BE AFRAID, BE VERY AFRAID…

BE WARY OF THE ADVERTISEMENTS OF CPAs WHO TELL YOU THAT THEY WILL SAVE YOU THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN INCOME TAXES PREPARATION…

And Please Watch My Podcast today at 11 AM Pacific Time…

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Let’s go over this again this year!!!? I am on Facebook a lot because I post my articles on Facebook and LinkedIn every workday.? My articles are about investing in commercial real estate, saving or deferring large amounts of Income Taxes, and related topics.? So, I am on Facebook for some time every day.? I am starting to see advertisements from Certified Public Accountants and Accounting Firms who want to prepare your income tax returns.? At least one advertisement I saw promised, they PROMISED that they would get a refund for you in the thousands of dollars. I said THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS.

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First, I was a practicing Certified Public Accountant for over 50 years before getting into commercial real estate.? There is no way that they could keep that promise when they haven’t seen your recent income tax returns so that they know what they are working with.? Second, I wouldn’t trust these people to prepare an income tax return with one Form W – 2 and nothing else.? They will find a way to, and pardon my English, screw it up.? They are making a promise that they can’t keep.? PERIOD!!!

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I see a big problem for my readers who own Commercial Real Estate because you have a two-pronged problem.? Most Certified Public Accountants do not know what a Cost Segregation Study is, what Bonus Depreciation is, what is happening to Bonus Depreciation in Congress as we speak, or any of the other intricacies that you HAVE to know when you are preparing the tax returns of a Commercial Real Estate Investor or a Real Estate Professional.? You have no idea what I encounter in the real world when I bring these topics up to CPAs, those same CPAs who might just be preparing your 2023 Income Tax Returns in the next few weeks or months.

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AND…

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You might be so excited about getting a refund from Uncle Sam of $2, $3, or maybe $5 thousand if you have these charlatans, and look up “charlatans” because I just did, and you should too, prepare your Income Tax Returns that you put yourselves in harm's way!!!? I am good at what I do, I AM VERY GOOD AT WHAT I DO, and I wouldn’t make that promise without first seeing your last 2 or 3 years of income tax returns, knowing what assets you own and how you are using them, and assessing your risk tolerance with you.? I would never put you in harm’s way, the probability of facing an IRS Audit without laying out the benefits and problems that my preparation of your Income Tax Return will bring.? I’ve had these discussions with clients before; some wanted to be very aggressive, and some did not!!!

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And I think advertisements like that one indicate our society's direction in past years.? I started practicing accounting in the mid-1960s.? That’s a long time ago, and there were probably less than 20,000 CPAs.? Now, the number is over 150,000 CPAs.? It’s much easier to oversee 20,000 or so CPAs than 150,000.? And society has gone downhill since then, and I am very afraid of where we are headed.? However, I am a Commercial Realtor and not a sociologist, so I will stick to my area of expertise.

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DO NOT, and I mean that in the strongest terms, DO NOT go to one of these so-called CPAs to have your income tax return prepared for this year or any year!!!? And realize that you should be spending money before the end of the year, enough before the year-end, to sit down with a competent and creative Certified Public Accountant specializing in Real Estate and plan to save taxes prospectively.? After December 31st, there isn’t a lot you can do to reduce your income tax obligation for the past year!!!? At least there isn’t a lot that you can LEGALLY do to save income taxes.

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My name is Paul Levine, and I am a Commercial Realtor, a Real Estate Advisor, an Investment Advisor, an Income Tax Consultant, an Author, and a Residential Realtor of luxury homes in Southern California!!! ?I was also a University Professor for 6 ? years.? So, I also want to teach you something and hope to learn something from you, my audience!!!? You can call me at (818) 298 – 4000 after 10 AM Pacific Time Monday through Friday and, yes, even on the weekends. Or you can send an email to me at [email protected], and I will always try to answer you in a timely manner.