Tax accountant
 

My accountant in NY of 30 years is retiring---any recommendations for a local replacement?

Mine Wisconsin CPA Retired this year also. After considerable research I went with Mark Murphy, CPA. He live is The Villages and has had 25+ years experience, and an added plus he comes to your home. His contact: 407-670-4289 / memurphycpa@gmail.com /murphycpafirm.com

Hard to believe how anyone can make a living driving around to make house calls
with the vehicle cost plus maintenance and gas prices the way they are.

Right? Too bad the CPA doesn't live in a golf cart community!

Possibly not needing to rent office space and the related costs ie; hire office staff, utilities, etc can easily offset the gas and maintenance. The convenience for retirees that have a difficult time getting out. Seems like a great idea.

Maybe he isn’t concerned about making “a living”.

Grossly inefficient to make house calls. The amount of time on irrelevant chit chat was frustrating. Stopped doing that a decade ago. Give them an organizer and mail or fax the documents.

Be happy if he comes to your home.

A lawyer would bill for every minute.

office costs vs car?
 

I'm thinking all CPAs need a car, so that's a common cost to all CPAs. The extra cost of the miles to travel to somone's house is much cheaper than having an office. Very low overhead working from your home.

not to mention the " office car" and all its expenses are write offs

Anyone else care to comment on their experience with Mark Murphy CPA as to the quality of his work? We are looking for a CPA as well.

We've used him for three years, no issues, nice guy.

Robert L Barber, CPA, (540) 529-1014. He’s a Villager of 10+ years and has been a tax professional for over 40 yrs. Very knowledgeable and trustworthy.

Taxtown he has offices in NY and Cape Coral FL

The smartest CPA I know is Nathan Gauger 1-859-801-7001

I recommend Village Tax and Accounting Solutions 918 Rolling Acres Road Suite 5
Lady Lake, FL 32159 352-259-7053 Located near Home Depot They can file Federal and State Tax Returns. I have had to file New York State tax returns and they prepared my returns.

How wonderful in every way! It’s a win-win!

Randy Hayes in Alhambra Village, 4844374395

Another vote for Mark Murphy. We have used him for 10 years and are very satisfied with his work. Agree, nice guy.

Ellin Cronin 352-350-1951

CPA recommendation
 

We moved here from NY and have been using the CPA firm Scott, Stackrow & Co of Troy NY for years. They are excellent to work with, very responsive and everything can be transmitted electronically. 518-274-9081 or see their website at scottstackrow.com for lots of up to date tax info and tips.

I don't know her but know of her. She is not a CPA but is enrolled to practice before the IRS. I took a college tax course years ago where the professor was of the opinion that enrolled agents, in general, have more knowledge of taxes than do CPA's because they study the tax code exclusively, whereas CPA's learn accounting first, then study the tax code.

I got a guy. His name is Vinny. He works out of his van down near the waterfront near the Naval Yard on Atlantic Avenue. He is from the company Run, Lie & Deny. Guaranteed to get you a great refund. If you happen to be found guilty he’s got a guy named Cutler who will be free for a great defense. On second thought you might be better off with TurboTax.

My thought is to seek to find an accounting firm or individual familiar with one's particular situation. In past years whenever I changed accountants I had to familiarize the new one with the quirks of my business and particular needs. In my case I still use a firm located in the state of my primary business which I continue to operate.

While many if not most Florida accountants are familiar with the typical components of the income streams of retirees some filers such as retired physicians, military and teachers might have unique requirements tied to their professions.

I know Vinny. A few years ago he gave me an 80 inch TV----it fell off a truck:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

I do taxes and one of the things that keep my clients happy is that I drive over to pick up their tax forms and 2-days later, deliver and review their tax returns. The convenience of not having to make an appointment with AARP, spending 3-hours while your returns are prepared, are some of the reasons why my clients return year after year. By the way, I am not a CPA.

Barbarino
 

capiche

I get by with a little bit of help from my friends
 

I know a guy who knows

That’s him. I thought we were in big trouble when our accountant passed away. What a gem he was. His jerky son took over his business and I was audited twice.
Our taxes got much easier the following years and I started doing them myself. It was rough in the beginning but has gotten progressively easier. I’ve tried everything and really feel comfortable with TurboTax. I don’t let it overwhelm me. I just do a little when I feel up to it and before you know it it’s time to send them in. It’s not a chore anymore, it’s a pleasure. Your situation may be a little more complicated than mine but you are one smart man, you could figure it out.

Find a CPA with a masters in tax. Once passing the exam you specialize. It’s overkill for routine returns. Every preparer will use software. Remember YOU are responsible for the information on the return.

Sounds much better than my former firm; Dewey, Skrewum and Howe.

Why would the taxpayer need a CPA with a masters??

Maybe Trump or Musk would but not the basic taxpayer.

An EA passes an exam to be registered with the IRS.
I'm not sure what continuing ed is for an EA.

A CPA passes a 2 1/2 day exam to get their CPA certificate. A CPA must complete 80 hours of continuing ed every 2 years (including an Ethics course)

It's the continuing education that matters - once you pass any exam you need to keep up with current tax law. And constant reading - the Journal of Accountancy, CPA Today, the National Association of Tax Preparers, the IRS news, the Wall St Journal (the quickest summary of tax laws just passed).

Don't go with an unlicensed tax prepayer. In the IRS e-news received last night a couple preparing tax returns in Rocky Mount, NC was convicted of prepraring over 1000 returns for over a loss to the IRS of over $5,000,000. They're going to prison with the requirement they make restitution to the IRS for $5,200,00!

Maybe you could hire one of the 87,000 new IRS agents that will no longer be hired.

Since there will not be enough agents to do audits, why worry how your taxes are filed?:shrug:

I wonder how many CPAs could prepare a tax return without using a tax software program.

A lawyer will bill you when he does not a thing

You can bet he deducts his car expense.

I used to be in business. They do not eyeball returns. They have computers review returns and select things that don't make sense.

Thanks to credit card rebates, little business is done in CASH.

An interesting article I read years ago pointed out that our constitution is 4 pages. Our tax code is 186,000 pages.

I think that was 76,000 MORE agents. With benefits that is an expense of well over 100,000 each at starting income. An audit. YOU not the IRS has to pay time, effort, accountant fees to reply even if they realize their inquiry was not justified. The reason why when they audit you they will find something so that you cannot prove abuse.

Interesting post. Ethics course? Huh?

IRS e-news? Surely BIASED news source. Preparing 1000 returns with a loss of five million. Restitution 5,200,00! MUST BE A TYPO They're going to prison. Far more to this story.

I expect what they did was to file false tax returns and steal refunds.

And the reason why he shouldn’t?