2025 Preseason Letter
Dear Valued Client,
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We wish you a Happy and Healthy New Year 2026! That means income tax time is just around the corner.
A new year means changes at DeNovo Tax & Advisors. Mike Surden has retired, and his clients will now have John Hickey, the managing member, as their accountant. With 29 years of experience, and an EA himself, we are confident that John can meet all the needs of Mike’s former clients.
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We are anticipating a very busy tax season, so we are suggesting that you get your tax information into our office as early as possible. Also, we are encouraging our clients to drop off their documents once they have received the majority of their tax forms. It is easier to enter the information from a brokerage statement or a K-1 on April 1st than it is to prepare the entire tax return.
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We are advising all tax preparation clients that there will be an increase of approximately 10- 15% on our tax preparations fees. The reason for this increase is due to a rise in our costs, as well as the burgeoning requirements imposed on us by the IRS to keep taxpayers compliant. We understand the effect a price increase can have on our clients, and so this was a difficult decision to make. At DeNovo Tax & Advisors, we promise to continue delivering the highest quality services to our valued clients, and we thank you for your understanding and continued support during this change. If you are concerned about the cost for your tax preparation, please reach out to your accountant before the start of tax season.
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One of the popular features from last year that we will continue is the Family Tax Return Package. For a set price, we will prepare the parents’ tax return, as well as, all required child(ren) tax returns that reside in the same household. We are finding that if the kids file themselves, they are potentially missing deductions that could save the family hundreds of dollars or taking their own exemption, which can negatively impact the parents’ return. By having us complete all returns, we can be assured the returns are filed correctly the first time, thus eliminating the need for amended returns or lost deductions. Also, many families are requiring these returns as they file for Financial Aid for their college-aged dependents. For the 2025 tax season, we will continue with the new procedures implemented in previous years to ensure a quality tax return for our valued clients. With few exceptions, we request that all tax return information be dropped off, mailed in, or uploaded to the portal. Please allow 10- 15 minutes at drop off to complete the required paperwork. We must have your documents by March 2nd to have time to complete and file your return by April 15 th . For any tax returns where we receive the information after March 2nd, we reserve the right to file an extension and complete the return after April 15, 2026. If you wish to be put on extension to file your return after April 15 th, it is your responsibility to notify our office. We will not be filing extensions automatically or making reminder calls.
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We will continue with our Enhanced Engagement Packet this year. If you do not want to remain in the office for 10-15 minutes upon drop-off in order to complete the Engagement Packet, we direct you to our website – www.denovotaxandadvisors.com. There you will find the Engagement Packet, where you can download and have it completed before coming into the office. If you usually use the portal, please ask Claudia Ann (cknott@dta.tax) to put one in your portal for completion. The Engagement Packet must be completed and in our possession before we will work on your return. As a reminder, all tax returns prepared by our office require an Engagement Packet, including minor children. (There is a specific, shorter version for them.)
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We will continue with the same portal that we used for tax season 2024. Your login information will remain the same as last year. For those clients who did not use the portal in the previous year but would like to do so this year, please contact Claudia Ann (cknott@dta.tax) at our office for setup. When you get the initial email, please complete the setup process as quickly as possible as it is time sensitive and must be done within 7 days. Please note new email addresses below.
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As a reminder, please note that tax returns will not be released or filed until we receive full payment for preparation. We accept cash, checks, Visa, MasterCard and Discover. In those extremely limited situations where we do allow the payment for services to be spread over time, there will be an additional $20 added to each installment payment. Additionally, if you have an outstanding bill for us, it must be paid in full before we will begin to work on your 2025 tax return. Due to the disruptive nature of missed appointments, a $50 cancellation fee will apply to missed appointments canceled less than 24 hours in advance of the appointment. Additionally, we do not make reminder calls of any appointments. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions about this policy.
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We look forward to seeing you soon!
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Sincerely,
