accounting ending up doing a great job on our taxes.  They were quick, efficient, and put us at ease.  They were happy to talk to our Bluey and to offer him fun things to play with (Alligator vs. T-Rex go!) while the adults talked.  The whole process took less than an hour, and our refund was similar to last year’s filing.

    And the clincher– Beckett’s bill for their service?  It was about a third the cost of what the nationally known tax preparers charged!

    Take a minute to shop around and to make sure that you are getting the best deal from your tax preparer.  It is well worth your research time.  If you are in the Madison area, we recommend you try Beckett Tax and Accounting.