A Certified Public Accountant has completed a grueling course of preparation for his or her career. This includes graduating from a four year university with a BBA in accounting, passing an extremely thorough multi-day exam and then at least a year’s experience in public accounting before being licensed. A licensed CPA then has a further requirement of at least 40 hours per year of continuing education on topics such as financial accounting, income taxes, ethics, etc.

For a business, a CPA has the knowledge to help you set up a working accounting system that assures you know how your business is performing and that all income and expenses are properly accounted for. A CPA has the further knowledge, skills and tools to handle your payroll and other business needs in order to keep it simple and make sure taxes and reports are filed in a timely manner. If you have ranch or farming, a small business, own real estate or rentals, or are looking to start a partnership, limited liability company or corporation, a CPA can help you get started.

For an individual, a CPA can not only handle your taxes, but can advise you in all your financial and tax matters pertaining to budgeting, saving for college or retirement, setting up estates and trusts, comprehending your investments and managing debts, to name just a few. As a competent professional, a CPA will give you specific advice and help you individually plan for your future. If you owe back taxes, are paying off a debt, or are facing an IRS audit, a CPA can guide you through these situations.

Don is experienced in farm taxation, real estate rentals, like kind exchanges, adoption and many other issues. Don has been licensed as a Certified Public Accountant since 1980.

Don’s wife and assistant, Ann, is also well qualified to help with your income taxes, business Having a CPA who keeps up-to-date with all changes and handles these matters lets you spend your time running your business.

Many individuals decide to file their own taxes online without the personal help from a professional in income tax return preparation to maximize their income tax refund. Many of these select individuals make common errors that can be avoided by using a CPA. Having previously owned and managed a profitable working farm, Donald J. Lynch, CPA has extensive accounting experience with farm tax issues. Additionally, he has broad experience with taxes related to real estate transactions, including Section 1031 exchanges.

For the best income tax returns and accurate tax preparation in Kingman, AZ, choose the income tax, accounting, bookkeeping and small business services offered by Donald J. Lynch, Certified Public Accountant.

Over the years, I have taken many calls from clients who received a call from the “Internal Revenue Service” saying they are about to file suit to collect back taxes supposedly owed. Other calls have said they are issuing a warrant for your arrest. 

These calls are fake 100 percent of the time. The IRS never has to file suit to collect taxes. They send out a 30-day letter and then they levy your bank accounts or put a lien on your income. 

The IRS also never initiates contact with a taxpayer with a telephone call or an email. The IRS also never tells you to pay the tax right now over the telephone using any kind of payment card. They will always give you a few days, or even a month or more, to pay the outstanding balance. They will often set up a payment plan for you. 

The IRS wants you to send information about the contact to them, but experience shows this to be a waste of time on your part.

In a new scam, criminals file a fake return and have the refund deposited to your bank account. Then they call, identify themselves as the IRS and want the refund back. This one actually needs to be reported to the IRS, since it involves money that belongs to the government. 

You may receive an email from the “Internal Revenue Service.” These emails look good, but they are fake. The only time you will receive an email from an IRS agent is if you are already working with them on something. Never open a link in one of these emails; they are intended to plant a virus or worm on your computer. 

I do not open any link or attachment in emails unless I know for a fact it is from someone I know and trust. Because email addresses can be hacked and taken over, just because an email says it comes from someone I know does not mean it does. So, if an email says something like, “You will enjoy this” or similar language, it does not get opened. It must say something like, “Don, here are the documents you requested on my mortgage.” This is necessary to protect my clients’ information from predators.

Do not give any information to anyone who initiates contact by telephone. Do not even confirm your name and especially never give your birth date or any part of your Social Security number.

 Just hang up on such callers.

Other scams of this type include phony calls from your electric company, phony calls that you missed jury duty and phony calls that your student loans are in default.  Do not give any information to any cold caller.  If you think the call might be real, hang up, look up the number of the agency, call them and ask if they need to talk to you.  Never, ever pay any of these callers over the phone.

Lastly, you need to be aware of the less than ethical income tax preparer.  Every tax return preparer is required to sign every return they prepare.  They are also required to have a PTIN.  A PTIN is a Preparer Tax Identification Number.  The numbers begin with a P followed by eight numbers, as in P00123456.  If a preparer does not have one of these numbers, they are not legitimate and are likely to cheat you.  Professional income tax preparers are Certified Public Accountants, Enrolled Agents or have met the Annual Filing Season Program requirements of the Internal Revenue Service.

The Annual Filing Season Program is not that hard to qualify for, so a tax preparer has no excuse for not meeting the program requirements.  It is 18 hours of tax education and a test.  All preparers in my office meet the program requirements, this includes me.