Policies & procedures

Appointments:

A discussion of your individual tax situation, either in person or by telephone, is always helpful. This enables me to review your unique tax situation and answer any questions that you may have in order to achieve maximum tax savings for you.

You may call the office to schedule a meeting as soon as you have accumulated all your 2009 income tax information. My regular office hours are as follows:

Snyder Office: 9:00 – 12:00 and 1:00 – 4:00 Monday – Thursday (Closed to the public on Friday)

Lubbock Office: 8:00-5:00 Monday-Friday

I will be available for appointments Monday through Thursday at scheduled times. I am also available for appointments after hours or on weekends. These appointments must be scheduled though.

While an appointment is not required, it may prove helpful. In addition, scheduling an appointment enables me to structure my workload in order to meet my many tax filing deadlines.

An appointment made in advance will also ensure that you have an opportunity to see me. While I will always assist you if I am available, my time is limited during the months of January through April. So if you do not make an appointment, you may not be able to see me.

If you scheduled an appointment with me last tax season, your appointment for this year has been prescheduled for you.

If the time is not convenient, or if you were not scheduled for an appointment but would like to have one, please contact my office.

Tax Organizers:

To help you gather and organize your income tax information, we will attach an “Income Tax Organizer.” This computer-generated printout has general tax questions, and includes last year’s tax information to assist you in the compilation of your current year information. Please verify the client information for accuracy, making changes as necessary. Also please complete the questionnaire.

Extensions:

It is your responsibility to contact me if I am to file an extension on your behalf. If I have not heard from you at all by April 10^th then you will need to make other arrangements regarding your income tax return preparation.

An extension lengthens the time to file your return. It does not extend the payment period. If you anticipate that you will owe tax, then it needs to be sent with the extension request. An extension may be filed for a variety of reasons. If you do not have all your information available, then an extension is necessary. There may be other circumstances in which I may feel that an extension is in your best interest. It is a decision that I will make. If you do not wish to have an extension under any circumstances, then we need to discuss it at your initial office visit.

Payment Policy:

Payment for professional fees is due at the time the service is rendered. The individual income tax return will not be released until my fee has been paid in full.

Privacy Policy:

In order to meet the requirements of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999, I am posting this letter to inform you of the privacy policy of this firm.

I collect nonpublic personal information about you from the following sources:

Information we receive from you on applications, tax organizers, worksheets, and other documents;

Information about your transactions with us, our affiliates, or others; and

Information we receive from a consumer reporting agency.

I do not disclose any nonpublic personal information about our clients or former clients to anyone, except as permitted by law.

I restrict access to nonpublic personal information about you to those members of my firm who need to know that information to provide services to you. I maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards that comply with federal regulations to guard your nonpublic personal information.

If you have any questions about this policy, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Individual Notes:

The largest amount of correspondence I encounter involves Social Security numbers, particularly those of the spouse or children. If the name and Social Security number on the income tax return do not match exactly with the Social Security card, then it presents processing problems with the Internal Revenue Service. If you are entitled to a refund, it may delay its processing.

If you are denied exemptions for a spouse or children, then it could cause you correspondence problems with the IRS.

Therefore, it is imperative that I verify this information. If you would provide me copies of you Social Security cards, it would be most beneficial. If you have already done this in prior years, there is no need to do so now.

Business Notes:

This is to emphasize the reports which will need to be filed before the end of January.

For businesses with employees, you will be required to file quarterly (or annual) payroll reports as well as forms W-2 and W-3 for the year.

Even without payroll, you still may need to file information returns for payments made in the operation of your business. If you paid any individual, partnership, estate, or trust a total of $600 or more for the year, and if it was a payment for rent, royalty, business interest, or any type of contracted service, you should file forms 1096 and 1099 for the year.

If you have any questions, or if we can assist in any way, please contact either of our offices. If you need our assistance in the preparation of these returns, please bring the information either of our offices no later than January 23, 2009.

Worker’s Comp Filing Requirements:

If you have at least one employee in the State of Texas and if you do not carry workers’ compensation insurance, you may be required to file an annual report with the Texas Workers’ Compensation Commission (TWCC).

TWCC Rule 110.103 states as follows:

“Each employer who employs one or more employees in Texas and does not carry workers’ compensation insurance on March 20 of each year must file Form TWCC-5 with TWCC by May 15^th of each year”.

If you are subject to this filing requirement, please contact me as soon as possible. I can either prepare the form for you, or I can supply you with blank forms so that you can handle the filing yourself.

If I prepare the form the professional fee would be $25.00. There is no charge for blank forms.

If you have any questions at all, or if I can be of further assistance, please contact either of our offices.

Texas Employer New Hire Reporting:

Effective October 1, 1998, all Texas employers will be required to report certain information on newly hired and rehired employees to a State Directory of New Hires. This can either be accomplished with a W-4 form or a State of Texas New Hire Reporting Form. If you need further information, please contact either of our offices.

Work Opportunity Tax Credit:

Employers may take a tax credit on wages paid to individuals from certain target groups. These groups include: (1) qualified IV-A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) recipient, (2) qualified veteran, (3) qualified ex-felon, (4) high risk youth, (5) vocational rehabilitation referral, (6) qualified summer youth employee, (7) qualified food stamp recipient, or (8) a qualified SSI recipient.

If you have any employees within these target groups, you may be entitled to a tax credit. Please contact either of our offices for further information.

Property Tax Renditions:

Under Chapter 22 of the Texas Property Tax Code, renditions of business personal property are now required. A penalty of 10 percent can now be imposed for failure to render business personal property.

Therefore, when you receive the property rendition statements from the county appraiser’s office, be sure to complete and return them in a timely manner.

If we may assist you, contact either of our offices.

“Life is a grindstone. Whether it grinds us down or polishes us up depends on us.”

L. Thomas

Text Box: Ben Murphy Michael Hoyle Certified Public Accountant Certified Public Accountant Personal Financial Specialist