OUR PHILOSOPHY AND FIRM POLICY - WE CATER TO INTEGRITY

Tim Kelly made his living as a police officer for twenty-five years. He laterally transferred agencies three times, working for LASD (Class #196), Beverly Hills PD, Sacramento SO and Davis PD.  He has done virtually everything one can do in uniform in law enforcement. Consequently, he has a special place in his heart for his fellow cops, whether they work on the street, in the prisons, in investigations or even in management.

Kevin Rego has worked as a police officer/firefighter (public safety) for twenty four years. A veteran of both the street and the fire service, he brings an intimate knowledge and understanding of law enforcement to our firm. Kevin holds a law degree from Santa Clara University and a Master of Laws degree in taxation law from the University of Alabama.

Our goal here at our law offices is to provide comprehensive coverage for the tax affairs of police officers, along with certain other professionals such as medical professionals, teachers and real estate professionals, all of who marry police officers on a regular basis. Most officers never have any specific problems with their taxes, but at the same time they have difficulty finding someone who knows their job well enough to prepare their taxes correctly. Other officers, frequently acting on faulty information, do not have enough taxes withheld from their check, and wind up owing lots of money on April 15th.

We intentionally specialize in the tax affairs of public safety personnel because of the quality clients who come to us. We look out after their interests and make ourselves available year-round for questions concerning taxes and tax planning.  We attend hundreds of hours of continuing legal education each year in the areas of tax law most useful to our clients.  Other tax advisors may share some of these traits, but what sets me apart is our guarantee of legal representation. We will represent our clients in any civil tax matter with no additional charge both before taxing agencies in any administrative forum prior to the filing of a court action.   Most tax attorneys charge at least three hundred dollars an hour for this work. It is all included in our fee. Regretfully, because of the inherent conflict of interest, we cannot and do not extend this guarantee to criminal matters. In the event court representation is necessary, we will make special arrangements with our existing clients.

Also included in our fee is the ability of our clients to call us up any time during the year and ask us questions as the need arises. It costs them nothing to speak directly to their own experienced tax attorney, rather than have to listen to myths and misinformation from other people.

We may not be the right tax professional for you, however, if you are more concerned about big refunds than remaining within the law. There are several well known tax preparers catering to police officers who are more than happy to put grossly inflated numbers on a tax return to get that big refund. Never mind that this is tax fraud, that their career and retirement are put at risk, all they see are dollar signs. If you want this kind of "service," then don't come to us for tax services and planning. Instead, come and talk to us when the IRS guys with the gold badges knock on your door. We will be happy to refer you to some very competent criminal tax attorneys in Beverly Hills. We do not mean to sound harsh but that is the reality of what we see on a daily basis when tax returns are prepared by amateurs or professional thieves. We are convinced many of these tax preparers who cater to police officers by inflating deductions will eventually be caught by the IRS.

We believe your integrity is not worth an artificially large refund. We are aggressive but we take our positions based upon reasonable interpretations of the law and by constantly harping upon our clients to keep records, records and more records.

This is our attitude based on the fact we are not ordinary tax preparers, but tax litigators. Our perspective comes from working within the system from basic tax forms to federal court litigation. I know my clients do not like to be lectured to, so I hope you will understand we feel you need to know this information. We have worked with hundreds and hundreds of audited taxpayers, and all of them describe the experience as one of the most stressful of their lives. We are here to tell you we cannot keep you from being audited but we can make the experience relatively painless if you only follow our advice. 

The current enforcement oriented policy of the Internal Revenue Service requires that I set forth our firm attitude and policy in no uncertain terms. As most of you know, we cater to police officers and their families, in addition to  medical and educational professionals.  Throughout the state, although more particularly in southern California, there is actually a fiercely competitive market for doing the tax returns of police officers. Preparers often compete with each other by competing to see who can get clients "the biggest refund."

We have had people make appointments with us who were "shopping" for the largest tax return. We dread these people, as they waste our time. They will not be happy when we refuse to add a "few thousand" dollars in mythical deductions to their return.

Don't get us wrong. We are second to none when it comes to thoroughly using every possible tax deduction. You can see this from our checklist. But we are also second to none in preaching to our clients that they can never have too many records. We teach them how to keep mileage logs and prevent receipts from being washed. Simple realities such as donating property and taking photos go far towards tax savings supported by adequate substantiation.

So if you are looking only for the largest refund at any cost, please do not come to our firm. You will not be happy if we do not obtain the big refund you desire because we will not compromise our integrity. We pride ourselves on working within the system. We do not have to compete for market share. We are primarily focused on tax litigation . We have a large client base who value our firm because of our year-round support and our honesty.

