I am leaving this page up so all will know, we were the first to help, and laid it out so others could follow and help those in need.
I am very proud of the fact that my office was one of the very first to recognize, all people deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. We can handle domestic partnerships with relative ease and simplicity and we welcome the business. We were one of the first income tax firms to start doing them, and we have a lots of experience in doing them.
Domestic Relations
Many firms will tell you that because the Federal Government does not recognize domestic relationship you must file traditionally. This simply is not true. You may file married joint for the State portion of your return and this can save many people several thousand dollars or more. There is one caveat to all of this, and that is it may cost you a little more, because what happens is in my office and every other office that does them, is we end up doing four (4) tax returns instead of one.
Let me explain why it costs a little more and what exactly happens. First, we do a Federal Return (tax return 1) as a joint couple would, because this is the return that will become your State income tax return (tax return 2) and this return will be electronically filed as your State income tax return.
All State returns take their information off of a Federal return so you have to do a Federal first, no escaping that. That also explains why a tax firms charge the same to do a Federal as a State. The work and time are the same and you have to do a Federal first, so you end up paying for both even though you only need a State.
Next we duplicate the Federal return twice, renaming it with each of the partners name. Then we open up each return that has been duplicated (tax returns 3 and 4) and adjusted each of them to a different filing status as recognized by the IRS. Notice. I did not say we did two single returns because many times one of the partners will qualify for head of household if a dependant is involved.
Each partner will do a separate Federal income tax return as them selves and this return will be files electorally. Here is a part that can create havoc among inexperienced tax preparers'. After you create the individual tax return, you must make sure your tax program did not create a State return as many will do. If it does you simply delete the state. and yes it does take more time and yes it can cost more because we are doing four (4) income tax returns not one.
If you are in a legitimate domestic relationship and have been told you must file traditionally, now you know that simply is not true. Give us a chance or help you out. Here is something else to think about. We ask you to give us a chance. We also know that if you are not happy with us, we will never see you again. We know that, and that is something we would want to avoid at all costs. That in itself should tell you, we care, and when was that last time you did business with someone who really cared about you personally? We do.
(Did you know that more tax professionals will read this page than any one else? They read it because I basically teach how to do a domestic partnership tax return. They have never done one and have no clue how to do it.)
P.S. which means Post Script,
No, we will not charge you for doing four (4) income tax returns.