Professional Tax Preparation, Planning and Representation Services
Welcome and thank you for visiting the
One Stop Tax Shop website of
James Houston, Enrolled Agent (EA). We provide year-round, professional tax preparation, planning and representation services and we defend clients in front of the IRS during all audits, appeals and collections proceedings.
Enrolled Agents are the only tax professionals who are federally licensed by the United States Treasury to represent taxpayers in all 50 states. (CPAs and attorneys are state-licensed only.)
Our clients include many types of small businesses owners, real estate professionals, corporate executives, scientists, investors, day-traders, graphic artists, child-care providers and more. We are a small, full-service tax preparation firm that strives to exceed our clients' expectations. We believe that keeping our business small helps us achieve our #1 Goal which is for all of our clients to experience that personalized and prompt service that seems so hard to find these days.
Here is why we believe we can provide you with more and better services than other tax professionals:
- NO ONE works harder to save their clients from paying too much tax or from being victimized by the IRS.
- We serve taxpayers worldwide and we cater to those who are too far away (or too busy) to come in for office appointments.
- We respond immediately to your tax emergencies and provide real solutions to real problems.
- Under most circumstances we can finish your tax planning and preparation services within two days of receiving your information.
- We provide our clients with personal, safe and secure (128-bit encryption) lockboxes for easy and immediate file transfers.
- We educate our clients with current and upcoming tax trends that will help them pay less tax.
- We also educate the public by teaching free Small Business tax classes at the San Jose Entrepreneurial Center, Community Child Care Council, Women's Initiative, Work2Future and Sunnyvale Library.
- And we teach tax preparation volunteers to prepare free tax returns for low--income taxpayers at local VITA, Catholic Charities and United Way locations.
- We can pick up and drop off your information and tax returns.
- Our prices usually compete favorably against other tax professionals.
- We answer the phone promptly or will return your call by the next business day.
- We provide a free, monthly, premium newsletter tailored to your specific taxes and preferences.
If you are ready to elevate, modernize and simplify your tax experiences (all at the same time) please give us a call.
TAX PREPARATION: We provide a four-step process to ensure you pay only the absolute minimum tax. First, we check and re-check our work in preparing your return to ensure data-accuracy. And if we find an area we think the IRS might question, we will examine and discuss with the client before finalizing the return in order to better understand and possibly make changes.
Second, we offer tax-planning services to our clients and provide them with financial information and advice to help them understand how their taxes will be affected as they consider their financial, investment and retirement decisions. Finding out where you stand ahead of time eases your tax stress and gives you a chance to avoid paying too much tax.
Third, we educate thus empower our clients who are proactive with their taxes. Our Financial Tools section offers over 50 online calculators to help you make smart financial and tax decisions. For example, you may want to know how much tax you will owe next year or whether to refinance your mortgage, should you buy or lease that next business vehicle or how much your Retirement Required Minimum Distribution should be, etc. When you use your money wisely you not only pay less tax but you also live a better life. And you now have the power to better understand your personal tax, mortgage, financial, investment and retirement situations by using these calculators. And of course we will be there if you need help with your analysis.
Fourth, after preparing the return we thoroughly discuss with the client to ensure 1- everything is included 2- the client fully understands and agrees and 3- there are no further questions or changes.
TAX REPRESENTATION: Our services also include helping those who are in trouble with the IRS. Everyone knows that the IRS and all state taxing authorities are much more aggressive in auditing and collecting taxes these days. Did you know that the IRS is disallowing more mileage deductions these days? How can you be sure of getting all your deductions? Did you know that they are now also trying to require real estate investors to exclude normal rental expenses on their returns until the property is sold? If they succeed you pay more Ordinary Income Tax now and less Capital Gains Tax later.
Audits are getting more common and more difficult but you should also know that we employ a couple of extra steps in our audit defense that are not often used by other tax professionals. Yes it is extra work but these extra steps really help insure our clients get their best results possible. If you have received an audit notice and want to know more you should give us a call to discuss best strategies available to you.
We really enjoy educating our clients and insuring they pay the least tax. We also feel pretty good when we are able to help those being audited or treated harshly by the IRS. We value our clients' business but more importantly we value their trust in choosing the One Stop Tax Shop to help them find their best tax solutions.
