Taxpayer Responsibilities

You agree to provide us all income and deductible expense information. If you receive additional information after we begin working on your return, you will contact us immediately to ensure your completed tax returns contain all relevant information.
If you receive any correspondence from the IRS or state taxing authority, you will contact our office immediately and share said correspondence with our office.
You affirm that all expenses or other deduction amounts are accurate and that you have all required supporting written records.
You will review the finished returns carefully before signing to make sure the information, including social security numbers, dependents, and relationships, are correct.  If you find anything that is not in order, or that you do not understand, you will contact us immediately.
You are responsible for all the information reported on the returns.  In the event your returns are audited by the IRS or state tax authority, you will be responsible for verifying the items reported.  You must be able to provide written records of all items included on your returns.  We will assist you for no additional fee if you have purchased audit assistance from us – otherwise, a deposit based on the hourly rate is due prior to beginning work.
If there is an error on the returns prepared from your data, or if your return is filed or any tax due is paid late, you are solely liable for the payment of the additional taxes that would have been properly due on the original returns and the interest charged by the taxing agency, since you have had possession and use of the money.  The responsibility for late filing or late payment  penalties depend on whether or not the late filing, or additional taxes, resulted from you not getting all the necessary information to us by the prescribed deadline or our procrastination or excessive workload, or if we were responsible for an omission or miscalculation of information you provided us in a timely manner.

We are dedicated to providing you with the highest level of customer service. Without this plan, you would be paying full price for every extra amenity. By opting into the plan, it will “Cover You Like A Blanket” and helps shield you from these unexpected costs. This Worry-Free Guarantee is only $94 and covers your Audit Protection.

This protection becomes effective and covers this 2024 Income Tax Return upon filing.

*Please note this coverage only covers the current tax year and not previous year returns.

 

This organizer is designed to help you maximize deductions and minimize problems in preparing and filing your tax return. Taxes can be very complex, but this questionnaire will accommodate most taxpayer's situations. Once you are done with the questionnaire, someone from our office will call you to review your submission and schedule a remote/phone appointment to coordinate e-signing of documents and filing return.

If you're not able to complete in one sitting, use the buttons at the bottom of page to save it. 

You'll receive a secure link to come back to it later. 

I acknowledge that all information provided to CAJ Tax Office LLC is true and accurate to the best of my knowledge.  I understand that I am required to have any supporting documentation to validate the information provided. Furthermore, I understand that knowingly providing false information on my tax return and reporting it to the IRS, that I am taking part in a potentially criminal penalty situation and is punishable by law including but not limited to; facing court dates, restitution and possible imprisonment. I waive CAJ Tax Office LLC and the preparer  of any error due to incorrect information provided by me.  By signing below, I authorize CAJ Tax Office LLC to file my tax return. 

ALL FORMS ARE REQUIRED. If you do not attach all documents to this form DO NOT EMAIL THEM. We will send access to a secure portal for any additional documents.

If you submit this entry with no income statements, social security cards and/or state issued ID, your submission will be removed from our system.

Business Vehicle Info

You may deduct car/truck expenses for local or extended business travel, including: between one workplace and another, to meet clients or customers, to visit suppliers or procure materials, to attend meetings, for other ordinary and necessary managerial or operational tasks or needs of your business. 

Note: You cannot deduct the costs of driving your car or truck between your home and your main or regular workplace. These costs are personal commuting expenses. You should have kept a record of your business-related mileage over the year. We will use the IRS'S standard mileage rate for the current tax year that ou file for your deduction of business-related travel. This rate accounts for gas, repairs, maintenance, depreciation, and auto insurance (but not interest on a car loan If you do not have a record of mileage or are unsure how to calculate your total, contact our office.

Business Use of Home 
If you use a portion of your home as your principal place of business, you may be able to deduct part of your rent or mortgage, as well as certain other relevant home expenses. In order to claim these business expenses, the part of your home used for business generally must be used exclusively and regularly for business purposes. These purposes can include home office, production/workshop space, storage, etc. For in-home daycare providers, the usage need not be exclusive.

An expense that covers the entire home, such as rent or central heating, is considered an indirect expense. You may only deduct a percentage of these expenses equal to the percentage of the home's area that your business uses. For example, a 150 square foot office in a 1500 square foot home is 10% of the home's total area and would mean 10% of relevant home expenses could be deducted.

