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Tired of Surprises on your Tax Return?

"Surprise! You owe 3X more than you were expecting," explains a dystopian jester known as your former CPA. Entrepreneurs deal with enough surprise expenses as is, so the last thing they need is to be surprised by their tax bill. When you own a business, your percentage of the profit earned by the business is taxed as if all of that cash went into your personal bank account. This can surprise those who don't understand pass-through entity taxation and those who don't have a clear understanding of how much profit their company is earning during the year. Dark Horse hates surprises as much as you do.

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Understanding the Tax Planning, Paying and Filing Cycle

There are few things you can do after the year ends to lower your taxes for that year. All of that work is done during the year, whereas tax filing season merely memorializes the work done for the prior tax year.

Surprise, Surprise!

Surprises are eliminated through transparency and education. Our mission is to keep you informed of your business' performance and how that will impact your tax situation so that you're making the appropriate quarterly estimated tax payments throughout the year so that you don't owe a bunch of money when you file or, maybe even worse, provided the government with an interest free loan.

Surprise! You SHOULDN'T have paid yourself that much in w-2 wages….

Surprise! You didn't pay enough in estimated tax payments….

Surprise! You SHOULD have paid yourself more in w-2 wages….

Surprise! You don't have enough cash to pay your tax liability….

Surprise! You owe tax on a business vehicle your sold….

Surprise! Your books are a mess, you made more than expected….

We Believe in...  No Surprises

No Surprises doesn't mean absolute certainty, but it does mean understanding risks taken with certain tax positions and having an understanding how moving parts could impact your global tax position. It may also mean we recommend that you amend a prior year tax return. Either way, once we've eliminated the lion's share of surprises out there, we can focus on the higher value items like strategically reducing your taxes through a Tax Assessment and partnering with your business as a Fractional CFO.

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Importance of Bookkeeping in Business Tax

Bookkeeping and Business Tax Returns

Accurate and timely Bookkeeping is the foundation of your tax return. Thus, it stands to reason that having a pulse on your books as the year progresses will give you a strong understanding of where your tax situation is headed. It also enables you to course-correct to deploy strategies to lower your taxable income with our strategic tax advisory services. If you want to avoid surprises on your business tax return, you must have books that you understand and can rely upon.

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Once you get your books dialed-in, you still have to get your tax return reporting right!

There are a number of elections, payments and informational reporting that goes well beyond punching-in numbers from your books into a tax return. Getting this wrong can have dire consequences.

S-Election Preservation

Cap Table Changes

Bonus Depreciation

State Tax Payments

Foreign Tax Reporting

Shareholder Basis Schedules

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What do I do if my current situation is a mess?

Some clients' messes are bigger than they think, others are smaller. Either way, we'll unpack your situation during our initial consultation to the extent that you can provide us with needed documentation beforehand, such as tax returns, IRS, state and local tax notices, etc. Once we've digested everything, we'll prescribe our game plan moving forward, which may include some of the following services:

Amended Tax Returns

Bookkeeping Clean Up

IRS Payment Plans

Penalty Abatement

Offer in Compromise

Tax resolution & Back Taxes

Sales Tax Reporting

And More

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Nancy R.

I have used James Larsen as my CPA for many years and am confident in his work ethic and tax knowledge.

Patrick Wingate

I was referred to Max by a friend who is also a small business owner. I was definitely in need of direction when it came to my finances. After speaking with Max I was able to understand how I can be efficient in the accounting side of my business and he and his team is there to guide me every step of the way. I'm now confident I have the right team watching my books I highly recommend Max and Dark Horse CPAs

Marisa M.

I had the pleasure of working with Stella and she was absolutely incredible. I had received what I suspected was bad advice from a previous tax preparer, and I was looking for another professional opinion on a specific tax situation. I found Dark Horse and Stella and I couldn't be happier. Stella confirmed what I had suspected about the previous tax situation being handled incorrectly by my former preparer at a different firm, and helped me fix the problem. Stella was prompt, exceedingly professional, and actually took the time to explain everything. Prices for services are fair. I am thrilled to have found a knowledgeable, trustworthy tax advisor and I look forward to continue working with Stella in the future.

Susan H.

Megan, Kim and staff were very prompt filing our business and personal taxes. The secure email site to upload our documents was very user friendly. The staff was also extremely prompt answering our questions through email and on the phone. In addition, Megan met with us personally a couple of times several months in advance to map out a plan for our business and personal taxes. Thank you all!

Quinn R.

We signed on with Adam's accounting group after bouncing around trying to find the right 'fit' with other companies. I knew immediately that we found what we needed when Adam took the time to sit down and talk to me about my business, my plans, my goals and where I wanted my company to be in the next 2, 5, 10 years. Adam and his team are responsive - and by that, I mean proactive - which is probably the single best reason to use Dark Horse. After 8 years and 3 different accounting firms we found what we need with Dark Horse.

Industries We Serve

While your business is unique, it's unlikely that you're in an industry we haven't served. Below are a few of the industries we have deep experience with.

Governmental

Medical & Dental

Non-Profits

Locations

Because we're entirely cloud-based, we can work with you from anywhere. If you prefer to work with a local CPA, check out our quickly growing list of locations.

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Blogs and Pods

Whether you prefer the written word or the spoken word, we've got meaningful commentary that will help you focus on what's important when it comes to your financial situation and taxes.

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