Federal and State Taxation Process

Our concentration has always been in taxation, with particular emphasis in the areas of taxation that impact estate planning. These areas include estate, gift, generation-skipping transfer taxation, and individual and fiduciary income taxation. We counsel and advise individuals, families, businesses, partnerships, estates and trusts in planning for these areas of taxation. We are unique in that, in addition to advising clients in these areas of taxation, we also prepare and file Federal and state tax returns for them. The process varies for each type of return to be filed, but in general:

• We conduct an initial meeting with the client to discuss their particular tax situation
• We gather from the client prior year returns and information helpful in dealing with the current tax situation
• We gather from the client the tax and financial information needed to prepare and file the current return
• We evaluate and discuss with the client the information provided and determine if it is sufficient for filing the return
• Depending upon the type of return being filed, we prepare draft returns for review by and with the client and often run multiple iterations to ensure the return filed is complete and accurate
• When helpful, we prepare returns using different scenarios for comparative tax planning purposes

Throughout the year, we have frequent, regular internal meetings to monitor the progress and status of each return being prepared. Our goal in preparing a return for a client is that it be complete, accurate and in conformity with the applicable law. We feel we have developed an outstanding reputation with the IRS and Florida Department of Revenue, as the vast majority of tax returns filed by us on behalf of our clients are accepted by the authorities as filed.