An expense that applies only to the business area of the home is called a direct expense. If you heat your basement work studio (and only the studio) with a pellet stove, the cost of the pellets would be fully deductible as a direct expense. If you paint your home office (but not the rest of the house), you can claim the whole expense.

If you use a portion of your home as your principal place of business, you may be able to deduct part of your rent or mortgage, as well as certain other relevant home expenses. In order to claim these business expenses, the part of your home used for business generally must be used exclusively and regularly for business purposes. These purposes can include home office, production/workshop space, storage, etc. For in-home daycare providers, the usage need not be exclusive.

An expense that covers the entire home, such as rent or central heating, is considered an indirect expense. You may only deduct a percentage of these expenses equal to the percentage of the home's area that your business uses. For example, a 150 square foot office in a 1500 square foot home is 10% of the home's total area and would mean 10% of relevant home expenses could be deducted.

An expense that applies only to the business area of the home is called a direct expense. If you heat your basement work studio (and only the studio) with a pellet stove, the cost of the pellets would be fully deductible as a direct expense. If you paint your home office (but not the rest of the house), you can claim the whole expense.

(Correct caculations will be corrected during tax overview call.)

Engagement Letter for Tax Preparation

Please read and agree to the following engagement letter prior to submitting your questionaire for review. The purpose of this letter is to clearly explain your responsibilities as a taxpayer and our responsibilities as your tax preparer.

Dear [TaxpayerName.First] ,

Thank you for the opportunity to work with you in preparing your income tax returns.  To foster a complete understanding of our relationship, take a moment to review the following information.

We will prepare your income tax returns based solely on the information you furnish to us.  Upon completion of your tax returns, we will return any original tax documents to you.  From time to time our office may retain scanned copies of your documents for our records, however, you should retain all documents, canceled checks, and other data that form the basis of income and deductions and other tax return forms, schedules, elections, and disclosures.  Such documents include but are not limited to, proper records to support deductions claimed for meals, entertainment, travel, business gifts, charitable contributions, and vehicle use (if applicable), as well as bank and credit card statements.  These records will be necessary to prove the accuracy and completeness of the returns to taxing authorities, should your returns be selected for examination. We recommend keeping all documents and copies of your returns for a minimum of five years after you file your tax returns or after their due date, whichever is later.

Our work in connection with the preparation of your income tax returns cannot be relied upon to disclose errors, irregularities, or illegal acts, including, without limitation, fraud that may exist within the documents or figures you provide.  We will use our professional judgment in resolving questions where the tax law is unclear or where there may be conflicts between the tax authority’s interpretations of the tax law and other supportable positions.  Unless instructed by you, we will take a tax position in your favor whenever reasonable.  We cannot provide any assurance that tax positions taken will not be challenged or ensure the ultimate outcome of such a challenge.  Moreover, we cannot be responsible for issues arising from any income, expenses, or other information not provided to us at the time of tax preparation or prior to the filing of your returns.

Please note that this engagement, and this firm’s services, include but are not limited to general and annual income tax-related services.  Unless specifically requested by you, and agreed upon in writing we do not provide any services related to payroll tax, sales tax, excise tax, and personal or real property tax.  Nor can we be relied upon to determine or report your compliance, or lack thereof, with any Federal, State, or Local business-related laws, health care or human resources regulations, retirement plan compliance, or any business, property, or professional permitting/licensing.   

The charges for our services are on a “per form” basis with references to time spent by our professional staff to perform the work, and costs incurred for related supplies and expenses, including copy charges, long-distance phone charges, and computer processing charges.  Our fee for the preparation of your tax returns will be due and payable upon presentation of your completed income tax filing.  It is company policy not to release tax returns or any tax-related reports, schedules, information, advice, or notes without payment in full.  Should a situation arise where services have been rendered but payment is not received and our firm is forced to or elects to seek legal assistance to collect fees due to us, please note that you may be asked to reimburse our firm for the legal costs to collect any outstanding balance due. Because we understand that cost is an important issue for many clients, we will do our best to provide you with an estimate of our fees prior to completing your returns but please understand that circumstances arise which may raise or lower the estimated fee.  We will contact you if such a situation arises after you receive an estimate.

