Walnut
Creek Office San
Francisco Office
3000 Citrus Circle 425 Market Street
Suite 207 22nd Floor
(925)
934-6320 (800)
464-6595
E-Mail Mail
RLCrandell@aol.com P.O.
Box 30305
Fax (925) 934-6325 Walnut Creek, CA 94598
USA
Visit our website at www.RexCrandell.com
|
January
5, 2004
Dear
Clients, Colleagues and Friends,
IT’S TAX FILING SEASON AGAIN!
There have been many changes to Federal and California tax laws. If you would like our free written outline
of some of the new tax law changes for 2003 tax returns, let us know. It is less than ten pages in length. You may
find some interesting issues that you would want to consider.
THE TAX PREPARATION PROCESS:
Step One: COMPLETE THE TAX ORGANIZING CHECKLIST & MISCELLENEOUS
QUESTIONS. Please review the enclosed Tax Organizer
carefully for the items affecting you. Kindly have it completed before your
appointment. Answer all of the
questions on the sheet called Miscellaneous Questions. California is requiring electronic filing of
tax returns starting with the 2003 filing.
Please fill in the tax refund information in the Miscellaneous
Questions list so you will be ready for your tax interview. Your
cooperation in filling out the tax organizer will allow for more efficient
processing of your tax returns. Make
sure that all requested information is provided in full, and
allow our office to make any necessary calculations. We need all pertinent details in order to make your tax liability
as low as the law allows. IRS wants all
tax data rounded off to the nearest dollar, so we request that you provide us
with data with the pennies removed.
The
IRS computers crosscheck information sent to you on 1099 forms against what
shows on your tax return. To avoid
being penalized, as well as unnecessary correspondence and aggravation from the
IRS, please report all income, and bring all W-2, 1099, and 1098 forms to your
tax interview in case they are needed.
¨ If you sold stock, mutual funds, or
other property during the year, please bring the broker’s transactions and
year-end statements. The stockbroker’s
or mutual fund’s year-end summary report that comes with the 1099 form may be
more useful than the December investment statement. Be ready to answer questions about the date acquired, original
cost, date sold and sales proceeds for each investment that
you sold during the year. Some mutual
funds are giving investors the average original cost per share sold, which is
very helpful. The tax forms do not
require the per share price of securities.
¨ If you used your car for business, you
will need to report the estimated total of business miles driven for the year.
We will also need to know how many miles were put on the car for ALL driving
during the year, business and personal, combined. Please fill out the Vehicle Information Summary Sheet.
¨ If you have any tax questions that you
would like to discuss, please bring them to the tax interview.
¨ If we have not received all the
necessary information to complete your tax returns by March 19th, we
will need to prepare and you will need to file an Extension of Time to File form.
This will allow you to file your tax forms after April 15th. There is no penalty if a properly prepared Extension of Time to File form is filed
prior to the filing deadline, and as long as you send in any tax that you owe
along with the extension form. The time
between March 19th and April 15th is when the workload
and stress is the heaviest in our office, and we have to change our
focus to preparing extension forms.
Please plan to have your tax project done either before March 19th
or after April 15th.
¨ For those of you who prefer to mail in
your tax information and tax organizer, please do so before March 15th. Be sure to fill out the Client
Information Sheet, sign the attached tax representation engagement letter
and fill out the Miscellaneous Questions list. Please include your
telephone numbers during the day and evening where we can reach you if we have
any questions. A fax number or e-mail
address may prove to be helpful for some communication. For more complex situations or businesses,
it may be better to come into the office so we can go over and clarify the
issues together.
Step Two: MAKE YOUR APPOINTMENT TODAY.
Please call and ask for Jeanine to put you on my calendar. Now is the time to begin gathering the items
on the enclosed Checklist of Things
to Bring, and to complete your Tax Organizer and Miscellaneous
Questions list. The sooner you make your appointment, the
sooner you will receive your refund, or you will at least find out where you
stand for 2003 without any last minute surprises.
If
you are missing some data or documents, I suggest you set up your appointment
anyway, and you can mail, fax, or e-mail the missing information later. We will begin tax interviews on January 19,
2004. Our weekday office appointment
hours will be 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., and Saturdays until 5 p.m. If you need an earlier, later, or a Sunday
appointment, please let us know. We
request that you give us at least 72 hours notice if you need to change your
appointment, so that we can accommodate our other clients’ scheduling needs.
Thank you for your past and continued
patronage. We go the extra mile to see that you
pay the lowest tax possible. We
are accepting new clients, and you can help in this process. Please ask your social contacts, family
members and co-workers to call us for help.
Contact us if you have any questions.
Cheryl, Jeanine and I look forward to seeing you, and we wish you a
happy and prosperous year during 2004.
Very
truly yours,
Rex
L. Crandell
Rex L. Crandell Firm
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