We will provide you with an income tax organizer to help you compile and document the information we will need to prepare your income tax returns. You must complete the income tax organizer with accurate and complete information. Income from all sources, including those outside the U.S., is required.
We rely upon the accuracy and completeness of both the information you provide in the income tax organizer and other supporting data you provide in rendering professional services to you.
Documentation
You are responsible for maintaining adequate documentation to substantiate the accuracy and completeness of your tax returns. You should retain all documents that provide evidence and support for reported income, credits, and deductions on your returns, as required under applicable tax laws and regulations. You are responsible for the adequacy of all information provided in such documents. You represent that you have such documentation and can produce it, if needed, to respond to any audit or inquiry by tax authorities. You agree to hold harmless our firm and its partners, principals, shareholders, officers, directors, members, employees, agents, or assignees with respect to any additional tax, penalties, or interest imposed on you by tax authorities resulting from the disallowance of tax deductions due to inadequate documentation.
Personal expenses
You are responsible for ensuring that personal expenses, if any, are segregated from business expenses and that expenses such as meals, travel, entertainment, vehicle use, gifts, and related expenses are supported by necessary records required by the IRS and other tax authorities. At your written request, we are available to provide you with written answers to your questions on the types of supporting records required.
State and local filing obligations
You are responsible for determining your tax filing obligations with any state or local tax authorities, including, but not limited to income, franchise, sales, use, property or unclaimed property taxes. You agree that we have no responsibility to research these obligations or to inform you of them. If upon review of the information you have provided to us, along with information that comes to our attention, we believe you may have additional filing obligations, we will notify you of this responsibility in writing and ask you to contact us. If you ask us to prepare these returns, we will confirm this representation in a separate engagement letter.
Record retention
It is our policy to keep records related to this engagement for 3 years. However, we do not keep any of your original records, so we will return those to you upon the completion of the engagement. When records are returned to you, it is your responsibility to retain and protect the records for possible future use, including potential examination by governmental or regulatory agencies. By engaging our services, you acknowledge and agree that upon the expiration of the 3 year period, we are free to destroy our records related to this engagement.
U.S. filing obligations related to foreign financial assets
As part of your filing obligations, you are required to report the maximum value of specified foreign financial assets, which include financial accounts with foreign institutions and certain other foreign, non-account investment assets that exceed certain thresholds. You are responsible for informing us of all foreign assets, so we may properly advise you regarding your filing obligations.
Foreign filing obligations
You are responsible for complying with the tax filing requirements of any other country. You acknowledge and agree that we have no responsibility to raise these issues with you and that foreign filing obligations are not within the scope of this engagement.
Ultimate responsibility
You have final responsibility for your income tax returns. We will provide you with a copy of your electronic income tax returns and accompanying schedules and statements for review prior to filing with the IRS and state and local tax authorities (as applicable). You agree to review and examine them carefully for accuracy and completeness.
You will be required to verify and sign a completed Form 8879, IRS e-file Signature Authorization, and any similar state and local equivalent authorization form before your returns can be filed electronically.
In the event that you do not wish to have your income tax returns filed electronically, please contact our firm. Additional procedures will apply. You will be responsible for reviewing the paper returns for accuracy, signing them, and filing them timely with the tax authorities.