Upon completion of your returns and after you have paid your tax preparation fees we will provide you with a copy of your returns as well as the e-file signature authorizations and any applicable payment vouchers to complete your tax filing.  You should review the completed returns carefully.  If you see anything that requires changing please bring it to our attention immediately and we will either explain the matter to you or correct it without delay and provide you with new, corrected copies.  If you are satisfied with the returns and see no issues, please sign and date the e-file signature authorizations and return them to this office immediately.  Please note that all taxing authorities prohibit us from transmitting your tax returns without signed authorization from you.  Please also note that if your returns can not be e-filed we will provide you with paper copies to sign and mail to the taxing authorities.

By signing this engagement you are agreeing to compensate Caj Tax Office  for services you have requested.  In the event you terminate the engagement prior to the completion of your tax accounting work, Caj Tax Office  reserves the right to invoice you for any out-of-pocket expenses, time at our hourly rate, or other expenses that were incurred during this engagement.  If you sought in person consultation services, received advisory services by phone or email, sought representation work, or received any tax accounting services, by signing this engagement letter you are agreeing to compensate Caj Tax Office  for these services, even if you terminated the engagement prior to our firm completing the work requested or required.

Please be advised that if you receive any correspondence from a taxing authority that pertains to a tax return prepared by this firm we will be happy to address this matter on your behalf.  Included in the cost of your tax preparation is 120 minutes of correspondence work per tax year at no additional charge.  During that 120 minutes, we will assess your situation and apprise you of the course of action we believe is best to take.  If we can also compose and send off a reply to the appropriate taxing authority then we will certainly do so.  If the matter or issue will involve more than 120 minutes of work, each additional hour (or fraction thereof) will be billed at a standard hourly rate of one hundred and fifty dollars ($150) per 60 minute hour.  When possible, we will do our best to inform you if we believe your issue will require more than 120 minutes to handle, however, there may be a situation when we are unable to inform you in advance.  Even if we are unable to inform you, the standard hourly rate listed above will apply and is payable upon completion of this work.  At any time in the process, you may choose to have us cease our work in connection with your correspondence but we will require a said request in writing with your name and signature included.  If during the course of this work, it becomes apparent the correspondence received was due to an error or omission by this office there will be no charge for handling the correspondence regardless of the time involved.  Please note that except in cases where our office is deemed at fault, a flat $50 dollar handling charge will be assessed for all matters where our assistance is requested in handling any such correspondence from any taxing authority.  This charge is not included in your annual tax preparation fees and is payable upon completion of our work in connection with said correspondence.

Please also note that audit/examination representation work is not included in the tax preparation fee and is considered a different engagement with a separate fee structure.  If you have any questions regarding the specifics of audit/examination representation please feel free to ask any time before, during or after your appointment.  Again if your returns are audited or examined by any taxing authority, for any reason, the fee you paid for their preparation does not include the costs to represent you with regard to any audit or examination unless you opt in for the Audit Maintenance Protection for $62.00 which will be added in with your tax preparation fees.

Caj Tax Office  takes your privacy and personal information very seriously.  We will take whatever steps are necessary to safe guard that information and will never sell or disclose said information to anyone outside the firm for any reason.  Please note that while we will protect your confidential information, our firm, from time to time, will need to utilize some of your information for internal purposes not related directly to your current year tax preparation.  An example of this usage would be mailing you a newsletter or holiday card to your confidential home address or perhaps a personal phone call to wish you or a member of your family greetings or a happy birthday.  By signing this letter you agree to allow our staff limited access to your information for such informal, non-tax preparation-related situations.

Please also note that in an effort to help combat the increasing threat of identity theft and to ensure the returns filed by our firm are accurate, true, and pertain to the proper client or taxpayer, CAj Tax Office  reserves the right to request, as condition of our providing services, certain documents to verify your identity and the identity of others you may be listing on your tax returns.  This is for your protection and for the protection of your spouse and/or dependents and these documents will be safeguarded to the best of our ability and in accordance with our document protection procedures.  Such documents requested by our firm may include but are not limited to; government-issued photo identification, Social Security Cards, birth certificates, or visa and immigration-related documents.

 If you agree with the terms of our engagement as described in this letter please sign below.  Please be aware that by signing below and giving us your income tax information, you expressly agree to the terms of this engagement letter.  We want to thank you for putting your trust in Caj Tax Office and look forward to a long and mutually satisfying relationship.

 

Warm Regards,

Caj Tax Office 

321-804-6152

Cassandra@cajconsultinggroup.com