About Us
Originally named Harry’s Tax Service, Harold Buchheit started Buchheit Tax Service in 1972 with the goal to help his friends and family with their taxes and other financial needs. As the company expanded, Harry’s dedication to providing top-notch service with a personal touch for each and every client never faltered.
Dennis, Harry’s son, joined the company in 1993 after graduating from Loras College. He is driven to uphold the professional standards that his father created in every aspect of the business.
Buchheit Tax Service is blessed with an incredible staff that offers a broad range of services for business owners, executives, individuals, and families. You can count on our experts to provide the dedication and experience that you deserve.
Tax Companies Dubuque
Say the term tax companies in Dubuque, Iowa, and people may not exactly know what you are talking about. A tax cannot be a company by itself because most are not created without a company making a sale or a profit in the process. It is not a service you can buy in a store. Taxes are usually generated when consumers purchase goods and services from stores or companies. Googling the term brings up tax services and accounting firms. Usually leading the Google search is advertising for the various tax preparation services. Considering the number of things that are generated from a simple search, how can you tell which is best for you to use?
Online Services
Most of the major tax companies, like TurboTax or H & R Block, offer online services. If you have been using the software offered by these companies in your home, using the online services can cut out the process of buying or downloading the software to your computer. There is a platform on each website where you can go to create an account. Like any account you create online, you will have a username and password. Once your account is established, you are prompted to go in and choose the level of the program you would like to use. Depending on the level you choose, there is a cost involved for just using the program. Some allow you to file both state and federal for free, while others require a fee for state. Each individual cost you pay allows additional services to be used in processing your return, including maximum deductions and even speaking with a tax expert. However, if you truly know how to use this type of program, the free service will serve its purpose.
Of course one of the major drawbacks to using these types of tax companies are the level of deductions. Most of the time, you rely on typing in the information from the sheets you have been provided. You are not uploading the information, so the program does not have a chance to scan the sheets. When you are sitting with a trained tax professional, they are able to look through the materials carefully. They may be able to see deductions you may have missed. Sometimes the human eye is more reliable than a computer when it comes to picking out things which may get you audited. If you are not truly confident in the information you are typing into the system, you may be taking a gamble by doing your own taxes online.
H & R Block
H & R Block is one of the tax companies with the best of both worlds, as it has both an online and in person presence. However, you may want to steer clear of them in person, considering anyome can register for the H & R Block tax course. Once you go through the required weeks of training, you can be employed by any of the H & R Block branches and begin advising the general public. Some consumers may think this type of tax training is acceptable, while others believe tax professionals should have to go through years of accounting training and have at least an Associates Degree in Accounting.
This is also one of the tax companies that claims it can get you access to your refund before the government even processed your return. While all of this seems good on paper, what if one of these self-trained tax preparers makes a mistake while completing your return. Do you have the confidence to let them find their mistake before it is filed? What if the mistake is never caught, and you receive and spend the early return? You could find out you were not entitled to that return and you owe more than was withheld from your pay. How many people would be willing to take that chance?
Independent Firms
In all likelihood, the local tax preparation services in your neighborhood are most likely to do the most complete and thorough job on your income tax return. They have likely been in business for years and have been passed on from generation to generation. Word-of-mouth advertising goes a long way with these services. People are most likely to turn to firms other people know and trust. These are the tried and true. The more local people they can impress, the more local business will be drawn in. These firms can provide one thing most other tax companies cannot promise – friendly and personal service.
Do It Yourself
If you have the know-how and the knowledge to understand the tax forms, you can always skip the tax companies altogether. Yes, that’s right, you could go it old school.. Pick up the tax forms from your local government offices and fill them out with a good old number 2 pencil. You would not want to use a pen unless it is one of those erasable types. Do they even make those anymore?
Anyway, if you choose to go it old school, you will want to get an early start, especially if you are relying on calling the IRS or your state government with any questions while you are completing your return. If you wait until the last minute, you will likely not get through or you will be on hold forever. It goes without saying that if you have a lot of deductions or things to claim that you should not try to fill out the forms yourself unless you are totally sure what you are doing. Any noticeable mistake on your forms could lead to your return being audited, and you would not want that.
Ask a Professional
If tax time has rolled around and you are still not sure how you should go about preparing, ask a tax professional what they do. Some could be so sick and tired of looking at tax documents and forms that they gladly pass their return off to another professional. That’s right, even your tax professional has a tax professional. Tax codes and laws can change so much through the years that it is possible that even some of the professionals cannot keep up. If the professionals are taking their returns to other professionals, maybe that means a filer should have a fail safe in place. Perhaps a good system would be to complete the return online yourself, print it out, and have a professional check it. Maybe the second set of eyes on your return will see something you completely missed.
If you are looking for tax companies in Dubuque, Iowa, look no further. The experts of Buchheit Tax will help you every step of the way.