January 28, 2025

 

 

Dear Friends and Clients,

 

Happy New Year!! I hope all of you have had a good year and good health. As each year goes by, I think I’ll get this letter out earlier and earlier, but I don’t. 

 

I know many of you are worried if I was coming back another year for tax season and it seems I will be-(my 38th tax season.) Oh, when are we going to fade off into the sunset? One day-there will be a sign on my door saying, “gone fishing” and it will be true, I’m going to lay my magical Pentel  pencil down for good, but until that day I’ll be here plugging away on tax returns.

      My staff will continue to be the same, Sybil, Tracy and Angus (10 years old and 11 on May, 1, 2025) and a    
     new face among us as well.  As I have said many times before, I will not retire without an exit strategy and  
     notifying you all what my plan will be.  I’m looking at several options at this time.

 

I want to express my sincere appreciation of your loyalty & support in the last 37 years and hope I can continue providing you the best service possible for years to come.  But your cooperation is needed. “You have to help me, help you.”

IRS has announced they will go live with e-filings on Monday, January 27. We will start our appointments to do returns on Monday, February 3 to be safe the program is up and performing correctly.

 

-Please make sure you have ALL documents needed to complete your return on the same day as your appointment.

-Please notify us of any change in appointment times at LEAST 24 hours (1 day) in advance or a missed appointment fee of $50 will be added to your bill. If you are not prepared and are missing information, please call at least one day before your appointment or you will be assessed the $50 fee.

-You must fill out the checklist and update list before your appointment time.  If there is not a filled out form, then you will not make it to my office. It is located on our website for you to print out,  www.burchettfinancial.com.

 

-The 1040 return and NC returns will cost $200 for 2024 tax year plus additional fees for each schedule. My hourly rate for additional work, consultation, or advice is $250/hr. and 30 min consultations are $125.

-I will do dependent returns starting at $50 if just a W-2 (federal and NC). If multiple states, Schedule C, etc., they will be priced as regular returns. Let us know that you are bringing them at your appointment time.

 

The IRS has made some strides in resolving their tax return backlogs and in resolving problems such as delayed refunds. During the summer, I handled and resolved numerous refund issues. If you still have unsolved problems, please let me know before or during your tax preparation appointment.

-Remember the tax laws we have at present will expire December 31, 2025, unless Congress changes them, extends or modifies them. There is a 3-year  statute of limitation on receiving refunds, but no statue if there is a balance due.

 

*So, with the 2024 elections over, I am confident that 2024 laws will stand as is but with Trump as President it is very possible that 2025 tax laws will be changed during the year and made retroactive. (It’s happened before!)

 

-I will be working shorter hours this year, but I will have a new person picking up my slack for appointments. 

-Also, you can still email, mail, drop off, or drop in the door slot for after hours.

-Call or email to office@burchettfinancial.com (The only live email, so make sure you’ve changed/updated in your computer) with specific dates and times for your appointments. I need an appointment is too open ended and there are a lot of slots to fill.

-Please fill out the client update sheet for us before coming to your appointment. (Changes of address, phone number, and email address are important to get in touch with you.)

-Go to the website for printing the checklist to make sure you have ALL required documents to complete your taxes on the day of your appointment.

-When sending into the office, especially brokerage statements (I’ve seen them be over 300 pages), send only the final information such as 1099 Interest, 1099-B and 1099-Div. This is the only info needed to complete the tax return. Send passwords and let us know before you send that it is coming. It will be costly for me to review 300 pages at $250/hr. plus printing cost to only need 6 pages of that report.

 

-Our security program “deletes” unknown sources and potential spam.  We will then send an acknowledgement that we received the documents. 

 

We are only sending out the newsletter and any tax law change highlights for 2024 and beyond. You can go to our website www.burchettfinancial.com and print out the client update sheet before your appointment time and check or printout the required checklist of 2 pages to make sure you have all required documents for your tax preparation.

-Again, this year, I am offering my additional advisory services to my current clients. These options are part of my exit strategy and the beginning of my retirement.

 

• They will consist of the following: For an additional fee of $29.99 for 1 year  (from the first month of sign up to the end of the month the next year). This will allow you to call/email and ask any questions, discuss taxes, no charge for responding to the IRS and state notices and just a general advisory for financial and tax questions.

 

• Second option, if a full service of $100/yr. – which includes the above advisory services plus estimates for federal and state yearly, tax planning for the future, a yearly newsletter and general financial and investment advice.

 

• The third option is primarily a CFO (Chief Financial Officer) for your business or you individually. The amount for the service and services offered will be based on what your needs are such as: tax returns filed, advisory services on insurance, retirement plans, and business affairs. Within this third option, I can be an additional advisor to your investment advisors reviewing and evaluating your investment.  As well as being an estate planning position resource. I can help you in addition to an attorney helping you do your final estate plans.

 

So please review these options for 2025 and beyond and let’s discuss prior to our tax preparation time.  I can set up phone times with you to discuss these options before the rush of tax season begins. I would love an opportunity to discuss your needs and how my services can be utilized.

 

-Again, I want to thank you for your loyalty and support to me personally and professionally and looking forward to seeing you soon.

 

That’s all folks & See you Soon!

 

Joyce and Staff @Burchett Financial Services