The number of police personnel who go to infamous tax preparers just to get large refunds simply amazes us. Otherwise honest men and women somehow see no problem with using these services despite the risk they assume. I wish them luck should the focus of the Internal Revenue Service come upon them.

As for our firm, where else but our offices can you watch the numbers being entered on your own computer screen? If you see something wrong or inaccurate we expect to be told. Everything is in the open and our clients see everything entered onto their return. If you are mailed a tax return following a telephone appointment you have every opportunity to question any item you see and to have it changed as you desire for accuracy.

We cater to taxpayers who want the most accurate guidance for their annual tax reporting obligation. This means thoroughness, integrity and competence. For those just looking for the big return, there are no shortage of starving tax preparers out there ready to do whatever it takes to make you happy with a big refund and to keep you from going to the competition. If you are willing to play the odds (in the tax business we call this audit roulette) with the IRS for a few additional dollars, please go see them. We cannot help you.

If you are not satisfied with what we have done, and choose in a subsequent year to go to a tax preparer who works wonders and reduces your tax substantially, we highly recommend you find out specifically what the new preparer knows that we do not. This may help you to sleep at night but "willful blindness" will not help you in the event of an IRS audit.

For more insight, read on. These are excerpts from an article by attorney Kevin W. Rego.

Do you get a little nervous when you sign your tax return? Do you wonder where those numbers came from, or would you rather not know? How much is that big refund worth in peace of mind? Did you notice you are signing under "Penalty of Perjury."

Rather than just file away those returns, actually take a look at them. Here are a few things to look at.

1)    Cash charitable contributions? Did you really give all that money to church? If you did, no problem, but hopefully you used envelopes or wrote a check. If you don't have proof of what you gave in such a form, you will never have it allowed in an IRS examination. The law was recently changed to specifically disallow a cash contribution without clear documentary proof. Contrary to legend, there is no "maximum" contribution allowable without substantiation. To sum up the position of the IRS (which is fully supported in the Tax Court), if you donated cash you didn't donate it. Today the IRS will not hesitate to hit a taxpayer hard with penalties, even penalties for civil fraud, if large unsubstantiated contributions appear on the return.

We know this is a harsh rule for many of you. Every Sunday we see lots of cash go by in the collection basket, and we get caught offguard by the "second collection." We also know many of you attend different churches and then there are those of you who do not feel they should disclose their personal tithing to any human being. Unfortunately the tax code is not written with these considerations in mind. You are not being dishonest by listing your cash contributions on your tax return when they are genuine, but we want to be clear what the consequences may be. The tax code is clear in that without proof there is no deduction.

We are most concerned because this is a common area where crooked tax preparers "bump things up," in order to illegitimately reduce tax liability, I have often questioned new clients with substantial cash contributions on priors years returns whether they continued to be so generous, only to hear them say they had no idea such large amounts had been placed on their tax returns. A quick glance at the Schedule A on your tax return before signing it can prevent surprises like this.

2)    Contributions of property are a much abused area, and you should feel comfortable with the numbers on your Schedule A in this area.  For example, valuing the couch you used in your dorm room ten years ago at $700 is going a little overboard. By the same token, you may be estimating that fifty gallon trash bag of clothing is worth thirty or forty dollars when in reality it could be worth several hundred. For those taxpayers who routinely donate truckloads of personal property, an investment in documentation could pay off handsomely. First, I highly recommend taxpayers take photographs of the property donated. Second, a detailed inventory of all the items is a must. This can now be accomplished relatively painlessly with commercially available software. Intuit sells a product called, "It's Deductible," available at www.itsdeductible.com  ." This product will automatically assign reasonable values to property item by item as the type and condition of the item is entered. The software will generate a total and a detailed list, which when used in conjunction with photographs and a receipt obtained from the donee organization, will provide substantiation for the charitable contribution placed on the tax return.

3)    Mileage is another area where crooked preparers "pad" the numbers. Legitimate miles are those you drive for business which are not eligible for reimbursement by your employer. Business mileage never includes commuting, which is a personal expense. Yet we see returns with mileage exceeding ten thousand from preparers who see this as an easy way to remain competitive by getting their clients that big refund. Look at Form 2106, which will contain the mileage numbers and ensure what is written there is realistic.

The best way to reduce your tax liability is through competent advice, planning and record keeping. With good records and good advice you need never fear the taxman.