It is that time of year again…yes, tax season

For Jim Byrd, Income Taxes and Bookkeeping, that is the question he has been asked since 1972.  

For nearly 50 years, Byrd has been doing taxes for those in the area for personal and commercial tax purposes. Smart tax preparers know that preparing a client’s tax return is also an extremely effective form of prospecting for other types of business. One of the key reasons for this is that most clients do not view their preparers as salespersons but rather as professionals or advisors. This strategic advantage allows those with the proper training, licensure, and experience to quickly ascertain a client’s overall financial situation and offer insurance or investment products, or other services that may be needed, such as auditing, bookkeeping or even comprehensive financial plans. Seeing that some of these needs bore merit in the Randolph County area, Byrd expanded many years ago, to include providing complete bookkeeping and payroll services for all types of businesses. “We do all the work that the business owner may not know how to do or have time to do,” states Byrd.

Byrd and his staff of 9 employees, take pride in “knowing” their clients and not just considering them a number like other tax preparing chains.  “Many times clients are shuffled in and out. Some preparers are all about getting from one return to another without keeping the client in mind, but not with us. We make sure that we take the time to gather all the information is takes to make sure that each client is getting the best deductions and return as possible,” states Byrd. 

Having located his first office in Winchester, Byrd grew by creating offices in Portland in 1984, Union City in 2014 and in 2020 he opened an office in Parker City. When asked why Parker City, Byrd explained that they had clients that were traveling quite a distance from the west part of the county and beyond and this office would make it easier for them to achieve their tax services.

Each office is staffed with seasoned employees compiling over 120 years of tax knowledge. Byrd and his employees have had experience in the best practices when it comes to taking care of your tax and bookkeeping needs.  Byrd and his staff offer year round services that guarantee their clients a quick turnaround on their  tax preparation business. When it comes to tax preparation, they also guarantee better prices than the national chain brands. 

“One of the benefits of doing business with Income Taxes and Bookkeeping is that we are happy to put money back into our communities,” Byrd continued “the youth leagues, the high schools and other various non-profits all benefit from the dollars we earn.” 

The Affordable Care Act has provided preparers, like Income Taxes and Bookkeeping, with yet another opportunity to offer additional services to their customers. Some preparers have integrated enrollment into Obamacare directly into the interview process, and smaller preparers may soon be able to follow suit. This can greatly simplify the enrollment process for customers by allowing them to use the proceeds from their tax returns to pay for health care coverage. Other tax providers such as TaxAct also allow filers who must pay educational expenses for either themselves or their dependents to use the information on their returns to generate a FAFSA form.

Here are a few fun facts, if there are any, when in comes to the IRS and tax preparation:

1. The U.S. tax code is more than 10 million words long

According to the Tax Foundation, the U.S. tax code was nearly 10.1 million words long as of the end of 2015, and it has grown by an average of 144,500 words per year since 1955. And you wonder why we need tax professionals and/or tax software to help us out.

2. The simplest IRS tax form requires more than 100 pages of explanation

The basic tax form that most taxpayers will fill out is Form 1040. But get this: according to the IRS’ website, there are more than 100 pages of instructions detailing how to fill out Form 1040 and what each line means. 

3. People spend 8.9 billion hours complying with federal tax laws

Preparing your taxes and complying with federal tax laws takes a lot of time, and this isn’t lost on the IRS or the federal government. According to an estimation from the IRS, taxpayers were expected to spend 8.9 billion hours complying with federal tax laws last year. 

4. Nearly three-quarters of taxpayers get federal refunds

Though the percentage of taxpayers who receive a federal refund will usually vary from year to year, it often falls between 70% and 75%. This means Uncle Sam often cuts more than 100 million refund checks in a given year. 

5. Close to half of all households pay no federal income tax

On the flipside, the Tax Policy Center finds that a lot of households (nearly half) don’t pay any federal income taxes as a result of healthy deductions and credits. In 2015, 77.5 million American households (45.3%) owed a big fat goose egg ($0) in federal income taxes.

6. Filing an extension doesn’t give you a free ride

One of the more common tax misconceptions arises when taxpayers file for extensions. An extension is usually a smart option if you’ll be out of the country for an extended period of time, or if you haven’t received needed paperwork by the Tax Day deadline. Though extensions do give taxpayers an additional six months to get their returns completed, they don’t give them extra time to pay their bills. Taxpayers are expected to pony up at least 90% of what they expect to owe by Tax Day, otherwise they could face hefty penalties and interest.