When it comes to managing essential responsibilities, every month has its challenges, but the fall and winter months are incredibly demanding. October through January can bring in a wave of extra projects. 
Yes, it may be spring or summer – but we CPAs are “planners.” So let’s plan ahead for tax season 2024 and 2025! In the late Fall, people are hosting celebrations, attending holiday events, and gift shopping. If you have children, add on the winter school recitals and kids’ holiday parties. The time seems to fly by quickly. To keep up with the fun and chaos of the holiday season, some of the usual tasks don’t get as much attention as they should. Celebrating “peace on earth,” seems to provide very little “peace” for over-scheduled Bay Area residents.
And Bay Area business owners can find the holidays downright overwhelming. Hours are spent decorating the store, serving frazzled shoppers, overseeing busy staff, and handling holiday inventory. It’s normal for businesses provide extended hours during the holidays to make the best of an important season. Managing finances and tax obligations probably won’t get the attention they deserve. The answer to handling 2024 and 2025 tax preparation during the holidays is to partner with one of the best CPA firms in the Bay Area.
Can You Handle Tax Prep During the Holidays? Yes, You Can!
It’s no surprise plenty of Bay Area locals put off managing their yearly tax returns until they get to the end of January or February. But Spring is not the best moment to sift through the paperwork. And as a professional San Francisco CPA team, we can’t promise we’ll be there when you call at the last minute. We will do our best to assist, but as the saying goes, “Help us to help you!”
Year-end tax planning for 2024-2025 can hover over a person’s mind as they run from one holiday project to the next. They know they need to get to it, but when there’s a free moment, it may be time to take a “long winter’s nap.” We like to compare tax preparation to intelligent holiday shopping. Think of those folks who start collecting gifts as early as July. When the holidays are in full swing, they’re already wrapping presents and preparing for the guests. The management of yearly tax returns benefits from this same mindset. Contact a CPA early and breeze through the holidays. Our Safe Harbor CPAs appreciate early planners! Here are some great reasons to reach out to a CPA for tax preparation before the holidays;
- The stress of managing taxes and deadlines is gone. This allows for more time to focus on essential holiday tasks.
- Early filing could result in a bigger refund. We can’t promise this, but thoroughly completed returns done early do provide the opportunity!
- A CPA can dive into tax details and make sure to avoid overpayments.
- Working with a tax expert early can help ensure a solid strategy for now and for the next tax season.
Finally, it’s essential to know filing taxes early can help deter tax fraud. Thieves are always out there looking for an opportunity to give themselves a “special gift.” Identity fraud is a big problem for the IRS. Between 2015 and 2019, the IRS was able to stop online criminals from stealing $26 billion through identity theft tax refund fraud. CNN reported the IRS flagged more than one million returns for identity theft in 2023 (https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/17/irs-flagged-more-than-1-million-tax-returns-for-identity-fraud-in-2023.html).
Here is the link to the IRS page about identity theft and how to avoid it: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/taxpayer-guide-to-identity-theft.
Contact Us for Your Year-End Tax Planning for 2024 Before Spring has Sprung!
Truthfully, the holidays can be a little slow for our CPA team. This makes it the perfect time to give us your tax preparation project! We are ready to work like busy little elves to prepare Bay Area individuals and businesses for the next tax return season.
Please remember, our crunch time happens in the Spring. It’s normal to be inundated with last minute requests to help with income tax returns. And if you wait until then to reach out to us, we can’t promise we’ll be able to help. It’s very hard to turn people away, but in order to give our customers the best service, we can’t overwhelm ourselves either.
So give us a quick call and let’s take those taxes off of your hands so you can enjoy the holidays!
