Yes! Our hard deadline is APRIL 1. In order for us to guarantee that we’ll be able to complete the return on time, we require all your documents by April 1st. If we’re still missing documents from you after that date, we cannot guarantee completion by the deadline and may need to file an extension for you, additional fees apply. If you onboard after April 1st (begin uploading documents) we will do the best we can to complete your return or get you an estimate of what is owed with the extension but extra fees will apply. Note: An extension of time to file is NOT an extension of time to pay. Any estimated tax due is still due on the deadline or else late payment penalties and interest will apply.

Our fees are based on complexity and reflect the level of professional and customer service that we provide. To get an idea of what your tax prep fees would be, you can compare your prior year return (as long as everything is pretty much the same) to the fee schedule outlined here

Payment is due when the return is completed. We accept all major credit cards, Paypal, Venmo, cash & check.

We are no longer scheduling in person tax preparation appointments. The drop off, prepare, deliver method of tax prep saves our client’s time and energy, allows us to work on tax returns on a first-come-first-serve basis and allows us to focus on preparing a complete and accurate tax return. While we’re working on the return, we’ll be in touch if we have questions by email/phone/chat. Once the return is finished, we provide a video highlighting the ins and outs of this year’s return along with planning tips for next year. If after viewing your review video, you still have questions, you can email us, and we will happily answer your questions within 1-2 business days. Or we can schedule a 15-minute phone call with you. Longer and more extensive phone calls are available at an hourly rate.

Uploading your documents is super easy through our client portal. Just log into your personal client account clients.vanbaumaccounting.com and there you can upload all your tax documents (We recommend waiting until you have ALL your necessary documents before uploading, this way, you can upload them all at once, and we can start working on the return without missing documents)

Don’t like uploading? No worries, you can stop by our home office and drop them off in our secure drop box out front. Or mail/FedEx them to us at the same location: 404 Alpine Dr Round Lake, IL 60073. Caution: if you mail your original tax documents, we recommend sending them in a manner that allows tracking such as Priority Mail.

The first step is review our prospective client letter, rate sheet and engagement letter. When you’re ready to get started, create a client profile in our client portal. After completing the “client interview” you can begin to upload all of your tax documents. For a complete list of the documents you may need, please refer to our Tax Time Client Checklist. For new clients we also need a copy of last year’s tax return and a copy of your driver’s license or state ID (taxpayer and spouse if married). We will reach out to you within 1-2 business days to welcome you and help you with the next steps!

clients.vanbaumaccounting.com
Your username is the email address that you created the account with. If you forgot your password or don’t remember creating one, then click on “forgot password” after entering your username. You will then get an email with a link to reset your password. Once reset, follow the link to the portal again, and enter your username and password. If after attempting this, you are still having trouble, please contact Heather at 847-366-6099 (text/call) or email heather@vanbaumaccounting.com . You can also visit our “Help with Client Portal” section on our website, for more helpful tips!

Yes! To prepare a complete and accurate tax return we need the end of year tax statement from the app, 1099NEC/1099-K (if applicable), a summary of all ordinary and necessary business expenses (cell phone for example) and total business and personal miles on the auto used for the gig work.

99% of the time, the result will be better if you file jointly. To ensure that your new family pays the least amount of tax, we need to have all of your tax documents so that we can run a Married Filing Jointly vs Married Filing Separately comparison.

Qualifying children are younger than 19, or under 24 if they’re attending school full time for at least 5 months out of the year. Your child must either live with you for more than half the year — or qualify for an exception — and must not provide more than half of their own support. It is important that your children don’t “claim themselves” accidentally so we recommend having us prepare their returns too.

Qualifying relatives are other individuals for whom you provide more than half of their annual support, earn very little, and can’t be claimed as a dependent by anyone else.

It’s very important that you still file tax a return! We can help you make arrangements to pay the balance over time and present other collection alternatives. Failing to pay your taxes on time will result in interest and penalties but failing to file can result in criminal sanctions.

Every state has its own tax laws governing residency and taxable income. If you can tell us when you moved and what you earned in each location, we can handle the coordination of all the tax laws to make sure you file and pay the right amount to each state.

This may or may not require an amended tax return. Please send us the new tax form so that we can explain the best course of action.

Yes, we have helped many non-filing taxpayers get back into compliance over the years. These engagements are a little bit different from standard tax preparation so please contact us to discuss.

Our professional opinion is…it depends. DIY commercial software can be the right solution for many people. However the hours and hours of frustration, the potential for costly penalties for missing a check box or omitting a critical piece of info and the opportunity cost of planning for future tax liabilities usually make it worth hiring a professional. If you don’t cut your own hair, you probably shouldn’t do your own taxes (bald clients with complex tax situations aside).

We will need the closing statement from the sale and your cost basis in the property. If you purchased it, cost basis is the original purchase price plus closing costs, improvements and selling expenses. If you inherited it, cost basis is the fair market value on the date of the decedent’s death. We’ll get into the nuance during the tax prep engagement.

Not unless you’re self-employed and use the space exclusively for your self-employment activity. If you’re an employee, there is no longer a deduction for home office.

While some firms charge an additional fee to e-file, we do not. There are no additional fees for e-filing, direct deposit or direct debit.

It is a form of insurance for that year’s tax return. Our engagement is to prepare and file the tax return. Occasionally, the federal or state agencies will issue notices after the filing. If the notice is the result of an error on our part, we will review and respond for free. If the notice is a result of client or government error, we charge an additional fee to review and respond at our hourly rate of $200/hour. The notice protection gives you the peace of mind of knowing that we’ve got you covered for that tax year come what may.