The Mean Season

It’s tax time again, and Uncle Sam is calling. Minimize the stress by consulting a professional.

Those of us who are self-employed, have investments, own property overseas, and must feel with assorted other complicated issues that from year to year have a different impact on our tax liability. Those with mortgages, multiple accounts, dependents in and out of the house, and a host of questionable possible deductions. It’s this group of taxpayers that needs to tune out the nonstop onslaught of Turbo Tax ads and call a professional for help. Failing to do so may result in missing out on a lot of money-saving measures that you might not even know you’re entitled to—not to mention a bill down the line for mistakes made, with penalties and a hefty amount of interest tacked on.

“The tax code is so complicated,” says Zvi Rafilovich, CPA, with offices in Hollywood and Aventura. “The big guys—large corporations—employ sophisticated tax accountants to help them, but individuals don’t have the same needs as a large corporation.” What they do need, he says, is someone who keeps abreast of the ever-changing tax laws and is a professional focused solely on taxes.

Rafilovich, an Israel native who came to the United States after completing his military service, holds a Masters in tax from Florida International University. After spending years in large accounting firms, and working for more than seven years for Ivax Pharmaceuticals, he chose to start his own practice. That was in 2005, and he now has two offices—one in Hollywood and one in Aventura. “This is a boutique tax firm; I run the full gamut, dealing with everything from small S-corps to high net-work individuals, partnerships, not-for-profits and even a few publicly traded companies,” he explains. He did it, he says, because he “loves taxes,” and wants to help people with theirs so they don’t find themselves overpaying, or perhaps even worse, paying the price later for mistakes they make when they prepare their own returns.

“Many taxpayers supply wrong social security numbers when they efile,” he says. “If I’m the preparer, we catch it within 24 hours and let the taxpayer know there’s a mismatch, so we can correct it and refile. However, if the taxpayer files it by paper return, it will take much longer—possibly months.” Other possible errors made by taxpayers include not claiming as many dependents as they are entitled to—for instance, Rafilovich says, many people are not aware that they can claim their parents. “There are some limitations, but in some instances they can be claimed on a tax return even if they don’t live with you.” He adds, “There’s also a sales tax deduction that can be taken in one of two ways—by a standard deduction on a Schedule A that is added to other itemized deductions, or by tallying invoices for the year. Tuition expenses incurred in the quest to improve on a set of skills or as part of an accredited program leading to a bachelors or masters degree can result in a deduction of up to $4,000.”

The list continues, but each individual return is different, so the best thing to do is gather your records together and make an appointment to see what method of filing works best for you. If you haven’t begun the process, there’s no time like the present to get going. And if you’ve received any correspondence from the IRS, bring that with you and get professional advice as to how to handle it. As Rafilovich points out, “The worst thing you can do to the Internal Revenue Service,” he says, “is ignore them. They’re not going to go away.”

For more information, contact Zvi Rafilovich, CPA, MST at his Hollywood location, 954.921.0588, or his Aventura location, 305.503.8158; zeecpa.com.