Weekly letter 8/25/22 – Digging in and eating a cannoli

Thanks to Pete Morello, better known as Shipper Pete, Jeff and I recently discovered the T.V. show, Expedition Unknown on the Discovery Channel. Now, we are hooked on the show, and in the evenings and weekends, you will find us binge-watching to catch up to season 12.

Episode S10: E1 – “Chasing Everglades Treasure”

Josh Gates, archeologist, adventurer, and explorer, digs deep into the swamp to hunt the lost fortune of notorious bootleggers and bank robbers, the Ashley Gang. Josh needs to retrace the outlaw family’s criminal empire, which includes a blood feud with the local Florida sheriff, who Pete played.

No matter where his adventures take him, Gates spends time at his desk researching, documenting, and discovering the truth behind each legend. Some of his escapades take place in: Poland to help break into a recently discovered secret tunnel system dug by the Nazis, to inside an extinct volcano to find the truth behind the legend of El Dorado, and could the City of Gold be hidden in the Colombian jungle,

Even though he has an impressive background that includes top-notch education, and membership in prestigious organizations, he needs to search for answers and establish the background information on each mystery before he hits the road and his adventurers begin.

This sounds much like Jeffrey, who has many years of education and graduate studies, takes annual continuing education, and has certifications in his chosen career and related fields.

Whether his client needs bookkeeping and tax return preparation or is seeking to resolve his tax problems, Jeff has much to do in researching and investigating the tax situation.

Digging in and eating a cannoli

Take, for instance, our clients who owned a mom-and-pop card store. They hired us to do their monthly bookkeeping, payroll, and year-end tax prep for the business and their individual returns. We already had their company information in-house, so preparing their tax return was simple. However, their individual returns were quite a bit more complicated. Besides their federal returns, they each had a state return and their brokerage statements and other reporting documents.

They walked in the first year and all years going forward with a shopping bag full of envelopes, papers, and a box of cannolis. They figured they could bribe Jeffrey to dig through all the necessary and unneeded documents, which he did because they were lovely women. The reward was worth it. The cannoli was so good! So, he inspected the bag, sorted through the contents, and researched new tax laws as needed before preparing the returns.

Another kind of explorer

So, in a way, Jeffrey Schneider, EA, CTRS, ACT-E, is also an explorer, a tax explorer.

Or, in the case of a client who had a federal tax liability because she was delinquent in filing returns for several years, Jeff had to get to the bottom of the tax problem, often going through piles of paperwork and unopened envelopes. Then he had to analyze and decide on the best course of action.

In many situations, he spends hours upon hours delving into IRS rulings for information he needs before beginning his negotiations with the revenue officer to get the best settlement.

Let’s chat if you, or anyone you know, would benefit from Jeffrey’s specific research skills and negotiating superpowers. Email me at info@ststaxacct.com.

Ali “helping the explorer” Schneider
Director of Business Development

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#expeditionunknown #joshgates #discoverychanel #jeffreyschneiderea  #taxjam

 

Weekly Tax Humor

What’s an accountant’s favorite book?

50 Shades of Grey.

Weekly Tax Question– Do you pay taxes on student loan forgiveness?

Taxable Income? Under current law, the tax code treats forgiven or canceled debt as taxable income, with some exceptions. If a borrower has debt forgiven, it is treated as if the borrower earned additional income in the previous tax year equal to the amount forgiven.