Questions about working with us

Messages get a reply the same business day. Calls during business hours (Monday to Friday, 8 AM to 6 PM Eastern) come to Shane directly. If he's on another call, leave a message and he'll call you back as soon as he's off.

Yes. Shane prepares your return and answers your questions, start to finish. There's no front desk handing you off and no junior staff doing the work in the background.

Through your secure client portal. You upload documents there, see what's still needed, and your filed return is saved there when it's done.

Yes. You get a written quote before any work begins, and it's honored for 30 days. Our minimum fees and what adds to them are posted on our pricing page, as New York law requires.

We can't speak for anyone else. Our fees are tied to the forms your return needs, like a Schedule C or a rental property, and every one of those is on the price list. If your situation changes, the quote changes with it, and you see it before we start.

No. A fee based on your refund isn't allowed on an original return (Treasury Circular 230 §10.27).

Ask it. If a question turns into new work, like an amended return, we quote it before we start.

Always. We go through it together on a video or phone call, screen by screen. Nothing is filed until you sign Form 8879, the IRS e-file authorization, electronically. More in what should happen before you sign your tax return.

If a mistake on your return is ours, we prepare the correction at no charge. If it comes from information that was missing or wrong when we prepared the return, we quote the amended return before we start.

That's why you're hiring someone. We explain things in plain English, and there's no such thing as a dumb question about your own return.

It depends on when your documents are complete and how busy the season is. When you sign on, we tell you what we still need and when to expect your draft, and we keep you posted if anything changes.

All of our work is remote, but you won't be on your own. We schedule a video or phone call and go through your documents and your return together before you sign anything. If you'd rather not upload, you can mail copies to PO Box 198, Round Lake, NY 12151, and we'll scan them into your secure client portal.

Yes, any time of year, even partway through a return. Your old preparer has to return your records when you ask. See how to switch tax preparers.

Yes. We prepare and file past-year returns, one return per year. Start with the free late-filer checklist.

No. Shane Panas is a New York State registered tax return preparer, IRS PTIN holder and Authorized IRS e-file Provider. He prepares and files returns.

We don't represent clients in IRS audits, collections or appeals. If the letter is about income that was left off a return, the fix is sometimes an amended return, which we can prepare. Don't let the response date pass while you decide: note it and act before it, and for representation talk to an enrolled agent, CPA or tax attorney.

No. We don't do LLC formation or ITIN applications.